Milatz after "Drama" to fourth title
Moritz Milatz from Freiburg has won the German championship title for the fourth time in Bad Salzdetfurth. In an exciting race, the 31-year-old beat former champion Wolfram Kurschat by 40 seconds after 1:26:01 hours. Bronze went to 22-year-old U23 rider Markus Schulte-Lünzum from Haltern, who chose to start in the elite class.
Fourth and fifth place went to defending champion Manuel Fumic from Kirchheim/T. (+1:55) and Markus Bauer (Kirchzarten, +4:03).
Moritz Milatz called the men's race "dramatic" in front of a large and atmospheric crowd. From his point of view, it certainly was. Already in the first of eight laps, his title ambitions receded into the distance. He suffered a rear wheel puncture on a descent. Fortunately, it was not far to the technical zone, so the loss of time was not too great. For Milatz, however, it was still "an eternity" and a defect on the first lap is "fatal" because you lose a lot of places.
He came out of the first of eight laps in twelfth place, 35 seconds behind Markus Schulte-Lünzum, and began his race to catch up. Over the course of the third lap, he took the lead.
There, youngster Schulte-Lünzum had to pay tribute to his offensive start and fell back, so that the "over 30s", Wolfram Kurschat, Manuel Fumic and Moritz Milatz, set the pace.
On the fourth lap, Fumic, who was riding his second race after a seven-week injury break, lost touch and Moritz Milatz took command on lap five and pulled out a small lead.
"Then I didn't get a gel in the feed zone and really had to fight. I couldn't concentrate properly and crashed," said Milatz, recounting the continuation of his personal drama on the way to his fifth victory in Bad Salzdetfurth, where he has long since become a crowd favourite.
However, Kurschat was unable to close the gap, allowing Milatz to cruise to victory in commanding style.
"I'm over the moon after this battle. That was one of the most exciting races I've ever done," said a beaming Milatz.
Wolfram Kurschat summarised his silver medal with a gentle smile on his face. "I lost," he said, "I wanted to win. But Moritz was the strongest today, even if you consider that he had the defect. I had back pain from the fourth lap onwards and therefore tried to push on the tarmac sections. In the technical sections, I was no longer able to accelerate."
Markus Schulte-Lünzum had the better end for himself in the battle for bronze. After leaving the leading group, he "no longer believed in it". The gap to third place grew to over 50 seconds. "I was completely over the limit on the first two laps. It wasn't until lap five that things got going again, after I actually tried to slow down a bit," explained Schulte-Lünzum.
When he was informed that his gap to Fumic was narrowing again, his fighting spirit was fully awakened. On the final climb, he caught up with Fumic, who was nine years his senior, and there was a brief duel, but Schulte-Lünzum arrived at the top first and pulled away.
"I took a risk at the start because I had nothing to lose," explained the U23 World Cup leader, "and the fact that it worked out is really cool.
Manuel Fumic also spoke of the risk he took at the beginning. "That was the only option in my condition. I wanted to put as much time as possible between myself and fourth place. It could have gone well, but in my situation I can't keep up with the three of them," explained Fumic.
Sabine Spitz completes the dozen
The Olympic champion celebrated a brilliant comeback in Bad Salzdetfurth. Sabine Spitz from Murg-Niederhof won her twelfth championship title in the Olympic cross-country discipline in the town of Soles, relegating Elisabeth Brandau to second place in 1:30:14 hours with a lead of 1:03 minutes. Silke Schmidt (Munich) surprised in third place with a difference of 1:37 minutes. Fourth and fifth place went to Hanna Klein (Freiburg) and Anja Gradl (Kastl). Defending U23 women's champion Helen Grobert (Remetschwiel) and junior Sofia Wiedenroth (Sigmarszell) both won.
Sabine Spitz's second race after a seven-week injury break went better than she would have expected. "That wasn't an understatement beforehand. The big uncertainty factor was the riding technique," explained Sabine Spitz.
Elisabeth Brandau was indeed able to put the three-time Olympic medallist under pressure in the technical passages during the first three laps, but on the mountain the 41-year-old was simply stronger than Brandau, who is not quite back on top of her game after tearing ligaments in her knee.
"I just don't have the strength. I also chose a larger chainring as I was afraid that it wouldn't be able to push through," explained Elisabeth Brandau.
On the fourth lap, the 27-year-old from Schönaich finally disappeared and the race was decided in favour of Sabine Spitz.
"I have to say, I'm also surprised at how well I coped with all the kicks, I didn't expect that," admitted the athlete from South Baden. The twelfth championship title is certainly one of the most surprising in her career.
