German national young talent scouting in Hausach
The first round of this year's national junior classification took place at the weekend in Hausach, Baden-Württemberg. The journey to Hausach and the first track check started on Friday in almost wintry conditions, which boded ill for the weekend.
Unfortunately, we weren't at the start of the season, but Dennis and Paulina flew the flag for the BIKE Junior Team in Hausach. Four races, three podiums - it can go on like this!
Start of the race weekend: Hausach Slalom
The race weekend opened with the famous Hausach slalom: despite the heavy rainfall, the course was quite good, thanks to the Black Forest soil. Paulina competed in her first U17 slalom and was able to set a decent time in the first run despite a standing start. Paulina improved significantly in the second run and achieved a good ninth place after both runs. The winner was Lina Huber from Münsingen.
Dennis, in the old U17 age group, had big plans for the Hausach slalom. He still had a score to settle from the previous year, when he missed out on a top result due to a technical defect. Highly motivated, he started the first run as the first starter after missing the athletics test. He completed the challenging course over stone fields, berms and jumps almost faultlessly. At the finish line, he had to wait and see what his time would be worth, as all his fast rivals were still to come. But none of them managed to overtake Dennis, so the first goal had already been achieved.
He started the second run with a one-second lead, which he managed even better. This time he waited for the competition with a little more confidence. Once again, he set the fastest time, now with a two-second lead. In total, he was four seconds ahead of his first rival, Louis van Zeeland.
Afterwards, Paulina and Dennis went to the final CC course check with Pirmin Sigel.
Paulina makes the start
Paulina opened the day with her CC race. The challenging course consisted of a flat section in the forest with lots of bends and technical obstacles, steep climbs with various lines and parts of the slalom with a stone field and jumps. It's always great to be able to ride this selective course in Hausach during the sighting.
Paulina started the race from the second row. Immediately after the start, she lined up in the top 8 and rode consistently in this range. On the last lap, there were a few changes of position with a rival, but Pauli had managed her strength superbly and was able to overtake on the last climb before the Steinfeld. Paulina finished safely in fifth place. A strong debut in the new class. The winner of the day was Paulina Wiegelt from the KTM Youngsters.
Dennis in pole position
Dennis was able to start from pole position thanks to his victory the day before. Here is his report:
On the morning before the CC race, it was difficult to make the right tyre choice as it had rained during the night and it was still very cloudy in the morning. It was not easy to predict how the tracks would develop.
Despite the tension, I felt fit for the race. I immediately picked up the pace at the start and rode the first lap with a lead. From the second lap onwards, my back started to ache and I was no longer able to keep up the pace. I battled on in fourth place.
On the last lap, I was able to move up to third place. However, severe cramps forced me to slow down. A chain failure on the rider in front of me allowed me to gain another place.
I was able to cross the finish line in second place with cramps. I'm happy with my performance, but will try to improve a few details. The winner was Marlon Uhl from Hausach, with Rick Meylender (LUX) in third.
We can build on this start to the season, and I'm already looking forward to the next sighting on the Swabian Alb in Böhringen.
