The final race of the 2023 Bundesliga season saw the deployment of a unique format in Hannover.
To kick of the event, the athletes took on a prologue consisting of a 250m swim, 5km bike and a 1.5km run. Held as a non-drafting time trial, the prologue would then set the starting order for a draft-legal pursuit race to determine the winner. The final was made up of a 500m swim, 15km bike and 3.5km run with the runner of the prologue setting off first. Athletes would then follow based on their deficit after the prologue.
EJOT Team TV Buschhütten arrived as the series leaders in both the men’s and women’s standings. With heavyweight line-ups selected for both races, they looked tough to beat from the outset.
Women’s prologue
Buschhütten dominated the women’s prologue, securing the three top positions.
Solvieg Løvseth led the way in a total time of 19:23. She had the fastest bike split of the field (9:39) and was one of two women to break the 10 minute barrier. Her teammate, Tanja Neubert, was the next quickest in a time of 19:29. Like Løvseth, Neubert dipped under 10 minutes for the 5km bike (9:53) and was impressive across all three disciplines.
Annika Koch then followed in 19:45. Koch was a little slower on the bike but was then the fastest woman over the 1.5km run, recording a time of 4:58.
The first non-Buschhütten athlete was Robin Dreyling (Lüneburg) who completed the prologue in 19:57 and was the final woman under 20 minutes. Finja Schierl (Darmstadt) narrowly missed the mark with her time of 20:03.
Julia Bröcker (Potsdam), Franka Rust (Lüneburg) and Eva Daniels (Bonn) then each recorded times of 20:08. Selina Klamt (Potsdam) followed in a time of 20:12. Her swim split of 4:25 was the best of the prologue.
Letizia Martinelli (KTT 01) and Lucie Kammer (Darmstadt) then shared the tenth best time in 20:40.
After the prologue, then, the women’s field was completely spread and the trump cards lay in Buschhütten’s hand.
Men’s prologue
In a storming performance, Henry Graf gave Darmstadt something to cheer as he ripped the fastest prologue of the day. His time of 17:12 was 13 seconds clear of the next fastest man, Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (17:25).
Graf’s swim time of 3:52 was the fastest of the day, beating the 3:53 set by his Darmstadt teammate Euan De Nigro. For good measure, he was then the only man to clock under 9 minutes on the bike (8:54).
Meanwhile, Thorn was the fastest runner of the field and split 4:18 over the 1.5km.
Lasse Lührs (Bonn) was the next quickest man in 17:34, while Thorn’s Buschhütten teammate Jonas Schomburg followed in 17:39. The third Buschhütten, Simon Westermann, completed the course in 17:45.
Fresh off his World Ironman 70.3 win, Rico Bogen (Berlin) was the sixth fastest man in the prologue in 17:46.
Fabian Schönke (Neckarsulm) was the next man in 17:51 while Jonas Osterholt (Trier) crossed in 17:56. De Nigro then was the last man under 18 minutes in 17:58. Nick Emde (Bonn) and Maximilian Sperl (Buschhütten) shared the tenth fastest time in 18:02.
With four men in the top-10, a Buschhütten seemed all but confirmed. The question, though, was if anyone would be able to catch Graf.
Women’s final
Koch, Neubert and Løvseth came together in the water and ran together into T1. From there, the three powered clear on the bike. Having the three best cyclists in the field away at front was unlikely to end well for their rivals and so it proved.
Clocking 25:30 for the 15km (Koch hit 25:31), the trio were the only women to ride under 26 minutes and built a commanding lead.
Having been the best runner in the prologue, Koch then dropped the best run split of the final (11:23) to seal the win. Neubert followed 8 seconds later while Løvseth took 3rd place, 22 seconds behind the winner.
With yet another Bundesliga podium locked out, Buschhütten completed their sweep of the races this year and sealed the 2023 title.
Klamt was able to rise through the field to claim 4th place with a late push on the run, finishing over a minute behind Løvseth. Right behind Klamt, though, was a tight battle for 5th.
Schierl, Rust and Daniels were all together as the finish line approached. Daniels could not quite hang on at the last as Rust and Schierl each tried to break clear. In a final sprint, Rust just managed to lunge ahead of Schierl to seal 5th place.
Potsdam therefore claimed 2nd place while Lüneburg earned 3rd.
Men’s final
The final proved to be the Henry Graf show. He managed to add a couple of seconds to his lead in the water however, once in T1, a five man chase group could see him as he exited.
Thorn, Lührs, Schomburg, Bogen and Westermann began to hunt the leader down.
With no other choice, Graf put his head down and tried to survive the 15km. Having been the best cyclist in the prologue, he had a good chance of staying clear. Lührs’ 5km split of 9:01 had been the best of the chasers but, with the ability to draft, the chase had the upper hand.
The Buschhütten trio of Thorn, Schomburg and Westermann shared the workload and the gap seemed to narrow. Realising his gap was slipping, Graf fought back.
Soon after, though, he chose to sit up and let the group catch him. From there, Graf sat on the rear wheel and took some time to recover ahead of the final 3.5km run.
In true Jonas Schomburg style, Schomburg struck out of T2 first and grabbed an early lead. For the first kilometre, Graf and Lührs tried to reel him in but Schomburg was in full flight. Thorn and Westermann followed but Bogen had lost contact with the leaders.
As Schomburg was caught, Westermann began to slip back. Lührs then took over the lead to pile on the pressure to his rivals. After all of his work, Graf held firm.
Schomburg was the next man to fall away, leaving three at the front. In the closing stretch, Thorn kicked early and escaped the clutches of Graf and Lührs. Both bounded after him, but the European Games champion had too much speed.
With a 1 second margin, Thorn claimed the win. Graf then crossed in 2nd to take some reward for his monster effort in Hannover. Lührs then rounded out the podium.
Schomburg and Westermann were the next to finish to confirm Buschhütten’s overall victory. Largely thanks to the efforts of Graf and Lührs, Darmstadt and Bonn then took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
You can view the women’s results here and the men’s results here.