"It never becomes routine," she said.
"I have to be satisfied with my entire history," said Elisabeth Brandau about her second cross-country silver medal after 2011.
Silke Schmidt, on the other hand, was "speechless". The DM was her first cross-country race. However, the lawyer was obviously rested enough to keep Hanna Klein in check, who had quite a few things go wrong on the day, including a chain that kept falling off.
"On the third lap, I thought I couldn't go any further, but at some point it all came together. I didn't get my heart rate as high as last year, but I was able to keep up my pace," explained Schmidt, who also came third in 2012.
As expected, the U23 title went to Helen Grobert (Focus XC), who pulled away on the first lap and also managed to avoid a crash on the second lap.
"I was the favourite, but a championship is a championship. You have to finish first," she said, relieved to have won her second title in this category.
She was probably surprised that Lena Putz (Muskelkater-Genesis) was unable to catch up after her fall.
However, she was a little disorganised before the start and started the race 30 seconds late. Everything went well again, because in the end she was awarded the - expected - silver medal.
"That was my mistake. I was shocked at first, but then I put everything into it. It's a shame that I couldn't really fight against Helen," said the Röhrnbach native.
Bronze surprisingly went to Lena Wehrle (Lexware-Rothaus), who spoke of the "coolest race of my life". The Buchenbach rider left Majlen Müller (Fujibikes Rockets) behind on the first lap after she suffered a defect.
In the juniors, Sofia Wiedenroth (Fiat-Rotwild) left nothing to be desired despite her hand injury. The runner-up in the European Championships was a clear winner ahead of Sarah Bauer (Merida-Schulte) and Jessica Benz (Wheeler-iXS).
"I was simply stronger on the climbs and pulled away on the second lap. I took the descents carefully. It was really great that it worked out," said a delighted Wiedenroth.
Bauer complained about a "weak second lap", but was otherwise satisfied with the race and the result, as was Jessica Benz, who won the duel for bronze with the German sprint champion Veronika Brüchle (Stevens-Schubert).
Christian Pfäffle wins the U23 title
Christian Pfäffle has secured his first championship title in the U23 category. The rider from Neuffen won in Bad Salzdetfurth with an impressive performance, 56 seconds ahead of his team-mate Julian Schelb. It was no surprise that another rider from the Kirchzarten Lexware-Rothaus team, Martin Gluth, took the bronze medal (+1:43).
David Simon (Büchel) and Louis Wolf (Untermünkheim) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Christian Pfäffle and Julian Schelb pulled away from the competition on the second lap and rode together at the front until the fourth lap. However, the two team-mates had not agreed a truce.
On the contrary. After a jump, Julian Schelb attacked on the downhill, passed Pfäffle and pulled out a small lead.
But the attack was stopped immediately afterwards. The chain had fallen off and the Münstertäler had to stop to put the chain back on.
"I think Julian took a bit of a risk there. The chain falls off quickly in the bumpy conditions. After that, I simply continued to ride my rhythm, just as I had done from the start. I never let up," explained Pfäffle.
"It's a shame that we weren't able to have a proper duel. Chrissie was probably the stronger one today, but of course you don't know how it would have turned out if we had stayed together," commented Schelb.
Christian Pfäffle, who had already won the national league race in Saalhausen, was delighted with his first championship title in the U23: "Really cool. Now that it matters, the form is there," said the 20-year-old.
There was an exciting finish in the battle for the bronze medal. Martin Gluth had a complete breakdown after the first round and was relegated to eighth place.
"The engine just wouldn't start, I don't know why," said Gluth.
David Simon (Büchel) was able to settle into third place after his Bergamont team-mate Ben Zwiehoff (Essen) dropped back with back problems.
Gluth was already more than a minute behind third place when he suddenly hit his stride. On the fifth of seven laps, he was still 50 seconds behind Simon, but Gluth was now riding like a locomotive.
"At some point, something clicked," reported Gluth.
At the end of the penultimate lap David Simon crashed ("I got nervous") and on the last lap Martin Gluth (Helmbrechts) passed the Saarland rider.
"I achieved my minimum goal. Of course, it would have been nice to be at the front with the two of them, but if it's not enough, then it's not enough," said Gluth.
A few metres further on stood a disappointed David Simon, who had finished 32 seconds later.
"It was my last chance to win a DM medal because it's my last U23 year. What a pity. But he probably would have caught me even if I hadn't crashed," said Simon.
