Cycling: Favorite wins at the third station of the KMC MTB Bundesliga in Titisee-Neustadt. The Swiss Florian Vogel and the Freiburger Helen Grobert have won the cross-country races. Vogel won ahead of his compatriot Nicola Rohrbach and local hero Simon Stiebjahn, while Helen Grobert relegated the Swiss Corina Gantenbein and Hanna Klein to places at the Singer Bäumer Cup.
Florian Vogel (Focus XC) only had a companion in the first of eight laps. It was the "landlord" and co-organizer Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls) who started the second round of the fourth in the world rankings. Moritz Milatz (Koch Engineering-Müsing Bikes) was five seconds behind.
But Simon Stiebjahn was not tempted to follow the absolute world-class driver. “According to my calculations, I was half a minute too fast. That's why I made sure that I drive half a minute slower on the next lap to be back in my planned rhythm.", Simon Stiebjahn explained his strategy.
Not exactly a common move, but it eventually got him onto the podium.
Back to the top. That belonged to Florian Vogel, who extended his lead over the pursuers with Milatz to around one minute in the next two laps. There was a bit of tension again when Florian Vogel got a tire defect and his lead melted by a good half a minute. "It got really tough again", known bird. However, the cushion was large enough to safely bring in his seventh win of the season.
"I actually came here because of the Titisee", joked Bird. “No, I've always enjoyed racing in Germany. The atmosphere is cool, the track is nice and there are a lot of spectators. Besides, I only have an hour and a half to drive from home.”
Moritz Milatz did not feel well and gave up in the middle of the race after losing contact with the group with Simon Stiebjahn and Markus Bauer (Kreidler Werksteam) and Nicola Rohrbach (Goldwurstpower.ch).
Rohrbach, who got into the chasing group after a weaker start, proved to be the strongest and pulled away from his rivals on lap six. “I had faith that I would get stronger as the race progressed and in the end I did. I saw the group in front of me, set them as my goal and then just kept up my speed. The track was extremely worn out and you had to be extremely careful. I'm super happy", said Rohrbach, who reached the finish 50 seconds after Vogel (1:32:17).
Happy, that was Simon Stiebjahn too. His duel with his friend Markus Bauer was the emotional highlight of the afternoon. The German duo from Titisee-Neustadt and Kirchzarten fought doggedly for third place. Before going down the last downhill, Bauer sprinted past Stiebjahn.
"I knew Stiebi knows every meter here and really wanted to climb the Green Wall before him", explained Bauer. The "Green Wall" is the outlet of the Hochfirst ski jump and it's not called that for nothing.
However, Stiebjahn stayed close to Bauer and used the "Green Wall" to sprint past the cheers of his audience and secure third place.
"I think I was more with the shovel than with the bike", said Stiebjahn with a grin. “But I definitely wanted such a top-class race here and we had a great atmosphere in the forest. It's great that I can stand on the podium here.", commented the 25-year-old after he had finished the 1 kilometers with a difference of 13:32,8 minutes.
Markus Bauer begrudge his buddy the success. “It's nice for Stiebi to be on the podium here. I'm also super happy with my race. I wanted to go for a result here and I managed to do that”, says Bauer, who was measured with a difference of 1:18 minutes.
In fifth place, Lukas Kaufmann (OCE Cannondale), another Swiss, finished fifth (+2:14).
As expected, Helen Grobert immediately sat down in the director's chair and was the first to go down the first descent. The Swiss Corina Gantenbein (Haibike-Ötztal) was able to follow her, while Elisabeth Brandau (Radon-EBE Racing) and Hanna Klein were some distance behind.
"In the second lap, Helen put the pressure on the mountain and I didn't want to risk anything after I've had so many breathing problems this year", Gantenbein explained why the lead of the German champion added up to more than a minute.
"I knew that if I go at my own pace and nothing gets in the way, then it can work too", said Grobert at the finish. But something should come in between. On the third lap she lost air in the rear tire and decided to change the wheel. That lasted 40 seconds and there were 15 seconds that she still took as a lead into the next lap. But Helen Grobert was able to put pressure on the pedals again immediately and increase the lead over Gantenbein again.
“The track here was great fun. Huge praise to Klaus Ketterer and his people", summed up the Remetschwieler resident in Freiburg, who won 2:39 minutes ahead of the Swiss.
Corina Gantenbein also paid tribute to the four-kilometer course and was satisfied with her second place. "It was worth coming here. Everyone is on the up”, said the Swiss, who has already achieved top 20 results in the World Cup.
Her second place was threatened again on the final lap when Hanna Klein (BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) launched an attack behind her. Actually more, because Nadine Rieder (AMG-Rotwild) came closer and closer to her.
"I thought I'd have to step on the gas now so that Nadine doesn't unlock the door", according to Hanna Klein.
Because Gantenbein was a little too careless given the 45-second lead, things got tight again. “Maybe I should have started attacking a little earlier, but I'm super happy. It felt different again than last week. In the middle of the race the man with the hammer came and it got pretty tough, but then it went again”, explained Hanna Klein (+2:45).