Bronze, silver and gold – STEVENS MTB Racing team won a complete set of medals at the German National MTB Championships in Wombach. Leonie Daubermann set the stage on Saturday by winning the U19 Female Juniors’ race. Sunday her sister Antonia who rode her first year in the U23 category followed suit and finished second. In the Men’s Elite race Christian Pfäffle confirmed his good performance with good placings throughout the year by finishing third. In addition Franziska Koch won the U17 youth category in a superior manner.

Christian Pfäffle had already felt confident prior to the race, physically as well as regarding his expectations about the course. ”The course was just beautiful, very modern with lots of little climbs, which suits me well”, the 23-year old said, who rode the race aboard a STEVENS Sonora SL.

Naturally a fast starter, he was in the head group from the very beginning, yet had to ride more carefully towards the end of the first lap due to his tire losing air. He had to tackle the downhill sections more carefully, but he was able to stay in the head group. Eventually he even was able to break-up that group together with Markus Schulte-Lünzum. Only Moritz Milatz could follow, and the three riders split the race lead among them.

In the sixth of seven laps when the race was entering its most competitive phase Pfäffle’s rear tire had completely deflated. Luckily he wasn’t too far away from the tech zone where he changed the rear wheel assisted by his team director Joachim Oechner in less than 20 seconds. ”They immediately increased the pace at the front so I couldn’t close the gap anymore. At least I was able to get rid of Manuel Fumic who had caught up while we were fixing the flat”, Pfäffle said.

Christian Pfäffle eventually took the Bronze in his first Elite championship, which topped-off an already consistently good season with many outstanding results. ”Without the flat tire he could have become more than Bronze – that’s what my body tells me, maybe it’ll work out next year”, he said being a little disappointed after having crossed the finish line. He finished 56 seconds behind the new German Champion Markus Schulte-Lünzum, Moritz Milatz came in second.

Gold for Leonie, Silver for Antonia Daubermann
In the morning of race day, Antonia Daubermann had already left her mark on the U23 women’s race. Quite early she was part of a four-strong head group. After suffering a chain suck in a climb she fell behind was able to catch up again quickly. From the second lap she set the pace together with the eventual winner Sofia Wiedenroth whom she could drop a little later.

It wasn’t until the penultimate lap when Wiedenroth caught up again and even broke away from Antonia. Daubermann finished second at 45 seconds behind after 1:19 hours. Clarissa Mai won the Bronze Medal.

Antonia Daubermann said to German MTB sports website acrossthecountry.net about the chain suck early in the race: ”That really robbed of some energy I could have put to good use at the end. I tried to put pressure on Sofia but I wasn’t able to catch up again. Yet, I am quite happy with Silver in my first year of U23 racing.”

Antonia’s sister Leonie started her race with an unwanted adrenaline rush. Shortly after the start the chain of another rider who was right in front of Leonie broke, which resulted in a mass crash. Leonie and her Sonora SL were able to escape that crash unharmed but she had to chase the field with quite a time penalty. ”It was really hard. I tried to push forward and eventually could break-away”, Daubermann said.

After the first of four laps she had already gained a small advantage that she was able to expand to three minutes. After 1:03 hours she could raise her arms in triumph over her fourth consecutive German Championship. But: ”You never get used to it,” Daubermann said after the race. ”Two weeks ago at the worlds I didn’t have good legs, but today I was totally focused. To become Champion in the younger Juniors’ category is really awesome.” Lia Schreiber won Silver, Nina Benz Bronze.

David Ng Surprised by Himself
In the U19 Juniors’ race, which was won by David List, David Ng was surprised himself as team director Joachim Oechsner put it. From about the middle of the race he slowly progressed forward. In the last two laps he rode the second and third fastest lap time which resulted in him finishing 9th. ”This shows how much potential this guy has, when he has good legs”, the team director said.

Lisa Heckmann of STEVENS Racing Team, third in the German ’Cross Championships was hindered from getting a better result by a mechanical problem at the rear wheel. In lap three she had to run into the tech zone. This plus repair time meant a three-minute disadvantage for her. Lisa eventually found her rhythm, but place eight at the finish due to the mechanical was not up to her actual potential.

For Luis Blattner the race on his STEVENS Sonora SL began quite well. Shortly after the start he was in the top 15 until a damaged chain guide robbed him of his chances. His chain kept falling off forcing him to dismount frequently and to lose the positions he just had regained. Luis kept up the spirit and finished 23rd.

Even team boss Oechner fell victim to a mechanical. Riding in the Masters’ field he just had worked his way forward to the sixth position in lap three when he hit a rock in the appropriately named Rock Garden which flattened his rear tire. After a long running stretch to the tech zone he had to give up the race.

Also riding a Sonora SL Franziska Koch demonstrated exceptional talent. In the U17 race she quickly was among the female juniors who had started the race two minutes ahead. After a long solo ride she eventually won ahead of Emma Blömeke and Leonie Fend to win the fourth medal for STEVENS in Wombach.