Schliersee saw a renewal of the rivalry between Buschhütten and Team Saar, the past two champions in the men’s Bundesliga.
Although Team Saar scored the individual win through Lasse Nygaard Priester, it was Buschhütten that came away with the maximum team points. Throughout the standings, there were some notable rises and falls after Schliersee. For some teams, a high finish by their best athlete made the difference. For others, the result of their fourth man went a long way to seal their fate.
Remember, unlike the women’s series, the men have teams of five from which the top-4 finishers count. Depth, then, is an important asset to have in the Bundesliga.
1st) EJOT Team TV Buschhütten – 40 points (no change)
In his first race of note in 2023, Sergio Baxter Cabrera pieced together a classy display to put himself on the podium. After navigating the mountain climb, he managed to run through to 3rd place.
Unsurprisingly, Márk Dévay led the way in the swim and remained in the front group throughout. During the run he was overtaken by Baxter and ended up in 4th place. Maximilian Sperl also had a great race to claim 5th place.
It says a lot about the depth of the team when an athlete of the calibre of Richard Murray was only the fourth man home. Murray crossed the line in 11th place which was enough to confirm Buschhütten’s victory. Although it wasn’t his best day, the rest of the team stepped up. For practically any other outfit, if such a notable athlete did not finish in the top-10, it would be a sign of a problem. For Buschhütten, though, it was no sweat.
With two straight wins, they are settling into their rhythm this year.
2nd) Hylo Team Saar – 38 points (no change)
Team Saar finished 2nd overall for the second straight race. Given the absences of some of their star men, though, they can be satisfied with their weekend.
While the athletes in Schliersee raced up the mountain, Tim Hellwig was across the Atlantic finishing 4th at WTCS Montreal. If Team Saar can get him back on the start at the upcoming races, they will have a great shot at reeling in Buschhütten.
The star of Schliersee, though, was Lasse Nygaard Priester. In a consummate all-round performance, Priester won by a hefty margin.
Meanwhile, Chris Ziehmer continued his good season with a 7th place in Schliersee. The Luxembourg Junior David Lang also impressed in 21st and Jaspar Ortfeld finished 33rd. Harry Leleu had a slightly disappointing showing down in 43rd place. However, it was a big ask to back up a 4th place from the European Cup in Wels a day prior.
Crucially, the next round in Düsseldorf doubles as the German Championships. As such, Team Saar will be able to likely field Hellwig and Priester (and Valentin Wernz). With that line-up, they will be the favourites for the win.
3rd) Sportunion Neckarsulm – 33 points (up 1 place)
No Henseleit, no problem.
While their main man was off winning in Wels, Neckarsulm took 5th place in Schliersee. In a slight surprise, Amaury Dietrich was not among the team’s best finishers. Instead, he took 54th place.
Arne Leiss was the top performer in 12th place while Arnaud Des Boscs narrowly missed a top-20 finish in 22nd. William Fanet and Silas Schmidt then completed the scoring in 26th and 37th, respectively.
All in all, Neckarsulm can be happy with their weekend. When Henseleit returns, they should be able to take a real drive towards a place upon the end of season podium.
4th) Team Berlin – 33 points (up 1 place)
Rico Bogen was the star of the show on his way to a shock 2nd place. The middle distance athlete utilised all of his cycling prowess to conquer the climb to Spitzingsee and then managed to hold off Baxter in the closing stages of the run.
With Bogen at the helm, Berlin ended up in 4th place overall.
Benedikt Bettin also produced an important contribution in 10th place while Nicholas Holmes, the American, backed up a 5th place in Wels by finishing 32nd a day later in Schliersee. Florian Seifert was the fourth scorer on the team in 51st.
With their result, Berlin move up a place and are now tied on points with Neckarsulm. After a 5th place overall in 2022, a podium in 2023 is now within their sights.
