BIKE Junior Team: Podium places at the 3rd national junior classification in Wombach

The 3rd round of the 2023 national junior classification took place in Wombach. The race in Wombach is the highlight of the season for many riders: a technically demanding course with many metres of elevation gain and challenging downhills - plus a slalom course that demands everything.

Super organisation from RV Victoria Wombach and, as usual, extreme weather. This year it's either the end of the world with thunderstorms or it's Sahara dry. This time the dry, dusty option was on the menu.

Two slalom runs had to be completed on Saturday. The dust-dry course was a challenge for the starters. The starting position for the XCO on Sunday was determined in the slalom. With the exception of Nico, our starters fell short of their expectations in the slalom and had to start the XCO from the back of the field. This only made the task more difficult.

But they all mastered the challenge and ended up on the podium. Nico (U15) and Elias (U17) even won gold. Pirmin was also back on the track for the first time after his accident in Riva. His recovery is going very well. He has been able to walk again since last week and is also training again in rehab.

Race report Paulina Lange

This weekend, the race weekend in Wombach was on the agenda. On Friday, the lines were checked and I trained on the downhill. On Saturday, the races didn't start until the afternoon. Waiting the whole day was a bit nerve-wracking.

My first run was without any crashes or anything else, but just too slow and cautious to be able to ride at the front. In the second run I tried to ride with more pressure, which I did well, except for a stupid mistake right in the first section. So it wasn't the result I could be happy with. In the end, I finished 13th after two runs and started from row three for the XCO on Sunday. This gave me even more motivation to show what I'm made of.

Sunday XCO After a very good start, I was able to take the lead straight away. However, the start loop and the first lap were extremely tough for me due to a very high start speed. I suffered for it on the first lap and had to fight hard to maintain my position. From the second lap onwards, I was able to make up ground and slowly move forwards. My legs got better and better and after just under an hour of racing I finished in second place. 5th place to the finish.

I had definitely planned more for the weekend, but I didn't give up in the XCO and made the best of it. But now I'm looking forward to the qualifying race in Albstadt on the former World Cup course 🤩 Many thanks again to the team for their support and I'm really happy about this fantastic team performance!!!

Race report Nico Brandl

After becoming Bavarian champion last weekend, I travelled to Wombach for the national junior classification with a good feeling. The slalom took place in two rounds on Saturday. I was already feeling good at the inspection. I put down a solid run in the first run, which secured me fifth place in the meantime. In the second run, I was able to improve my time significantly by 2.5 seconds, which was enough for second place overall in the end. This meant not only important points, but also a starting position on the front row on Sunday.

I was able to join the leading group right from the start, although I realised that my legs were a little heavy. However, I was able to keep up. Towards the middle of the last lap, the leader started to sprint and I took the opportunity to pass him, as I knew that this was the chance to overtake. So I rode the first victory in the national junior scouting programme.

Race report Max Ebrecht

The third BNS race took place at the weekend in Wombach. Like every BNS race, there was a qualifier on Saturday and the XCO race on Sunday. As in Hausach, the qualifying was a slalom, which didn't suit me as it was very narrow and twisty. The XCO course was also tight and technical, but offered plenty of climbs for overtaking.

Slalom: The slalom wasn't really my thing, so I went into the race without any expectations. I actually felt quite good and confident on the course and my aim was to secure a stable starting position again. Everything went well on the first run until I turned into the finish bend and my front wheel slipped. I also got tangled up with my bike, so I couldn't jump on immediately and run to the finish.

I then rode the second run purely to be on the safe side so that nothing would happen again and I wouldn't have to start from the back of the field. In the end, I only managed a disappointing 41st place, which meant that I had to start the XCO race from quite far back again.

XCO: The course in Wombach suited me best this year and I was motivated after yesterday to show once again that I can ride from the very back to the very front. The conditions also suited me and because it hadn't rained in Wombach, everything was dry and warm.

Starting position 41 meant starting from the 7th to 8th row. The race was planned over one start loop and three laps, so there was plenty of time to get to the front. After the delayed start, I was quickly able to make up ground and found myself in the top 10 by the end of the start loop.

On the next lap, I was able to move up even further and was within reach of P2 in P3 at the end of the lap. I rode together with a competitor until I couldn't quite keep up with an attack at the start of the last lap and fell back to P2. 4th place which I was able to secure until the finish.

I'm very happy with my performance, but had hoped for more than 4th place at the start of the weekend. Congratulations to my team-mate Elias, who secured his third win. I'm looking forward to my next MTB event in Switzerland, next weekend at the ÖKK Bike Revolution Cup in Davos.

Race report Elias Hückmann

I was really looking forward to the BNS in Wombach because the weather forecast was good and the course had lots of cool key sections. I checked out the slalom on Friday. I liked it a bit better than last year as it was easier to ride. So I was well prepared for the slalom on Saturday and managed to finish tenth overall with two safe and fast runs. This secured me a place on the second row for the XCO race the following day.

So I stood at the start line on Sunday after the start had been delayed by almost thirty minutes. That messed up my warm-up programme a bit. But it was the same for every participant. My legs were still good. So I rode the start loop and the following lap in a group of two. When I stepped up the pace on the longest climb, I opened up a small gap. I managed to extend this gap. So I rode the second half of the race alone. Fortunately, the challenging route and the heat didn't bother me too much and I was able to finish the race in the lead. Win a race. I am very satisfied with the event and my personal performance.