Lorenz, you are correct the Falkens (452's) don't have the stiffened sidewall and thus are softer so on track the Vredsteins and Pirelli are better as there is less tyre slop.
Over in the UK the roads are in a right old state. This is why we see so any cracked alloys and split tyres. I am currently going through the courts at the moment to recover costs against the local council.
In the UK, water gets in the cracks in the Tarmac, freezes, expanding and thus causing crumbling. The councils just fill them in instead of repairing the substrate properly, then they crack, crumble all over again.