Lukas Baum defends junior title
European Champion Lukas Baum (Fiat-Rotwild) has defended his German Junior Championship title in Bad Salzdetfurth. The rider from Neustadt won in 1:06:47 hours, 49 seconds ahead of Georg Egger (BIKE Junior Team), who finished sixth in the European Championships, and 1:25 minutes ahead of Luca Schwarzbauer (Lexware-Rothaus). Fourth and fifth place went to his team-mate David Horvath (+1:55) and Philipp Bertsch (+5:18).
In the junior race, European champion Lukas Baum seized the initiative on the first lap. "When I realised they couldn't follow me, I kept up my pace," explained Lukas Baum. By the second lap, he already had a lead of around 30 seconds over his pursuers Georg Egger and Luca Schwarzbauer.
The 16-year-old Schwarzbauer took over second position on the second lap, but had to let Egger pass him again. During this phase, the gap to Baum fell below 30 seconds at times, but the Palatinate rider had the race under control.
"I rode my rhythm. As I got closer, I already knew that Lukas would let his legs dangle a little and then be able to pick up the pace again," explained Egger, who was "highly satisfied" with his second place.
And so it was. Lukas Baum rode to a commanding victory and said afterwards: "I expected it to be a bit harder. After the European Championships, everyone expected it of me, of course, so it was a must-win," said Lukas Baum, who had already won the championship jersey in Bad Säckingen in 2012.
For Luca Schwarzbauer, bronze was "the maximum". He simply had great legs on the second lap. When Egger caught up with him again and pulled away, it was difficult for a short time.
"But then I just did my thing and knew that a 25-second lead over David was enough for me," explained Schwarzbauer, who was down to 17 seconds at one point at the start of the last lap.
Here are the results:
DM MTB CC Bad Salzdetfurth 2013
Elite men (17 classified)
1st Moritz Milatz (D) 1:26.01,4. 2nd Wolfram Kurschat (D)
1:26.41,2. 3. Markus Schulte-Lünzum (D) 1:27.21,0. 4. Manuel
Fumic (D) 1:27.56,7. 5. Markus Bauer (D) 1:30.04,0. 6. Sebastian
Szraucner (D) 1:30.19,2. 7. Gerrit Rosenkranz (D) 1:31.04,4. 8.
Andy Eyring (D) 1:31.30,2. 9. Simon Stiebjahn (D) 1:33.00,2. 10.
Heiko Gutmann (D) 1:33.05,2. 11. Maximilian Holz (D) 1:33.44,7.
12th Marcel Fleschhut (D) 1:34.42,7. 13th Torsten Marx (D)
1:35.28,6. 14. Christopher Maletz (D) 1:36.11,8. 15. Tom Ettlich
(D) 1:36.53,3. 16. Marc Odrosek (D) 1:37.42,1. 17. Henrik
Hoffmann (D) 1:39.17,4.
Men U23 (32 classified)
1. Christian Pfäffle (D) 1:17.31,4. 2. Julian Schelb (D)
1:18.27,0. 3. Martin Gluth (D) 1:19.14,7. 4. David Simon (D)
1:19.46,6. 5th Louis Wolf (D) 1:20.05,2. 6th Simon Schilli (D)
1:20.18,8. 7. Aaron Beck (D) 1:21.08,3. 8. Martin Frey (D)
1:21.16,5. 9. Ben Zwiehoff (D) 1:22.13,1. 10. Christopher Platt
(D) 1:23.16,0. 11. Heiko Hog (D) 1:23.21,4. 12. Wenzel
Böhm-Gräber (D) 1:23.33,4. 13. Markus Siebert (D) 1:23.33,9. 14.
Lysander Kiesel (D) 1:23.34,6. 15. Felix Huschle (D) 1:23.50,4.
16. Maximilian Maier (D) 1:24.29,9. 17. Yannik Brischle (D)
1:24.48,7. 18. Anselm W¸llner (Schmallenberg) 1:24.57,0. 19.
Michael Wanski (D) 1:25.07,0. 20. Florian Kort¸m (D) 1:25.27,2.
21. Robert Traupe (D) 1:25.37,8. 22. Steve Scheffel (D)
1:26.18,7. 23. Constantin Kolb (D) 1:26.36,5. 24. Marcel Lehrian
(D) 1:26.36,9. 25. Jonas M¸ller (D) 1:26.45,1. 26. Marvin
Schmidt (D) 1:27.29,9. 27. Yves Ketterer (D) 1:27.39,1. 28.
Marcel Pˆter (D) 1:27.59,5. 29. Marco Holzschuher (D) 1:28.19,8.
