Cycling: Two of the world's best professional teams have registered for the final of the KMC MTB Bundesliga on September 13th and 14th in Bad Salzdetfurth. Overall World Cup winner Jolanda Neff leads the Giant Pro XC Team, while the Mulitvan-Merida team travels to the spa town with record World Champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa and former World Champion José Antonio Hermida.
Actually, Jolanda Neff leads the Liv Pro XC Team, but Liv is simply the brand that Giant sells their women's bikes under. At 21, the Swiss is the youngest overall World Cup winner of all time and this season's shooting star with her first three World Cup victories.
Under the Liv Pro XC label, Maja Wloszczowska from Poland will be a second world-class rider at the start of the HC category race in Bad Salzdetfurth. The 2010 World Champion and eight-time World Championship medal winner has been one of the world's best cross-country riders for ten years and was Vice World Champion in 2013.
Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa from the Multivan-Merida Biking Team has even more and the most World Championship medals (12) in her showcase. The Norwegian is no stranger to Bad Salzdetfurth, having been to the brine town in 2012 and 2011, coming second each time.
Dahle-Flejssaa is targeting her tenth World Championship title in her native Norway a week before the KMC Bundesliga final and has never finished below third in any of her World Cup appearances this year. This proves that the now 41-year-old is still the absolute world leader.
The men of the two teams also embody world class
With her there are other world-class male bikers in the Multivan-Merida Biking Team. The 2010 World Champion, José Antonio Hermida from Spain, has competed in Bad Salzdetfurth several times, as has the 23 U2011 World Champion Thomas Litscher from Switzerland. For the 23 U2012 World Champion, Ondrej Cink from the Czech Republic, it will be the premiere. Both youngsters are already capable of world-class performances.
Julian Schelb is not far from that on a good day. The U23 Vice World Champion from Münstertal has been riding for the team based in Magstadt in Swabia since this year.
The Giant Pro Team also brings three high-profile bikers to the starting line. The Swiss Fabian Giger is Vice European Champion and fourth in the world rankings, Emil Lindgren is Swedish Champion and tenth in the world rankings. There is also U23 driver Michiel van der Heijden from the Netherlands, who was U2012 Vice World Champion in 23.
Both teams bring drivers from a total of eight different nations. Even with this illustrious group, the KMC Bundesliga final is better staffed than ever before. "That's great", says Thomas Kasten from the city of Bad Salzdetfurth, "It pays off that we got HC status for the first time this year." In the HC category there are more world ranking points and higher prize money.