Today we are picking up on the second half of the star performers in the 2023 men’s Bundesliga. In this series, we are unearthing the most important performers for each team in the competition.
The term “most important” is at best a subjective measure. Among the contributing factors are how often an athlete appeared for their team, how high they finished or whether they even won a medal. In addition, their impact on their team’s overall final position in a round is also of significance.
As much as a single athlete cannot carry a season, they can set the tone for the campaign.
Find out the top performers of the remaining eight men’s teams below.
Hylo Team Saar – 2nd
With wins in Schliersee and Düsseldorf, Lasse Nygaard Priester was the only man in the series to claim two individual gold medals. Vetle Bergsvik Thorn may have claimed a team gold in Kraichgau to go with his individual one from Hannover, but Priester’s achievement was unique in the men’s Bundesliga.
Priester’s two wins alone would have made him the second most valuable athlete in terms of points in the league. However, he did not meet the minimum three race requirement to do so.
His win in Düsseldorf also helped Team Saar to their only round win of the season; it was also the only time that Buschhütten were beaten in 2023.
The Düsseldorf success was also largely helped by Tim Hellwig, who finished 2nd. Hellwig also recorded the fastest leg overall in Kraichgau as the team finished 2nd. Moreover, Team Saar were aided by their stalwart, Chris Ziehmer. Ziehmer was the hugely consistent and claimed 2nd in the individual rankings with 43 points.
On balance, though, it is hard to look past the double race winner. For that reason, Priester was their star.
Triathlon Team DSW Darmstadt – 4th
Darmstadt had a fantastic season as they took 4th place overall. With several major contributions, it is hard to pinpoint who exactly was the most important athlete.
Euan De Nigro had the fastest leg of the team in Kraichgau and anchored Darmstadt as they finished 6th. To go with that, he also finished 10th in Hannover. One thing that should be noted is that De Nigro is still a Junior athlete. Considering his impact across Kraichgau and Hannover, he was probably the best Junior athlete in the competition.
His age meant that it was a little unexpected for him to fare so well and that element of surprise enhances his claim.
Then there is Henry Graf who finished 8th in Düsseldorf and added a silver medal in Hannover. Graf was superb in Hannover and really enlivened the contest. With a third score, he could have been one of the most influential athletes in the league.
Overall, though, Darmstadt’s key man was Lennart Sievers.
Sievers finished 8th in the individual points rankings and had a best result of 9th in Schliersee. He was a part of the team success in Kraichgau and then appeared in every race, which itself has to count for something. Sievers’ consistency held Darmstadt together when Graf and De Nigro were absent and went a long way to keeping the team in the top-4. With the exception of Graf’s Hannover showing, he also matched the highs of their performance level too.
In a team with multiple key contributors, then, Sievers stood out the most.
Sportunion Neckarsulm – 6th
Neckarsulm had a slightly weird season. Their final position of 6th was good but not quite as good as their 2022 position. Furthermore their athletes had good moments without ever quite bringing a sustained charge.
Simon Henseleit got his season off to a good start in Kraichgau and then turned in an eye-catching 3rd place in Düsseldorf. Similarly, Eric Diener was the fastest man on the team in Kraichgau and then finished 10th in Düsseldorf.
The problem is that no one really managed to string together three good results. Moreover, no one other than Henseleit or Diener made it into the top-10 at a race.
The absence of consistency means that Henseleit’s medal at the German Championships shades it. Looking ahead to 2024, Neckarsulm will hope he can race at a few more stops if they are to take a run at the overall podium.
SSF Bonn Triathlon Team – 8th
The recruitment of Lasse Lührs was a major boost for Bonn at the start of the season. In his three appearances, Lührs turned out to be the asset everyone expected.
Although injury had affected his early season training, he got his season off to a solid start in Kraichgau, helping the team to 8th. From there, Lührs only got better.
He finished 4th in Düsseldorf and then 3rd in Hannover, bringing home the team’s only top-5 finishes. Perhaps the only criticism would be that Lührs did not win a race like he did in 2022; that, however, is probably too high a bar to set!
Nick Emde also had a good season and pushed Lührs close. He finished 9th in Hannover and 17th in Düsseldorf. In addition, he was Bonn’s top male performer in Tübingen, albeit in 40th place.
When it came to the individual points, both Lührs and Emde were strangely missing from the Bundesliga top-10. The pair both raced three times and cleared the 11 points of Peter Denteneer in 10th yet were not included.
Triathlon Potsdam e.V. – 10th
Justus Töpper had a claim to being the most important athlete after recording Potsdam’s fastest leg in Kraichgau and finishing 18th in Düsseldorf.
However, Luca Fahrenson was the key man for the team. Not only did Fahrenson race four times – by contrast, Töpper only raced twice – he also finished 12th in Hannover. He thus brought home the team’s best finish of the season.
With consistent appearances going with his 12th place, Fahrenson was a fairly easy choice in the end. Being born in 2002, he is also still quite a young athlete and could become an even more important cog in the team in the next few years.
triathlon.one Witten – 12th
Samuel Linsenmeier takes the title as Witten’s top performer after being the first man home for the team in Düsseldorf (22nd place) and in Hannover (40th place). To go with that, he also finished 35th in Tübingen and 36th in Schliersee.
Linsenmeier therefore made frequent appearances in the competition and delivered consistent results. His Düsseldorf display was the team’s second-highest finish after Victor Goene placed 18th in Tübingen. That, though, was also Goene’s only race for the season.
Given Linsenmeier’s multiple appearances, he comes out ahead.
Triathlon Team KSV Baunatal – 14th
Thomas Guilmot was the star for Baunatal in 2023.
He claimed the highest finish of the season for the team by placing 8th in Schliersee. Thereafter, he finished 15th in Düsseldorf, 29th in Tübingen and 27th in Hannover. Aside from Hannover, he was the highest finisher for Baunatal at each race.
The one race he did not appear at was in Kraichgau, where Baunatal finished 15th.
Guilmot, then, was the clear-cut top performer for Baunatal as he raced often and contributed a noteworthy top-10 finish.
Team B&H Sport-Club Itzehoe – 16th
Constantin Johannsen’s 29th place in Schliersee was the only top-30 finish Itzehoe recorded in 2023. That achievement marks Johannsen out as one of the team’s top performers.
In addition, he was the leading man for the team in Hannover, where he finished 43rd.
On balance, though, the top performer for Itzehoe was actually Junias Benjamin Groth. Groth logged the joint-fastest leg of the team in Kraichgau, although Itzehoe nonetheless slipped to last place afterwards.
He then raced at every other round in the series. He was the top finisher for the team in Düsseldorf and Tübingen, finishing 58th and 45th, respectively. He also finished 35th in Schliersee and 47th in Hannover, putting him right on the heels of Johannsen.
The combination of his frequent appearances with the fact that he was only ever narrowly beaten by Johannsen nudges Groth ahead in the bigger picture.
Neither man were able to prevent Itzehoe from being relegated but their efforts did not pass unnoticed.