30th Henrik Grobert (D) 1:28.30,5. 31st Lukas Holtkamp (D)
1:30.40,3. 32. Felix Legler (D) 1:32.50,4.
Juniors U19 (35 classified)
1. Lukas Baum (D) 1:06.47,3. 2. Georg Egger (D) 1:07.36,7. 3.
Luca Schwarzbauer (D) 1:08.12,6. 4. David Horvath (D) 1:08.42,1.
5. Philipp Bertsch (D) 1:10.05,8. 6. Sven Strähle (D) 1:10.21,0.
7. Johannes Bläsi (D) 1:11.23,5. 8. Jakob Hartmann (D)
1:11.39,3. 9. Tim Streckenbach (D) 1:12.12,5. 10. Léon Eisenkoll
(D) 1:12.28,6. 11. Benedikt Kipka (D) 1:12.52,4. 12. Lukas Wälde
(D) 1:12.56,5. 13. Fabian Bauer (D) 1:13.31,9. 14. Julian Braun
(D) 1:14.03,3. 15. Luis Blattner (D) 1:14.19,9. 16. Niklas Sell
(D) 1:14.23,2. 17. Andreas Egger (D) 1:14.30,1. 18. Julian Dunst
(Reutlingen) 1:14.41,1. 19. Patrick Obert (D) 1:14.42,1. 20. Max
Josef Ruckriegel (D) 1:15.22,8. 21. Bastian Willaredt (D)
1:15.46,3. 22. Marinus Krug (D) 1:15.59,5. 23. Lucas Arnhold (D)
1:16.02,8. 24. Nils-Peter Dillmann (D) 1:16.16,7. 25. Luca
Buschmans (D) 1:16.36,2. 26. Till Bönisch (D) 1:16.47,9. 27.
Julian Biedermann (D) 1:16.52,9. 28. Jonas Hablitzel (D)
1:17.37,5. 29. Luis Hauflmann (D) 1:17.42,2. 30. Sean Christopher
Feldhaus (D) 1:17.52,8. 31. Johannes Frey (D) 1:18.29,9. 32.
Timo Reith (D) 1:19.19,8. 33. Steffen Wild (D) 1:19.26,8. 34.
Ethan Elias Huber (D) 1:19.35,1. 35. Leon Kaiser (D) 1:20.04,0.
Elite women (8 classified)
1. Sabine Spitz (D) 1:30.14,1. 2. Elisabeth Brandau (D)
1:31.17,7. 3. Silke Schmidt (Eppelborn) 1:31.51,2. 4. Hanna
Klein (D) 1:33.42,3. 5th Anja Gradl (D) 1:35.34,9. 6th Nina Wrobel
(D) 1:37.21,2. 7. Nadine Rieder (D) 1:40.30,0. 8. Lisa Heckmann
(D) 1:45.59,8.
Women U23 (10 classified)
1. Helen Grobert (D) 1:19.30,9. 2. Lena Putz (D) 1:21.55,8. 3.
Lena Wehrle (D) 1:27.08,8. 4. Stefanie Dohrn (D) 1:28.34,0. 5.
Vanessa Kleih (D) 1:30.30,0. 6. Chiara Eberle (D) 1:31.25,0. 7.
Hannah Traupe (D) 1:32.04,0. 8. Theresa Wolfrum (D) 1:33.08,3.
9. Saskia Hauser (Oppenau) 1:34.49,5. 10. Majlen Müller (D)
1:35.21,7.
Juniors U19 (9 classified)
1. Sofia Wiedenroth (D) 1:08.29,3. 2. Sarah Bauer (D) 1:11.00,5.
3. Jessica Benz (D) 1:11.32,2. 4. Veronika Br¸chle (D)
1:12.09,3. 5th Anke Schmid (D) 1:14.40,2. 6th Isabell Lange (D)
1:17.08,5. 7. Antonia Rˆdel (D) 1:17.46,6. 8. Hanna Leersch (D)
1:20.54,3. 9. Lisa Schaub (D) 1:22.47,2.
DM Bad Salzdetfurth 2013 - Youth U17 Men
1. Torben Drach (D) 50. 2. Lars Koch (D) 42. 3. Alex Bregenzer
(D) 35. 4. Florian Reichle (D) 30. 5. Timo Holzschuher (D) 25.
6. Niklas Schehl (D) 24. 7. Jannik Stegmaier (D) 23. 8. Simon
Schneller (D) 22. 9. Maximilian Brandl (D) 21. 10. Tim Feinauer
(D) 20. 11. Robin Hofmann (D) 19. 12. Pascal Vogl (D) 18. 13.
