"Don't get any younger": Buchmann still believes in Tour podium

Emanuel Buchmann from the team Bora-Hansgrohe has his sights set high. The former Tour de France fourth-placed rider has reeled off many metres in altitude since the beginning of the year on Gran Canaria. After three years of failures, bad luck and mishaps, time is running out for the Allgäuer.

"I'm not getting any younger. I've already got the number 3 on the front. I'll still have a few years left, but it's no longer like when I was 25 or 26, when people said that I still had ten years at the top level," said Buchmann, who starts the season on Wednesday in Mallorca, in a recent media interview.

Setback follows setback

The 30-year-old has long since had to come to terms with a new role in the Bora-hansgrohe team. The Australian Jai Hindley is Giro-winner will also be the captain at the Tour de France in the summer, but Buchmann will only have a supporting role for the time being. "It's already in the back of my mind that I'm no longer the sole leader. Jai is set for now. It's no problem for me to work for someone else if I'm not the strongest," said the Ravensburg native.

In 2019, Buchmann was still the strongest member of the German World Tour team. He rode to a respectable fourth place at the Tour, with the podium the next step to follow. Only Jan Ullrich, Andreas Klöden and Kurt Stöpel from Germany had achieved this. However, the climbing specialist was repeatedly thrown back by crashes, illness and corona-related time-outs. It was "frustrating", Buchmann recalled. "Sometimes I was in very good shape and then crashed. Last year I was constantly ill. It's a bit desperate. Now we'll try again in the new year."

Bora-Hansgrohe sports director Rolf Aldag on Buchmann

It may be his last chance to fight for a top place in the Tour. After all, the competition in the team is fierce: in addition to Hindley, Russian Tour fifth-placed Aleksandr Vlasov and Lennard Kämna also have their sights set on the overall classification in the grand tours. However, both will tackle the Giro d'Italia in 2023.

"We still believe in him," said sports director Rolf Aldag, but also admitted: "Emu will certainly get his freedom, but going into the Tour with a one-man captain's role for Emu is a pressure that we don't necessarily have to accept." In any case, if everything goes according to plan, the first two places are almost already taken by tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) and two-time champion Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia).

A few kilometres of time trial work in Buchmann's favour

Buchmann is also realistic about this. "The two are stronger than me, but they also have to get through well first. They can also crash or have bad luck in the preparation. Then the two places will be free again," said the 2015 German champion, who is a little limited in his riding style. He cannot keep up with the attacks of the two top stars. "Those two are more explosive than me. I have to ride at my own pace," says Buchmann. He also has a weakness in the time trial, even though this time there are only 22 kilometres to race against the clock.

The new generation around Vingegaard, Pogacar and also world champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) have made the races tougher. Nevertheless, he had to realise "how good you were", added Buchmann and not give up on his dream: "There are also a few people who have stood on the podium at the Tour for the first time at over 30. I wouldn't be the first or the only one."

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