Cycling: Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb) did it! The 23-year-old gave German cycling its next victory at the Abu Dhabi Tour. Of our 5towatch he is the first professional to win a stage. But it will be much more important for Phil Bauhaus that he finally clinched the first win of the season for his Sunweb team. As for himself, it was the second time he'd celebrated at a WorldTour race.
Phil Bauhaus and the many competitors
It's not the easiest time to get noticed as a young sprinter. Rarely has the field of sprinters been as strong as it is now. Almost every team has one or two fast men who don't want to put their noses into the wind until the last hundred meters. Among them is Phil Bauhaus, who at the age of 23 still has many races ahead of him. Nevertheless, he has already won two WorldTour races in his young career. He secured his first victory in the highest class of cycling on June 8, 2017. At that time he won the fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Bocholt-born sprinter left Arnaud Démare and Bryan Coquard behind. The joy was great, but this success had to be confirmed afterwards. Not so easy for someone who is only rarely allowed to start a race as captain of his team.
Victory number 3 in France or Germany?
Success is addicting. Whoever wins once wants to win again. Anyone who has won twice wants the third triumph. The same will happen to Phil Bauhaus, who despite his successes in Team Sunweb is not yet a clear captain. No wonder, because Michael Matthews, Nikias Arndt and Max Walscheid are on the team with him. All four want to get their victories within a calendar year. After all, Phil Bauhaus has his victory on the third leg of the Abu Dhabi Tour ensured the first success of his team. He beat the absolute sprint elite - albeit very narrowly. In doing so, he proved to be extremely clever as he deliberately chose Elia Viviani's rear wheel. This is how it should go now. Preferably from March 4th, when he is at the start at Paris-Nice. Another highlight for him will be the Eschborn-Frankfurt one-day race on May 1st.
"I worked hard at home"
Many cycling fans are probably familiar with the saying “You win the Tour de France in winter”. What is meant by this is that the preparation for a season lays the foundation for possible success. Phil Bauhaus will certainly not win the Tour de France, but his intensive preparation is already bearing fruit. He was very satisfied after his victory in Abu Dhabi. However, his pre-race humility also says a lot that he is aware of the stiff competition and knows he still has a lot of work to do. We will continue to follow him and are certain: Victory number 3 will not be long in coming.
“We have a really good team for the sprint and I've been working hard at home. My goal was to finish on the podium or maybe even win a stage. It's really great that I managed to do that against such a strong field. It's always difficult to get that first win of the season and get everything rolling.”
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