Tomorrow the Bundesliga will get underway as the opening first division races of the season take place.
The teams will descend upon the familiar venue of Kraichgau in Baden-Württemberg but what awaits them will be something novel.
Rather than contest a Sprint triathlon as per usual in the series, the teams will be taking on the “2+2 format“. This style of racing has been used before, including in last season’s series.
In the 2+2, both the men’s and women’s teams each send teams of four athletes to the race. The four athletes are then split into two pairs. The first two athletes complete half of a Sprint triathlon; that is a 375m swim, a 10km bike and a 2.5km run. Once they have finished, they then hand over to the second pair of athletes.
The second pair then complete the triathlon with their own 375m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run.
The times of the best three athletes per team are then aggregated to give the final result. It therefore pays for the pairs to race together so no athlete loses any time.
As four athletes will be starting per team, there is every chance the performance of the fourth athlete will not matter. If anything should happen to one athlete, though, the fourth member suddenly becomes essential.
In addition to the funky format, there are plenty of big names due to start that will be able to illuminate the event.
On the women’s front, the defending champions Potsdam will not have Nina Eim or Laura Lindemann available. They will nonetheless be able to put out a great lineup. Selina Klamt will lead the team one week after her win at the European Cup in Caorle. Klamt’s running was sensational in Caorle so look for her to break up the field on the third discipline.
She will be joined by Jule Behrens, Julia Bröcker and Leann Naima Dietzel.
However, Potsdam’s closest rivals will pack a heavy punch.
Buschhütten have a heavyweight team with Annika Koch, Solveig Løvseth, Tanja Neubert and Zsanett Bragmayer all due to start. Both Koch and Neubert finished in the top-5 at last year’s World U23 Championships (with Koch winning the silver medal). Løvseth won a bronze medal at the New Plymouth World Cup and Bragmayer recently won the World Aquathlon Championships.
There are not many weaknesses in the Buschhütten team so the race with Potsdam will be very close.
Anabel Knoll is a late withdrawal for Witten. Although they still have Marlene Gomez-Göggel racing, it could be an uphill struggle for the team to contend with the likes of Potsdam and Buschhütten.
Team Berlin, meanwhile, can call upon a well-rounded team of Lina Völker, Celine Kaiser, Mirjam Huber and Lara Theckla Ungewickell. The youngster, Huber, is one of the most exciting rising talents in Germany. Kaiser also proved her fitness with a 14th place at the first French Grand Prix of the season last weekend.
Bonn have Eva Daniëls racing but otherwise might lack the depth to take on Potsdam and Buschhütten. In general, then, Kraichgau looks like it will be a two horse race.
On the men’s side, Buschhütten might just have an even more formidable team. Henri Schoeman, Jonas Schomburg and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn will lead the way with Maximilian Sperl in support.
Their closest rivals will be Hylo Saar who have Tim Hellwig, Harry Leleu, Valentin Wernz and Chris Ziehmer racing.
From Hylo Saar, only Wernz raced at WTCS Yokohama whereas Schoeman, Schomburg and Thorn all travelled back from Japan this week. Whoever handles the travel and jet-lag best will probably come out on top tomorrow.
Kraichgau will also represent the first time Lasse Lührs races for Bonn. Lührs had an injury problem earlier in the year, so it will be interesting to see where will his form be at. On paper, though, he will be a key player in the race. With Neilan Kempmann as a lieutenant, Lührs and Bonn could spring a surprise.
There are a couple of other teams that could shock the likes of Hylo Saar and Buschhütten.
Darmstadt can call upon Henry Graf and the winner of the European Junior Cup in Caorle, Euan De Nigro. De Nigro will be racing in the first pair while Graf will be in the second, giving Darmstadt speed across the race. While it is expecting a lot from a young team, they could stun some of their more fancied rivals.
Similarly Trier have the pieces to cause a stir. Gaspar Riveros is in form while the Osterholt brothers (Cedric and Jonas) have always been reliable for the team. With Gjalt Panjer also a consistent (and improving) athlete, Trier could be the surprise package of the entire weekend.
