It's the highlight of his career so far: Maximilian Brandl from the Lexware Mountain Bike Team will be at the start of the Olympic mountain bike race. There are only 38 starting places for riders from all continents for the Olympic competition in Tokyo. The 24-year-old Brandl is one of the two German mountain bikers alongside Manuel Fumic. Together with the national team, he has already spent a week in a training camp at the foot of Mount Fuji to recover from jet lag and adapt to the climate. Since Tuesday, he has been living in the cyclists' Olympic village on the Izu peninsula, a good two hours' drive from Tokyo. He has summarised his experiences so far for us in a blog:
"My first Olympic Games - and they are taking place under strict coronavirus regulations. In principle, we are in a somewhat relaxed quarantine for 14 days. This means: no contact with other athletes, daily PCR tests and outside the Olympic Village we athletes are only allowed to move directly to the training grounds. Apart from at the buffet or randomly in the corridors, there is no opportunity to socialise. Without corona, the Olympic character is certainly more noticeable. But what I like is that we all have the same conditions. We all eat the same food, sleep on the same beds and have the same daily routine. At other competitions, you're never so close and under the same roof as your competitors for so long. Although you have to keep your distance, you still get to chat to one or two of your rivals during track training or in the corridor. There is a kind of community feeling here. After training, I travelled back to the Olympic village with Henrique Avancini and Alan Hatherly. It's clear that we have the most important race of recent years ahead of us, but we're also enjoying being here.
There is no contact with the locals due to the circumstances. The German team spent the first few days in the company of a local guide - because although the nature may initially appear European (editor's note: Brandl knows his way around, he studies biology), orientation and communication can be difficult. On the last evening of our training camp, our guide even brought us typical Japanese desserts - that was delicious.
All the bikers were only allowed to ride the 4.1 kilometre course for the first time on Friday. The course is considered to be one of the most difficult Olympic courses to date. Created especially for the Games, it has many short and steep climbs and descents. Man-made obstacles, mainly consisting of large stones, characterise the course. The first track training session went really well, the course is really fun. But apart from the track, the climate plays a major role. The race will also be about who can perform best in the humid conditions.
This is because the temperatures rise to up to 38 degrees around midday and the humidity is very high. This is the limiting factor, especially in the more intensive sessions. One of the decisive factors for the race is who can cope best with these extreme conditions. That's why Manuel Fumic, Elisabeth Brandau and Ronja Eibl and I have spent the last few days testing out the cooling strategy for the race. The wafer-thin racing suits have a membrane that allows perspiration to penetrate from the inside but repels water from the outside. We will therefore probably cool ourselves with ice cubes in nylon socks that we wear under the jersey. It holds well between the shoulders and can be replaced in the feed zone. This example already shows that we will learn a lot here, but I also want to deliver a good race. A place in the top 10 or top 8 is realistic, that would be a very good result."
The German MTB team with Elisabeth Brandau, Ronja Eibl, Max Brandl and Manuel Fumic on the track walk.
The mountain bike race in Tokyo will take place on 26 July at 3 pm local time and 8 am German time and will be presented by the ZDF broadcast via livestream. The women start on Tuesday, 27 July, also at 3 pm local time.
