Cycling: There are still three months to go until the third stage of the KMC MTB Bundesliga 2015, but while the series opens in Wombach at the weekend, people are already working hard on the route for the debut of Titisee-Neustadt. Bundesliga title defender Simon Stiebjahn and last year's runner-up Markus Bauer recently tested the terrain on the Hochfirst World Cup ski jump.
On July 11th and 12th it will be a premiere for the tourist stronghold in the Upper Black Forest. Top-class international events in winter are known from ski jumping, but this is new territory in summer. Much praised regional MTB races have been organized for many years, but there has never been international competition within the KMC MTB Bundesliga at the Singer Bäumercup in Titisee-Neustadt. The greater the challenge that one faces there.
“We can say this much: the event will take place one hundred percent. Funding is secured. To cover all risks, we could use some support. Small amounts are also welcome. But we are confident that we will be able to cover all of this in the next few weeks.", explains chief organizer Klaus Ketterer.
The anticipation increases and the work becomes more. The route in the Schmiedsbach valley at the end of the Hochfirst ski jump will be made suitable for the Bundesliga in these weeks.
"We use the previous Rothaus Täler-Cup route, but we want to raise the claim to an international level." This is how chief organizer Klaus Ketterer explains what he and his colleagues from the organization team are currently working on week after week.
A large number of bikers who have already got to know other Bundesliga routes and also many World Cup courses as racers met last Saturday. Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls), defending champion in the KMC MTB Bundesliga and member of the Neustadt organization team, explains: "It's important that experienced cross-country bikers ride the route so that we can get feedback on what we still have to work on."
Markus Bauer from the Kreidler factory team, third in the DM and second in the KMC MTB Bundesliga last year, describes the course as "Nature route at international level that is fun."
The route meanders through the coniferous forest with countless changes of direction. The single trails are sometimes "flowy", as they say in biker slang, but sometimes they are also angular and require driving sensitivity.
"Nothing for pure racing cyclists", laughs Klaus Ketterer. The terrain is ideal for a large international event. At the World Cup ski jump in the Schmiedsbach valley there is also enough space for a team and expo area and for parking spaces.
Equally important is the terrain, which offers everything that makes mountain biking. The choice of route also allows the spectators above the Natür grandstand to follow a large part of the racing action. And other “hot spots” are only a short distance away.
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