At the second Bundesliga race of the season in Gedern, Max Brandl and Luca Schwarzbauer have given the Lexware mountain bike team a double victory. David List came in twelfth and Thore Hemmerling took two second places in the junior sighting in Hesse.
Riders in the U23 category rarely have a privilege of a direct comparison with Elite racers. Thus it is difficult to judge one’s standing in advance and therefore Max Brandl’s statements were very respectful. Accordingly, the performance of Max Brandl and Luca Schwarzbauer over the courseof six laps on a 3.7 kilometer loop (plus 1.8km start loop) in Gedern was rather surprising. At least that they were „in their own league“, as third-placed Simon Stiebjahn admitted after the race.
Luca Schwarzbauer already tore a small gap after the shortened start lap. His team-mate Max Brandl therefore tried to control the pace in the chasing group, but after round two the cards were shuffled again. „My plan was to start defensively and when Luca was in front, I didn’ try to close the gap,“ said Brandl about this initial situation. However, he noticed that his companions in the chasing group had some trouble in the uphills. Thus he was able to close the eight-second gap to Schwarzbauer alone. The pursuers around Simon Stiebjahn (Titisee-Neustadt), Julian Schelb (Muenstertal) and Ben Zwiehoff (Essen) were able to catch up again, but then Brandl attacked once more in the uphill – only Schwarzbauer could follow.
„For me, it was too fast in that moment, but I knew it would probably be decisive and so I really pushed hard,“ Schwarzbauer commented on the events in round three. It should indeed pay off. The two friends worked together until the penultimate round, extending the lead over a four-man chasing group to one minute. „Then Max was able to open a small gap rather unspectacularly and off he went,“ said Schwarzbauer. „I felt fine today, but not great. It’s really remarkable that we’ve all left the elite riders behind. “
Max Brandl, who had seen the Bundesliga race rather as a stopover on the way to next weekend’s World Cup in Albstadt, pointed out that one had „experimented with the drive-train“. „This really worked well and saved me some grains in the uphills. Also, I know the track since the U11. Even though I have not raced here for the past three years, I think I have some cool lines here, „Brandl said with a grin after his second win of the season. He won in 1:09:49 (race was shortened due to threatening thunderstorms), 35 seconds ahead of Schwarzbauer.
List with chooses wrong material, bad luck for Egger
David List finished in 12th place (+3:27). He had decided to race on his Scott
hardtail, speculating on a muddy course. But the rain did not set in until after
the event. Thus „a fully would certainly have been better,“ List acknowledged.
Also he said he ”did not feel super fresh after training last week, but it was OK
so far.”
Georg Egger quit the race due to a tire defect just after passing the technical
zone on lap five. By then he was in seventh place, just behind former national
champion Markus Schulte-Lünzum, who finished fourth. Egger had the second
fastest time on lap four. Lars Hemmerling had bad luck too. He fell ill a couple
of days before the juniors race and had to pass his start.
Junior sighting: Hemmerling „definitely satisfied“
In the junior sighting race, Thore Hemmerling was able to finish second after
four laps. The Lexware rider from Saarland was only seven seconds behind the
winner Louis Krauss (Neckartenzlingen, 39:51). „I’m definitely happy with
second place,“ said Hemmerling, who already finished second the day
before. In the new Skills Competition he came in 1.4 seconds behind Thorben
Jost (Grünberg).
In the female youth race, Lina Riesterer demonstrated improved form
compared to the prelude in Hausach. The girl from Breitnau finished fifth after
a rather modest start („that’s my problem since this season“), 2:02 minutes
behind Luisa Daubermann (Gessertshausen, 39:27). After the 1.8km start lap,
Riesterer was in ninth position and consistently gained positions in the
remaining course. „That was definitely better than Hausach,“ Riesterer
nodded. In the race on Saturday she came in 6th, just missing a better place,
because she laid a rollover at the last (pallet) obstacle.
MTB Grand Prix Obertraun: Zurnieden just past points
Jannick Zurnieden looks back to the race weekend with mixed feelings.
Satisfied with his performance, but a little disappointed that he could not take
home points from Austria. After racing in the junior class last year, he was in
19th place for quite some time, but then the race – and the level in general –
was a little too high for the youngster. With 10:43 minutes on Winner Martin
Loo (Estonia, 1:34:13) he finally came in 26th. „The performance was a lot
better than recently, but in the end my foot started hurt. Maybe I did not
warm-up long enough, „Zurnieden said.