National young talent scouting in Bad Salzdetfurth 2022

Photo: Marko Haas

The BIKE Junior Team continued its winning streak at the 4th stage of the national junior classification in Bad Salzdetfurth: Elias Hückmann and Dennis Krimmel once again took the victories.

Add bookmark

On 18 June 2022, the 4th race of the national junior classification (BNS) for U15 and U17 was held in Bad Salzdetfurth, Lower Saxony. It took place as part of the organisation of the German Cross Country Championships took place. A great supporting programme and a fantastic, newly designed track were guaranteed. In addition, the "Juniors" were able to get up close and personal with the German elite, whether during training on the track or in the paddock.

After the successes in the last few races, the conditions for another successful performance were very good. The members of the BIKE Junior Team who had travelled to the event were enthusiastic about the course after the training sessions. The only big question was how the predicted sweltering heat would affect the race! Here are the reports from the four riders:

Race report by Elias Hückmann, U15:

After a fantastic start on the very wide start straight, I was able to get straight to the front of the field and set the pace, which not every rider was able to follow. I managed to pull away from the rest of the field with two others. I was able to extend my lead on the two long laps, which I really enjoyed as there were lots of technical sections and singletrails.

Photo: Marko Haas Elias sets the pace and pulls away from the competition over the technical course.

Most read articles

However, the heat kept causing me problems during the race, so I had to fight hard to maintain my pace and increase the gap to the chasing pack. In the end, however, I finished in 1st place, which made me very happy!

How do you like this article?

Photo: Marko Haas In the end, Elias took first place in the junior classification in Bad Salzdetfurth at 35 degrees in the shade.

Race report from Lucie Hückmann, U17:

A successful start. I was able to take the lead straight away. However, I had to end the race after about half a lap. I suddenly felt very bad and weak on the uphill sections. Women's problems, a possible infection in combination with the heat were perhaps the reason.

Unfortunately, Lucie was only able to give it her all for half an hour - like here on the stone steps of the cross-country course - then her body could no longer keep up the pace.

Photo: Marko Haas Unfortunately, Lucie was only able to give it her all for half an hour - like here on the stone steps of the cross-country course - then her body could no longer keep up the pace.

Race report from Dennis Krimmel, U17:

I travelled to North Rhine-Westphalia for the 4th round of the BNS. In contrast to my training location on the Swabian Alb, it was 35 degrees here. The course, on the other hand, was just right for me with a slightly longer mountain, lots of short, steep climbs and technical passages throughout. I had a lot of fun riding the course.

Nevertheless, I always had my period of illness after Gedern on my mind, which meant I couldn't train for a week. I tried to compensate for this with a perfect bike set-up. I opted for my beloved Thunder-Burt tyres again. And as if that wasn't enough, the team also gave me a test fully.

Photo: Marko Haas Dennis takes a breath of fresh air in the heat at the weekend with his jersey open.

I tried to warm up as late as possible, but also as long as necessary, because otherwise it got far too warm. When I was on the roll, we were told that the start would be delayed by 20 minutes. That was a very tough and sweaty 20 minutes. Nevertheless, I focussed on the race. At the start, I was able to lead the way with Timo Brandl. He was my companion for the entire 1st lap. On the 2nd lap, I increased the pace and built up a lead of around 70 metres.

I tried to recover on the descents because there were no flat sections to rest on the whole course. On the 3rd lap, Emilian See came close to me. I didn't like that at all and I was back in the lead in about 30 seconds. I kept up this pace until the end and won. I'm super happy and looking forward to more races with the Bike Junior Team.

Photo: Marko Haas Dennis Krimmel also defends 1st place against his rival Emilian See - but they all move closer together on the podium.

Race report from Max Ebrecht, U17:

I had never seen the BNS station in Bad Salzdetfurth before. However, I really liked the newly created route. It is very varied and combines climbs, technical sections and longer descents. It's easy to overtake on the course, which was very helpful for me as I had to start the race from the fourth row of the grid due to my previous position in the junior classification.

It was dry as dust and scorching hot on the track in Bad Salzdetfurth. Max gives his all and only experiences one slip instead of the defects of the previous races.

Photo: Marko Haas It was dry as dust and scorching hot on the track in Bad Salzdetfurth. Max gives his all and only experiences one slip instead of the defects of the previous races.

I'm quite happy with the race and 12th place on Saturday. Congratulations to my team-mate Dennis, who won the race! The fact that we had to do four laps was in my favour, so I had enough time to catch up. Unfortunately, a small slip on the second lap cost me a few places. I'm also not a fan of overly warm and dry conditions. So I was glad of every cool down in the tech zones, but I noticed a slight drop in performance every time I left the forest and headed into the heat. Time that I then had to make up on the wooded climbs. Overall, however, I was able to continue building up my performance. I'm already looking forward to the next races and hope that I can finish in the top 10.