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German Cross-Country Champion U17: Dennis Krimmel
Superheroes are not born in the delivery room. Not the ones from the cinema - Batman, Hulk, Catwoman, The Flash - and not the ones from sports arenas and race tracks - world champions, Olympians, World Cup stars.
Dennis Krimmel, 16 years young, is a pupil at Ehningen Technical High School and is neither one nor the other. But right now it looks like he could one day make it into the league of sporting heroes. Dennis is the newly crowned German cross-country champion in the U17 class.
And if the victories and medals keep coming and he is actually one of the best in the World Cup at some point, then the world will want to see the place where it all began. The forge of heroes. As is usually the case with such stories, this is no ordinary place. But nobody suspects such a place.
Driving technique training on the top floor
It's a sunny Friday afternoon. Dennis is standing in his BIKE Junior Team outfit at the agreed meeting point, the Pascha Pizza & Döner snack bar in the centre of Münsingen.
"It's around the corner," he says, leading the way to an empty shop in the middle of the city centre. The building exudes something depressing. It looks like a haunted house. The neglected look contrasts interestingly with the chic half-timbered facades all around. A mannequin completely wrapped in lycra, standing all alone and mummy-like in the dusty display, reinforces the morbid impression. Dennis pulls out the key, turns it in the lock and pulls open the front door.
"This is the old Schlecker supermarket," he informs us as he tampers with the fuse box. The neon light flickers on. The room is huge. There is absolutely nothing in it. Except for Euro pallets, timbered ramps and a pile of wobbly stones. After the initial irritation, it dawns on you. This is an indoor mountain bike world. The pallets are the trail, the ramps are the drops, and the pile of stones is a rock garden. What a place! As if a drugstore and a mountain bike race track had spent a hot night of love together. The building has been empty since the Schlecker bankruptcy. TSV Münsingen is allowed to use it as a training centre. This is where he rode his mountain bike for the first time, says Dennis. In November 2013, as a seven-year-old. His mum had read about the hall in the newspaper. And because she was looking for something where Dennis could let off steam after school, she took him there.
"I had a very simple Merida, and on the first day we learnt how to wave to someone on the bike with one arm," Dennis lets the flames of memory flare up. He smiles. During the older kids' training sessions, which took place after the kids' sessions, he always watched in fascination and dreamed of becoming a real racer one day. That was nine years ago. And now he is German champion.
You can tell Dennis is proud when he talks about it. You can tell how hard the title has been earned when Dennis starts to romp around the hall on his fully. Highly focussed, he hops on the rear wheel, jumps over pallets and kneads up the winding staircase to the upper floor, on which narrow wooden slats form a kind of walkway. Down and up again.
A mixture of dexterity and explosive power training. Everything else seems to fade out. "Awesome!" grins Dennis as he finally clicks off. He needs a moment for his breathing to stabilise again.
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Dennis and his career plan
Cross-country is not a subject that children and young people usually engage with. Especially not in this day and age, when entire areas of life are increasingly taking place virtually and physical exertion is perceived as terrible even by many mountain bikers.
The cross-country scene is small. But it has a huge global fan base. Stars like Nino Schurter, Tim Pidcock and Jolanda Neff are followed by hundreds of thousands on social media. The World Cups broadcast on Red Bull TV were streaming hits. The media group Warner Bros. recently secured the broadcasting rights.
To outsiders, cross-country may seem like a particularly nasty form of self-punishment. Anyone who has ever experienced it, whether in the saddle or behind the tape, is fascinated by it. This maximum concentration of drudgery, action, struggle and heroism.
Most kids get into mountain biking through their parents. Those who succumb to the magic make up the small, but excellent German junior racing scene. It's about fun, yes. But it's also about medals and success. And if you want to get ahead at this level, you not only need talent and grit, but also quite a lot of money. For training management, equipment and travelling to races.
"I reckon a season costs around 10,000 euros," estimates Konstantin Krimmel, Dennis' father. The smart detached house in which the family of five lives suggests a stable economic situation. Dennis' father works as an industrial mechanic, his mother in the medical field. Nevertheless, the sport would not be possible without support.
German champion thanks to BIKE Junior Team
"Without the BIKE Junior Team, I wouldn't be German champion right now," says Dennis bluntly. Twenty years ago, the BIKE editorial team decided to set up a team to support young talents on their way into the cross-country world. The idea was to provide the riders with equipment and mentors.
Bernd Sigel is currently the manager in charge of everything to do with the racing season (Interview with Bernd Sigel). Bernd is a wiry mate type. His son rode in the team, he is fascinated by cross country. When he talks about it, it's almost philosophical.
"Many kids today hardly feel any consequences for their actions," says Sigel. "In cross-country, you immediately feel when you overshoot. Seeing the impact of hard work and how you can achieve goals through your own actions has a positive effect on your overall personal development."
Dennis joined the team as a 13-year-old. He was recognised as a talent at the BIKE Junior Camp, which he attended in 2015. But back then, he was still completely in the dark when it came to training methods, season planning and nutrition. None of his friends rode mountain bikes. He just rode for fun after school. At some point, his father obtained a C-licence trainer's licence in order to take a more structured approach.
"But you were so determined that you always wanted to train more than I said," grins dad Konstantin. The successes prove Dennis right. In his room, which is located in the attic of the house, the trophies are lined up on several levels of shelves. The German national team shirt that he wore at the 2018 Olympic Games hangs framed at the head of the room. international TFJV matches (a country comparison between France, Germany and the Czech Republic) in France.