5th) PUSCH-DATA-Team AST Süßen – 30 points (up 4 places)
Süßen claimed 3rd place overall in a much-improved display. A large part of that came down to Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger’s 6th place. After gaining a few places on the mountain, Hueber Moosbrugger logged one of the best run splits in the field to pick off several athletes.
Lukas Hollaus chipped in with a 16th place while Ivan Abele and Linus Lehnen were close together in 25th and 27th place, respectively.
Whether they hold on a top-5 finish will ultimately hinge on Hueber Moosbrugger. With further top-10 finishes from the Frenchman, Süßen can be confident of matching last season’s 4th place overall.
6th) Triathlon Team DSW Darmstadt – 30 points (no change)
After finishing 6th in the opening race in Kraichgau, Darmstadt added another 6th place in Schliersee. While there was plenty of movement in the standings around them, the team remained one of the few constants.
Lennart Sievers broke into the top-10 with a great performance. His 9th place was a big help to the team and if he can carry his momentum through the season, he could be in for a promising year.
Nils Huckschlag then took 24th place while Ron Epple finished 38th. Unlike some of the other teams, there was little drama in Darmstadt’s race. As they continue onwards, they will be happy to quietly build upon their good start to the year. An improvement on last year’s 8th place overall is well within reach.
7th) PSD Bank Tri Post Trier – 26 points (down 4 places)
After the high of Kraichgau, Trier crashed back down with a 13th place in Schliersee. It was always going to be tricky without the Osterholt brothers and Gjalt Panjer and their absences highlighted a lack of depth. To be fair, if you were to take out the top-3 athletes of any team they would likely struggle.
Josiah Ney had a fast swim on his way to 20th place. However, he did not get a lot of support. Monty Dixon finished 44th, Lucas Cambresy took 48th and Vincent Lafleur ended up down in 68th.
Based on Kraichgau, Trier can be expected to bounce back. Their weekend, though, showed the premium of having your best athletes available as often as possible.
8th) Team Weimarer Ingenieure – 25 points (up 2 places)
Team Weimarer Ingenieure can be happy with an overall 7th place that saw them jump 2 places in the standings.
Alexander Kull led the way with in 13th while John Heiland snuck into the top-30 with his 30th place. Marcel Lehmberg and Richard Feuer then finished together in 46th and 47th, respectively.
After Kull and Heiland were key components in Kraichgau, it is becoming clear that the pair will carry the team’s hopes this year. If the former can nudge into the top-10 and the latter into the top-20, a place for the team in the top-6 could be on the cards.
9th) Triathlon Potsdam e.V. – 24 points (down 2 places)
Despite Christoph Mattner’s 18th, it was not the day for Potsdam. They did not have a weekend as bad as their women’s team, although they still ended up in 11th and lost 2 places.
Franz Löschke finished in 39th while the German Junior athlete Jakob von Müller came home in 53rd place. Jayden Scott Koslick then completed the team in 58th.
The absence of Justus Töpper from the scorers proved costly and they will need him to step up at the next rounds.
10th) SSF Bonn Triathlon Team – 22 points (down 2 places)
Neither of Bonn’s key performers from Kraichgau raced in Schliersee. Lasse Lührs has a big July ahead with two WTCS events as well as the German Championships and so passed on Schliersee. In addition, Neilan Kempmann did not make it to the start line.
Without two of their key men, Bonn slipped to 12th and now risk falling out of the top-10.
Jonathan Trebst was the highest finisher in 31st while the rest of the scorers were Paul Wiesner in 42nd, Miguel Risco Bermejo in 45th and Simon Nolte in 55th.
At the next round, both Lührs and Kempmann should be back, with the former gunning for the race win. A position in the end of year top-6, however, seems to have moved beyond their reach.
11th) WEICON Tri Finish Münster – 21 points (up 1 place)
Münster received a big boost from two international athletes as Tyler Smith of Bermuda took 9th place and Sébastien Pascal earned 15th place. Together, they went a long way to putting the team in 9th.
On the other hand, Yannic Stollenwerk and Maximilian Krüger struggled a little in 61st and 71st.