Toni Partheym¸ller (D) 17. 14. Silas Graf (D) 16. 15. Alexander
Bunn (D) 15. 16. Nils Ader (D) 14. 17. Jannik Friedrich (D) 13.
18. Niklas Weifl (D) 12. 19. Moritz Hallmanns (D) 11. 20. Nikolas
Schmieder (D) 10. 21. Luis Neff (D) 9. 22. Anton Albrecht (D) 8.
23. Jonas Rutsch (D) 7. 24. Gabriel Sindlinger (D) 6. 25.
Maximilian Saier (D) 5. 26. Kevin Beckschulze (D) 4. 27. Lauritz
Richter (D) 3. 28. Niklas Lˆffler (D) 2. 29. Tobias Steinhart
(D) 1. 29. Bjˆrn Traenckner (D) 1.
DM Bad Salzdetfurth 2013 - Pupils U15
1. Tim Wollenberg (D) 50. 2. Timo Bichler (D) 42. 3. Lars
Hemmerling (D) 35. 4. Niklas Märkl (D) 30. 5. Pepe Rahl (D) 25.
6. Julian Rottmann (D) 24. 7. Adrian Hummel (D) 23. 8. Alexander
Dietrich (D) 22. 9. Tim Meier (D) 21. 10. Jakob Niemeyer (D) 20.
11. Lars Jakobs (D) 19. 12. David List (D) 18. 13. Pirmin Sigel
(D) 17. 14. Ferdinand Nils Herrlich (D) 16. 15. Jannick
Zurnieden (D) 15. 16. Noah Rupp (D) 14. 17. Moritz Sch‰b (D) 13.
18. Raphael Lange (D) 12. 19. Niclas Zimmer (D) 11. 20. Merlin
Muth (D) 10. 21. Lennart Voege (D) 9. 22. Leon Reinhard Kaiser
(D) 8. 23. Finn Laurenz Klinger (D) 7. 24. Immanuel Ries (D) 6.
25. Pascal Sˆhner (D) 5. 26. Tim Neum¸ller (D) 4. 27. Niklas
M¸ller (D) 3. 28. Julian Schn¸rer (D) 2. 29. Moritz Dehne (D) 1.
29th Felix Braun (D) 1.
DM Bad Salzdetfurth 2013 - Youth U17 Ladies
1. Laura Dold (D) 50. 2. Hannah Grobert (D) 42. 3. Antonia
Daubermann (D) 35. 4. Kim Riesterer (D) 30. 5. Paulina Bender
(D) 25. 6. Anna-Lena Nicolai (D) 24. 7. Anna Saier (D) 23. 8.
Mirjam Kuhn (D) 22. 9. Maria Dˆring (D) 21. 10. Felicitas Geiger
(D) 20. 11. Lisa Neum¸ller (D) 19. 12. Zoe Kiesel (D) 18. 13.
Lia Schrievers (D) 17. 14. Anna Jakobs (D) 16. 15. Denise Luft
(D) 15. 16. Clarissa Mai (D) 14. 17. Valerie Fiona Feldhaus (D)
13. 18. Theresa Lenz (D) 12. 19. Michelle Luft (D) 11. 20.
Celina Vogl (D) 10. 21. Lea David (D) 9. 22. Anja Greber (D) 8.
23. Celine Bubeck (D) 7. 24. Jana Bubeck (D) 6.
DM Bad Salzdetfurth 2013 - schoolgirls U15
1. Leonie Daubermann (D) 50. 2. Josefine Kornmann (D) 42. 3.
Sophia Schniedejan (D) 35. 4. Franziska Koch (D) 30. 5. Katleen
Bock (D) 25. 6. Nina Kornatzki (D) 24. 7. Ronja Eibl (D) 23. 8.
Leonie Sobiera (D) 22. 9. Celina Wiedemer (D) 21. 10. Nina
K¸derle (D) 20. 11. Marion Fromberger (D) 19. 12. Elisa
Steinhart (D) 18. 13. Eva Margit Freund (D) 17. 14. Corinna
Kienzler (D) 16. 15. Lucille Rutsch (D) 15. 16. RenÈe Elena
Kaiser (D) 14. 17. Maike Brengartner (D) 13. 18. Joanna Schreyer
(D) 12. 19. Corinna Kˆnig (D) 11. 20. Corinna Zohner (D) 10. 21.
Franziska Reichle (Leonberg) 9. 22. Laura Klomp (D) 8. 23. Leoni
Fend (D)