If you ask Dennis about other hobbies or parties, he shrugs his shoulders indifferently. Everything in his life revolves around mountain biking. Dennis leads the way down to the basement, where he has set up a fitness room. In the centre is a self-built leg press, his pride and joy.
"No photos," he asks. The competition, he explains, doesn't need to see all his training secrets. It's a small, cute scene that perfectly illustrates the ambition with which Dennis is working towards his big goal. But there's no other way. Superheroes are born through electric shocks or mutating genes. You only become a hero in Lycra through sweat and tears.
The fantastic four: The BIKE Junior Team 2023
Elias Hückmann, 14, Kulmbach
"I love mountain biking because I can switch off on the bike and forget everything around me."
"I love mountain biking because I can switch off on the bike and forget everything around me. I also love blasting through my local woods. I never lose my desire to train on the awesome trails. And motivation is important, because training can be pretty tough sometimes. That's why I feel so comfortable in the BIKE Junior Team, because here I can share my impressions and enjoyment of biking with my team mates. That really pushes you."
Lucie Hückmann, 16, Kulmbach
"It might sound crazy. But I love it when my legs are on fire and my heart is pounding."
"It might sound crazy. But I love it when my legs are burning and my heart is beating to the limit. It's a super great feeling to push myself to my limit uphill and downhill and then to see the results and improvements that come with hard training over time. I am very grateful to be able to ride in the BIKE Junior Team, as the sport is even cooler with my great team mates."
Paulina Lange,15, Mehrstetten
"Biking is our whole family's thing. I've raced with the Powerflitzers from time to time."
"Biking is our whole family's thing. I used to race with the Powerflitzers from time to time. I slowly grew into it through my siblings, and now I'm passionate about racing. Riding for the BIKE Junior Team is a great thing. We have a lot of fun together. At the same time, we always strengthen and motivate each other a lot. That's exactly what I like about biking: good camaraderie and cheering each other on and pushing each other to the next level."
Max Ebrecht, 15, Munich
"What fascinates me about cross-country is the routes with their many climbs, jumps and rock gardens."
"What fascinates me about cross-country is the routes with their many climbs, jumps and rock gardens. It's great fun. It's very different to road cycling, where you're cranking over the tarmac for 70 kilometres with 150 other riders and then sprinting for victory in the last 500 metres. In the cross-country races, I like to give it my all and go all out. The team gives us riders great support. Not just in terms of the equipment. We're a really cool bunch."
Interview with Bernd Sigel, head of the BIKE Junior Team
Discipline is not considered sexy.
Nothing works without him: Bernd Sigel is passionately committed as head of the BIKE Junior Team. But he actually has a stressful job. What drives him?
BIKE: The heroes of today's kids are not Olympians but YouTubers. What impact does this have on the next generation in the cross-country scene?
BERND SIGEL: It's true. Discipline, endurance and competitive sport are not considered sexy at the moment. Flying across the bike park looks better on Instagram. But the situation is stable. Most kids come to cross country through their parents. Because their dad has a chip on his shoulder, to put it that way (laughs). Only a few kids discover this sport on their own. But once they get into it, a fascinating world opens up for most of them.
What kind of world?
The kids experience how they become stronger. Physically and mentally. If you have to train for two or three weeks in bad weather, then of course it's not necessarily pure fun. But then you reap the rewards. Seeing that you can defy adversity, conquer a mountain and even race is great for the ego. I remember riding over the Alps with my then ten-year-old son Pirmin. We were standing at the top of Lake Reschen and I could watch him grow ten centimetres with pride.
A kind of superhero feeling?
In a way, yes. Sport also causes pain sometimes, of course. But it brings unique experiences. In today's society, everything unpleasant is pushed away from the children. I think that's a shame. Many kids no longer have the confidence to do anything.
You are the owner of a large bakery and have a lot on your plate. Why are you committed to the team on the side?
I've seen how positively Pirmin has developed through the BIKE Junior Team. We weren't a typical biker family and rather fell into it. Pirmin joined the team through the BIKE Youth Camp. We had no idea about the sport. The team supported us and gave us guidance. When racing became more dominant for Pirmin, he developed an extreme sense of duty. He wanted to be good. Even at school. When long-time team boss Gerhard Döhl retired, I decided to take over his duties. I didn't want the team to die. Pirmin was still in the team back then. Today I just do it for fun and with full conviction for the sport.
How much effort does the job of team principal involve?
The BIKE Junior Team is registered as a separate company. Managing the team is like running a small business. It starts with the finances and goes on to sponsorship contracts, team clothing, training management, race planning, coordinating media reports and the training camp. I talk to my athletes on the phone a lot. I want to know how they are doing. And I see it as my job to put the brakes on parents if they exert too much pressure.
The jerseys bear the clear anti-doping statement "Ride clean!". Is the topic also discussed within the team?
Of course. A clear anti-doping stance is very important to all of us. We do everything we can to sensitise the kids at an early stage and have already had experts from the anti-doping agency
experts from the anti-doping agency NADA at team meetings. Personally, I even take a critical view of dietary supplements. The kids should have fun on their bikes and not spend all their time worrying about whether and how they can get one per cent more out of a supplement.
20 years Junior Team
Originally, former BIKE editor Christoph Listmann and training expert Erik Becker had only planned a cross-country camp in autumn 2003. Inspired by the passion with which the children celebrated the weekend, the two decided to found the BIKE Junior Team on the spot.
The idea: each rider receives equipment and a professional as a personal mentor. The team started its first season in 2004 with six riders. Since then, the BIKE Junior Team has become an institution in junior racing. Cape Epic winner Georg Egger and junior world champion Paul Schehl started their careers there.