Münster will therefore need to find a balance between their top performers and their final scorers. If they can find a few more points from their third and fourth men, they will be able to break into the top-10 in the standings.
12th) triathlon.one Witten – 20 points (up 2 places)
Luckily for Witten, they did not have the same late scramble for athletes in their men’s team as they did with their women’s team. Whereas the seven month pregnant Bianca Bogen raced for an incomplete women’s squad, the men had a full complement of athletes.
The day got off to a good start as Jonas Mier was with the leaders out of the water. However, he then fell behind and ended up in 52nd place. Given the start, it was a slightly underwhelming outcome.
Nevertheless, other members of the team rallied and took over the baton. Leading the way was Max Meckel in 23rd. Marcel Bolbat also claimed a spot in the top-30 with his 28th place and Samuel Linsenmeier was close behind in 36th.
Altogether, that was enough for 8th overall.
They were only 6 points behind Darmstadt and so 6th place could have been on the cards. Had Mier enjoyed a better finish or Lukas Meckel not encountered problems, the gap might have been closed. As such, Witten evidently have the ability to compete for a higher finish and a top-10 overall is certainly possible.
Look for them to continue to rise as the season unfolds.
13th) Triathlon Team KSV Baunatal – 17 points (up 2 places)
Baunatal took a step away from the relegation zone with their 10th place in Schliersee.
The majority of their success came down to Thomas Guilmot’s 8th place. Guilmot had a brilliant race and was denied a higher finish by the rapid finish of the likes of Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger.
After Guilmot, Jannik Hoffmann finished 41st, Moritz Werrbach took 57th and Dario Ernst claimed 59th place. With remaining in the top division the priority, Baunatal will hope that Guilmot shows up as often as possible.
14th) Absolute Teamsport KTT 01 – 15 points (down 1 place)
Although the Norwegian Junior Eirik Berling Grande impressed as he earned 19th place, KTT 01 slipped to 14th overall.
Renning Elischer was their next finisher in 40th place. However, KTT 01 had two further Junior men among their scorers, highlighting their vulnerability. Asking Juniors to carry a team will always be a risky approach, no matter how talented they are.
Jan Semmler claimed 60th place while Tim Semmler finished 63rd. On another day, the Semmlers might have finished higher. As things stand, though, they are a little too young to depend on them too much. In a similar fashion, even though Berling Grande delivered this time, he cannot always be counted on doing so at his age.
Providing the opportunity for so many Juniors to race in the Bundesliga is a great draw and helps in the development of the careers of multiple athletes. For that, KTT 01 should be applauded. When it comes to results, though, they may have to be careful.
Juniors regularly have dips and so if the team want to find more consistency, they may need to field one or two more Senior men.
15th) SV Würzburg 05 – 15 points (down 4 places)
Würzburg finished last in Schliersee and consequently dropped 4 places to sit tied on points with KTT 01.
Philipp Mack was the top finisher in 50th place which says a lot about their day. From somewhere, they will need someone to step up into the top-30.
Markus Klinder then finished 56th while Jonas Kreckel came 66th and Pablo Abad Castillo took 67th place. The 5 point gap to Witten in 12th means Würzburg are realistically locked into the relegation battle.
16th) Team B&H Sport-Club Itzehoe – 11 points (no change)
Itzehoe did not finish last and so already enjoyed an improvement from Kraichgau.
Their best finisher highlighted what Würzburg are missing are Constantin Johannsen scored 29th place. Moreover Junias Benjamin Groth was close behind in 35th. While Lukáš Juránek finished 64th and Robbin Rechenberg finished 70th, they had done enough to beat Würzburg.
Had either Juránek or Rechenberg moved up a bit, KTT 01 were also there for the taking. As much as the 5 point gap to Würzburg is ominous, Itzehoe are pushing hard. If they can stay in 15th or better at the remaining races, they could end the year off the bottom of the table.
View the full team results from the men’s event in Schliersee here.
