Kämna's World Cup comeback: "Welcomed with open arms"
DPA
· 10.08.2023
Lennard Kämna has fond memories of the World Cycling Championships
Lennard Kämna's reunion with the national team after five years was a warm one in the mucky weather of Glasgow. "I was welcomed with open arms. I saw a lot of old faces again. I mainly have very good memories of the World Championships, especially the absolute highlight in 2014," the 26-year-old professional cyclist told the German Press Agency.
In 2014, Kämna's star had once risen in the national jersey with the junior world championship title in Ponferrada, Spain. This was followed by further medals in the U23 category, meaning that he was quickly predicted to have a great career as a cyclist.
Lennard Kämna still sees room for improvement
stages of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia have long since been won. The yellow jersey was also within reach for one day last year, just eleven seconds short in Megève. This year, Kämna tackled the overall classification in a grand tour for the first time and achieved his goal with ninth place in the Giro. It was solid, "nothing earth-shattering", partly because he had health problems at the end.
But is that really his fulfilment, given that Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark), superstar Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) and Vuelta winner Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) are top-class competitors in the industry and are all even younger? "I would definitely like to pursue this further. That was the first attempt. I think there's still room for improvement," says Kämna.
Team boss Denk: "Free spirit on the bike"
Team boss Ralph Denk is still undecided and speaks of a "double-edged sword". The Bavarian appreciates Kämna as a "free spirit on the bike" and doesn't really want to do without his spectacular breakaway attempts. This should be the case again at the Vuelta starting on 26 August. Then the highly talented rider from Fischerhude wants to go stage hunting again, as he announces. If he succeeds, he will have won a stage in each of the three tours.
Before travelling to the hot south to Spain, however, national tasks await Kämna at the World Championships in much cooler Scotland. In the 47.8 kilometre individual time trial in Stirling on Friday, Kämna and German champion Nils Politt will be aiming for a top ten finish to secure a second starting place for the Olympics in Paris. Not an easy task given the prestigious start list with young stars Evenepoel and Pogacar, former world champions Filippo Ganna (Italy) and Rohan Dennis (Australia) and former Tour champion Geraint Thomas (Great Britain).
Goal: secure an Olympic ticket
Tenth place is the minimum target, says Kämna. "I'm optimistic that it will work out." However, the professional cyclist, who now lives on Lake Constance, also admits that he is not in top form. "But I'm at a good level," he says.
In terms of results, things had not worked out so well recently in the battle against the clock. At the Giro, Kämna missed the top ten in all three time trials and at the national championships in Bad Dürrheim at the end of June, he only managed ninth place as the reigning time trial champion. "After the tough Giro, he took it easy. Lennard has the confidence from me that he will get the best out of it," says the new national coach André Greipel.
Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
