David Horvath of STEVENS MTB Racing Team won the Silver Medal at the German XCE Eliminator sprint championships in Kirchzarten. Gold goes to current runner-up world champion Simon Gegenheimer, Julian Schelb wins Bronze. This way David sort of defended his ”title” from last year – but this time under totally different circumstances. In spring David was still recovering from an injury he had suffered at last year’s European sprint championships where he crashed but finished the race by running over the line – neverstop! Because of that he was slightly handicapped in his training and – due to a serious knee injury – could race in only very few competitions.

David summed up the race: ”It was super-hard, yet was real fun also because of the great atmosphere, and it was the best possible result I could have imagined.”

After having achieved the best time in the qualifying he did good in the first runs on his STEVENS Sonora SL. ”In the quarter finals it became very hard and I had to go all-out,” David said. In the semi finale he already had to compete against Simon Gegenheimer but was able to reach a good second place. In the finale Gegenheimer was better in accelerating out of the curves which in the end gave him the decisive advantage. David meanwhile managed to put a gap of a few meters between him and eventually third Julian Schelb resulting in a superb second place for David Horvath.

In the meantime Veronika Brüchle of STEVENS MTB Racing Team was out after the semi finale – but only because of a flat tire. Otherwise the competition would have been a much closer one since Veronika previously had already won a German sprint championship.

In Kirchzarten a different competition was waiting for the riders. The German Marathon Championship was held as part of the Ultra Bike Marathon, and Pirmin Eisenbarth of STEVENS MTB Racing Team was at the start line.

This race was a one highlight of the season for the marathon specialist. Pirmin had prepared himself well in the week prior to the event and also drawn attention with several podium placings – i.e. at the Lake Garda bike festival. The result in short: Of 1,000 starters, 100 of which qualified for the German Championships, Eisenbarth reached a respectable 16th place on his STEVENS Sonora SL.

Before the finish the riders had to tackle 114km (71mls) and 3,200 meters (10,500ft) of climbing on this Sunday morning. Right after the start their strength was tested with a 1,000m (3048ft) ascend. ”My legs didn’t want to move like I wanted them to. This climb was a real challenge for me.” At the top right after the first feed zone the race continued on a hilly course.

Pirmin found himself in a good group and could recover a little in the slipstream. ”From this moment on everything went well.” The group worked harmoniously and caught rider after rider. In one of the long and very fast downhills over gravel with speeds up to 80kph (50mls) 30km before the finish, Pirmin managed to break-away with another rider. The duo worked well together so they were able to put a safe distance between them and the following riders as well as catching up to the competition on the final 600 vertical meters climb.

In such a race it was important to pace yourself well, Pirmin said. ”I took care to fuel myself, drank a lot and made sure I would not over-pace.” This eventually was the key for the good result. In the further races sisters Leonie und Antonia Daubermann also were successful. After an intense period of training, Leonie celebrated her first win of the season in the Short Track. ”A good way to get back into racing mode,” Leonie said after the race. In contrast her older sister Antonia had accepted the challenge of the 77km race with 2,200 vertical meters (48mls/7,218ft). The unusually long distance demanded a lot from the runner-up German cross country champion. ”Never before had I taken in so many power gels in one race” – but a special race also requires a special approach. Her 9th place despite the super high tempo during the final kilometres, though, made her very happy.