Cross-Country-Elite: Race report DM
Three years ago, Maximilian Brandl won his first DM title in the elite class. Although he could still have raced in the U23 category. Now he has won his next title at the 2022 German Cross-Country Championships. He needed a riding time of 1:14:04.2 hours for the 25.2 kilometres. At the finish line, the 26-year-old from Freiburg was relieved: "It's indescribable to be back on top after a year out with injury. I'm just so happy!"
From the start, he rode in the lead together with Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV) and Niklas Schehl (Marder Stop and Go). From the chasing group with David List (Lexware Mountainbike Team), Julian Schelb (Marder Stop and Go) and the Cape Epic winners Lukas Baum (RSC Neustadt) and Georg Egger (MSC Wiesenbach)), nobody was able to break into the top three in the midsummer temperatures. After six laps of the race, Luca Schwarzbauer finished in second place, 13.5 seconds behind the leader, while Niklas Schehl saved third place.
"Just went at my own pace": Leonie Daubermann wins confidently
Leonie Daubermann, who joined the KTM Factory MTB Team this season and is only 22 years old, successfully defended her title in last year's elite women's race. She took the lead immediately after the start and her competitors had no chance. "That wasn't actually my tactic, but on the climb I realised that there was already a gap and just rode my pace," said Daubermann.
After 1:13:07.4 hours, she relegated Lia Schrievers (BikeBühne Bayreuth) and Nadine Rieder (Ghost Factory Racing Team) to the following places with a lead of 1:30 minutes. Ronja Eibl (Alpecin-Fenin) was unable to have a say in the title after her return from illness. She finished more than two minutes behind in 12th place.
