Germany now has another MTB world champion, and he hails from Upper Bavaria. Andreas Seewald, who was born and raised in Lenggries, has claimed the MTB marathon world title for the second time in his career in Primiero San Martino di Castrozza. He had already stood at the top of the podium on Elba in 2021. The fact that he has now managed to repeat this feat came as quite a surprise to many.
In the Dolomites, he gave his rivals no chance. In the end, he finished 3 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of the Italian Gioele De Cosmo and his compatriot Jakob Dorigoni. The two crossed the finish line together and battled it out for silver and bronze. The second-best German was Jakob Hartmann in twelfth place.
Seewald’s bike is providing further talking points. He rode the race on a prototype 32-inch full-suspension race bike from his sponsor, KTM. This sends out a strong message. A 32-inch bike had previously won a stage at the Cape Epic, and the first models had already appeared at the start of World Cup events. Seewald’s World Championship victory is therefore a real milestone. It shows that a wave of 32-inch bikes is sweeping through the cross-country circuit.
Give me a high five, Andi!
MUST-DOS
1 Cycling trips
2 Celebrating achievements
3 Ski touring
4 Stroking cats
5 Applying nappy cream
FILMS
1 Rocky 1–5
2 The Big Lebowski
3 Back to the Future
4 Into the Wild
5 The Matrix
MUSIC
1 Bohemian Dream
2 Rocky Soundtrack
3 Buena Vista Social Club
4 Italo Disco
5 Deichkind
TOYS
1 Bikes
2 Even more bikes
3 Slackline
4 Unicycle
5 Super Nintendo
A WASTE OF TIME
1 Scrolling
2 GA1 training
3 Waiting for the sun
4 Shaving my legs
5 Pacing plans
GOOD TIMES
1 Home is home
2 Powder days
3 Braai evenings
4 Spa/sauna
5 Family
NO GOS
1 Waste
2 Doping
3 Excuses
4 Well-done steak
5 Competing as a professional in amateur events
TEMPTATIONS
1 Rice
2 Mountain climbing on a day off
3 ‘Chocolate’
4 Red wine
5 Overdoing the training
TRIGGER
1 When people don’t keep their word
2 Not leaving enough space when overtaking (motorists and cyclists)
3 Food waste
4 Unfairness
5 Airlines
Laurin Lehner
Editor
