Race report Dennis Krimmel, U17
Last weekend we travelled to Wombach in Bavaria. When we arrived, I inspected the slalom straight away, as it had to be timed the next day. The position and the respective points were very important for the starting grid and the overall ranking.
Due to many successive crashes by various athletes, the slalom was closed at times or was not rideable. So I didn't have particularly good preparation. That wore me out, especially mentally.
Slalom race
The next day, the start of the individual slalom runs was set for 3 pm. When 29 athletes were down, the 30th fell and blocked the course. Ambulances, emergency doctors etc. had to come to the rescue. This process took 1.5 hours. During this time, I should have already completed my two runs. These 1.5 hours were very difficult because no athlete knew when to continue and when to warm up.
When the track was finally clear again, I did my first run and set the fastest time. That really motivated me and I became much more confident despite my lack of training. I collected myself again before the second run and skied down the very demanding course very cleanly and without any technical errors.
At the bottom, I realised that my second run was only good enough for second place. But because both times were totalled, I was still able to take the win. In the evening, all the focus was on the XCO race on Sunday.
Cross-country race
When I woke up the next day, my legs felt average because the exertion from the previous day was relatively intense. I thought about a lot of tactics, but ultimately came to no decision and decided to slowly ease into the race.
After the starting signal, I entered the forest in third place. I was first again at the top and increased the pace. Only one competitor was able to keep up due to the tightening. So we rode a whole lap. When he suffered a puncture on the second descent, I realised that there was no point on this route. So I continued at the same pace as before and let the others catch up. That's how we rode the remaining three laps.
Things came to a head again on the last lap. There was a strong fight and one of the riders pulled himself to the front and sprinted up the hill. As it was still the bottom of the climb, I only stayed on the back wheel and only overtook him at the end when there were two of us due to his high speed. I rode the descent quickly but very safely and I didn't care what happened behind me because I could see that he was slowing down. Shortly before the finish, I let myself be cheered again and enjoyed crossing the finish line.
After the race I was often told that I had made the race extremely exciting because there were five of us in the forest and suddenly I came out alone at the bottom with an extremely big lead.
My conclusion: I'm very happy that I was able to score points for the overall standings again and thus defend my interim 1st place in the German list with an even greater lead. It has often happened that I have finished 1st on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. Two victories are like a dream for me now. I'll be travelling to France in five days' time for the TFJV (Trophée de France des Jeunes Vététistes, editor's note) with the German national team and will try to get some top places there too. After that, I will continue to train on holiday so that the next races will hopefully go like this again.
Race report Elias Hückmann, U15
After a unsatisfactory result in Weißenfels I was highly motivated and ready to give my all in Wombach.
Slalom on Saturday
My first slalom was on the programme at 13:50 on Saturday. I wanted to ski it safely and cleanly. I managed that well on the winding downhill and finished 4th after the first run, so I took a little more risk in the second run. It paid off. I came second. As both times are added together, I ended up in 3rd place. That made me really happy.
Cross-country race on Sunday
The XCO race had some technical sections with a lot of metres of climbing, which I really enjoyed. I felt very comfortable and wanted to ride at the front again. After a fantastic start, I was able to ride into the first long climb in the lead. There I immediately tried to open up a gap to my pursuer. I succeeded and the gap got bigger. I was able to make up more time in the following laps and eventually crossed the finish line as the winner.
I enjoyed the race weekend in Wombach and it showed me that my form is good for the following races.
Race report Paulina Lange, U17
Saturday Slalom
What a miserable start to the weekend. Everything went well in the first run until I missed a small hole at one point. I lost my front wheel, but then managed to save myself and had to click in again and start again. I was very annoyed with myself, but then had to concentrate on the second run again. Nothing worked for me that day. The second run was even worse than the first. This crash ruined a good time for me. In the end I finished 13th. I'm very disappointed with my performance.
Sunday XCO
After a very good start from the third row, he entered the start loop in fifth place. The track was technically very demanding and dusty. The lap also had a lot of uphill sections and the hot weather didn't make the race any easier. I got off to a good start and was able to keep up with the group in second place. Unfortunately, after three tough laps, I still had to admit defeat in the final sprint. Another ungrateful fourth place, but still another solid race and room for improvement.
Full focus now on the European Championships in Switzerland! And what a weekend for my team-mates! I'm so proud to be part of this mega awesome team!
Race report Max Ebrecht, U17
After I was in I crashed heavily in Weißenfels during track training and in the raceI first had to take care of my body (concussion, whiplash and various bruises) and my bike (broken frame). This meant a week of healing and rebuilding the bike. Special thanks at this point to Pirmin from the team, who got me a replacement frame super quickly. During this time, I also reflected quite a lot with my trainers on the reasons for the crashes and what adjustments I could make. In the second week, I got back into bike training. However, I was advised not to start the slalom on Saturday to avoid the risk of another head injury.
Cross-country race
However, I was looking forward to the XCO race on Sunday all the more and it went really well for me. After starting from last place on the grid, I was able to make up a lot of places quite quickly and reach 12th position after two laps - and hold on to it until the end. I deliberately took it a little easier on the descents, but I was able to make up the time I lost on the climbs.
I was really happy about my 12th place. With every place I moved up from last on the grid, I celebrated a small victory for myself. In the end it was 32 in very dry conditions, which I personally don't like, and a super dusty track where you could hardly see anything on the descents. All in all, I'm very happy with my performance and hope that things continue to go uphill.
Lucie Hückmann, U17
Lucie had to grudgingly miss this weekend because she had to recover from a bout of flu that confined her to bed at the beginning of the week.
Marc Strucken
Editor
