The third round of the 2023 Bundesliga will take place this weekend. This time, however, there is a twist to the event.
The racing will double as the German Championships as part of “Die Finals” in which a collection of German sports hold their national championships simultaneously in a kind of domestic Olympics structure.
With two wins from the opening two rounds, EJOT Team TV Buschhütten will be confident of repeating their success in Düsseldorf.
Their men’s team will be represented by Jonas Schomburg, Johannes Vogel, Till Kramp, Maximilian Sperl and Stefan Zachäus.
Schomburg impressed at Bundesliga Kraichgau while Sperl finished 5th at Bundesliga Schliersee. However, Zachäus has not quite hit top form lately and they are missing the sprinkle of international stardust that has boosted their campaign. Whereas the likes of Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, Sergio Baxter Cabrera and Henri Schoeman have already appeared for Buschhütten, this weekend the team will have to do without them.
That could leave them vulnerable to a resurgent Hylo Team Saar.
Team Saar can call upon Lasse Nygaard Priester, the race winner in Schliersee, and Tim Hellwig, who comes in after his 4th place at WTCS Montreal. That is quite the double punch and both will be gunning for the German title.
Moreover, Team Saar have Valentin Wernz in their line-up who performed well in Kraichgau and has logged a personal best WTCS finish this year. Chris Ziehmer has likewise been an important team member and will be starting. Jaspar Ortfield is the fifth man in the team and, on balance, it feels like Team Saar may have the upper hand.
Buschhütten and Team Saar currently lead the men’s Bundesliga standings although there is room for an upset in Düsseldorf.
Sportunion Neckarsulm have Simon Henseleit available after consecutive European Cup wins and a top-10 finish at the European Games. Henseleit is in his final year as an U23 athlete and a win at the German Championships would serve as a timely confirmation that he is the man to lead the next generation of German triathletes.
Joining Henseleit will be Jan Diener, Eric Diener, Fabian Schönke and Arne Leiss. With the Dieners in particular, Neckarsulm have the capacity to compete for the overall win this weekend.
On the note of potential winners, SSF Bonn Triathlon Team can call upon last year’s national champion, Lasse Lührs. Although Lührs struggled with injury at the turn of the year, he has since returned to the top-10 of the WTCS with his 10th place in Cagliari. With another training block under his belt, including a training camp at the end of June, he should be back to full fitness.
Neilan Kempmann of Bonn could also push towards a high finish.
Meanwhile, Darmstadt will be hoping for a big performance from Henry Graf. Conversely, PUSCH-DATA-Team AST Süßen impressed in Schliersee but it remains to be seen how they will fare without Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger.
PSD Bank Tri Post Trier will look to rise back up the rankings as their core trio of Gjalt Panjer, Cedric Osterholt and Jonas Osterholt return. Those three men were pivotal in Trier’s awesome showing of 3rd place in Kraichgau. Without them, the team struggled in Schliersee.
On the women’s side, Buschhütten will look to defend their perfect record in 2023.
To that end, they will have Lisa Tertsch, the race winner in Schliersee, starting. Like the men, Buschhütten will lose several international faces for Düsseldorf; Rachel Klamer and Zsanett Bragmayer are two such athletes that will not be participating.
However, they can call upon an in-form Tanja Neubert and the World U23 silver medallist, Annika Koch. In a similar manner to Henseleit in the men’s field, look for Neubert or Koch to make a big push in hunt of the national title to bolster their credentials for WTCS starts.
Alissa König is the fourth woman in the line-up.
One notable absence from the Buschhütten team on the start lists is Lena Meißner. Having suffered from injury over the spring, Lena Meißner made her return to racing at WTCS Montreal, finishing 29th. However, Meißner indicated that she actually will be racing in Düsseldorf. As such, one of Tertsch, Koch, Neubert or König may make way for her.
Having missed Schliersee and seen their title defence collapse as a result, Triathlon Potsdam will be back in Düsseldorf. And they will be back with a vengeance.
Laura Lindemann and Nina Eim will be making their first starts of the season and add some much-needed firepower to the team. With that combination, Potsdam can easily considered one of the favourites for the overall win, perhaps even the favourites. With Selina Klamt and Jule Behrens also in the squad, it will be fascinating to see which of Potsdam’s four women end up among their three scorers.
Klamt and Behrens both recently finished in the top-10 at the European Games have enjoyed recent success in European Cups. Most other teams would love to have such talent in their ranks; this weekend, at least, they might only be fighting to be Potsdam’s third woman.
Not to be overlooked, triathlon.one Witten have big names of their own. Marlene Gomez-Göggel races again after finishing 4th in Schliersee. After training through the last round, she should be a little sharper in Düsseldorf which should spell trouble for her rivals. Moreover Anabel Knoll will make her first start of the Bundesliga season.
While her 2023 has not gone entirely to plan, Knoll won in the Bundesliga last season and on her day can get the better of anyone in their field. If she and Gomez-Göggel fire, Witten will be hard to stop.
Witten also add international talent to their ranks in the guise of Anne Holm and Lara Atkinson. Holm will be worth paying extra attention to; while she was injured earlier in the year and did not run a great deal, her swimming and cycling should put her at the head of the race.
Team Berlin are a well-rounded squad with Céline Kaiser, Lina Völker, Lara Thekla Ungewickell and Tina Christmann.
Christmann will be an interesting athlete to watch. More typically a middle distance triathlete, she finished 15th in Schliersee in what was one of the most impressive performances of the day. She clearly has the endurance and strength required to be a valuable athlete for Berlin. The challenge for her will be to display the speed required to lift her into the top-10.
Berlin are currently the closest challengers to Buschhütten and sit only 3 points back. If they are going to take a run at the title, this will be the weekend to make a big statement.
Dr. Loges Triathlon Team Lüneburg did not have the best day in Schliersee but will have Robin Dreyling back among their ranks. Dreyling enjoyed a star turn in Kraichgau and will be hoping to repeat her success in Düsseldorf. As things stand, SSF Bonn Triathlon Team are only 3 points ahead of Lüneburg in 3rd place. Notwithstanding that Lüneburg are tied with Absolute Teamsport KTT 01, they will be hoping that a big performance can help close the gap and maybe push them towards a place on the final podium at the end of the season.
You can view the men’s start list here and the women’s start list here. Note, there may yet be changes until the last minute.
