Cycling: With around 400 mountain bikers on the entry list, the KMC MTB-Bundesliga will kick off its 2015 season next weekend in Lohr am Main. World Championship medal winners are on the starting lists and the local heroes are highly motivated by the organizer from RV Viktoria Wombach, above all Markus Bauer. The KMC Bundesliga event begins on Saturday with the Eliminator Sprint.
In the Wombach district of Lohr, the focus is already on hosting the 2016 German Championship, but the KMC Bundesliga has its own value. The approximately 400 mountain bikers who are on the registration list from the elite to the U15 category of the junior sighting series speak for themselves.
One who is particularly excited about the opening race of the German series is Markus Bauer, a native of Wombach. The Kreidler factory rider was second overall in the series in 2014 and is now one of the best German cross-country bikers.
“I'm really looking forward to the weekend and I'm happy that I can drive in a Bundesliga race in my home country. I want to show what I can do in front of my home crowd and try to fight for the podium,” says the 25-year-old.
That applies to Markus Bauer in both disciplines. Not only is he a DM bronze medalist in the Olympic cross-country discipline, he is also runner-up in the Eliminator Sprint.
"It's going to be a special feeling when I drive over the Main Bridge. Home and at the same time to a race”, Bauer explains his special perspective on the start of the Bundesliga.
In the sprint he also has to deal with Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls). The Black Forester from Titisee-Neustadt is not only the German champion in this discipline, but also the defending champion in terms of the KMC Bundesliga sprint and the KMC Bundesliga overall ranking.
"Aggressive as always", says Stiebjahn, he is. "I'm trying to repeat last year's success and to do that I have to start collecting points in Wombach." So far this season he has only shown form in the marathon discipline, but Stiebjahn is an all-rounder as it is written in books. Similar to his fat buddy Markus Bauer.
Old master Wolfram Kurschat is slowly approaching 40, but the man from Neustadt (adW) is still competitive, as he was able to prove at a race in Switzerland last week.
A real treat is the start of two marathon specialists. The four-time Cape Epic winner Karl Platt (Osthofen) and the reigning German Marathon Champion Tim Böhme (Frankfurt) are doing the honors in the KMC Bundesliga again after a long time. The two Bulls bikers may have been out of the cross-country scene for a while, but in the past they were among the best Germans.
"Just Pleasure", they would have, says their team manager Friedemann Schmude. "And as a preparation for the Marathon European Championships, that's not bad either."
Helen Grobert (Ghost Factory Racing) is the favorite for the women's race after Adelheid Morath had to change her plans at short notice.
“I'm happy to finally be able to drive in a Bundesliga race again and I'm excited about the track. It's important for me to get to know them because the DM will be taking place there next year.", explains Grobert, who lives in Freiburg.
“I definitely want to drive a good race and not hide. But we have strong competition in Germany.", continues the DM third party.
Her most important competitors are two other women from Freiburg: Ex-World Cup winner Nina Wrobel (Merida-Schulte) Hanna Klein (BH-Sr Suntour-KMC), who won bronze at the 2013 World Cup with the German relay. The Junior Vice World Champion of 2011, Lena Putz (Genesis-Entireinfra) from Röhrnbach, should be rated at least as high. She has recently indicated that she can play a good role as an under-23 driver against the elite.
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