After working through the top performers of each men’s team in the 2023 men’s Bundesliga, today it is the turn of the women.
As much as the Bundesliga is a team competition, there is nonetheless plenty of space for individuals to stand out. To find the top performer of a team, a number of considerations have to be taken into account.
The number of appearances an athlete makes plays a big part. At the same time, the value of each contribution matters. For example, a medal-winning performance stands out as it will provide a significant boost on the team’s hopes in that round.
Any of several factors can separate an individual from another and it is a subjective measurement to call anyone the top performer when there is so much variety in appearances and performances. Generally, though, it is possible to pinpoint a star for each team.
Without further ado, then, read on to find the first half of the women’s top performers.
EJOT Team TV Buschhütten – 1st
Lisa Tertsch was the clear star of an all-conquering Buschhütten team. Buschhütten won all five rounds in 2023 and Tertsch was at the heart of that as she delivered three individual wins in a row. Across Schliersee, Düsseldorf and Tübingen, Tertsch was unstoppable and saw off a range of rivals.
Annika Koch won the final round in Hannover while Løvseth brought home medals in Hannover and Tübingen. Both were also at the heart of Buschhütten’s dominance at the season-opener in Kraichgau.
Overall, though, Tertsch was a cut above. She went undefeated in the Bundesliga and an argument can be made that she was the best woman in the competition.
However, Tertstch and the rest of the Buschhütten team will be on the search for a new outfit after Buschhütten folded at the end of the season. Based on how well she raced this year, whichever team lands Tertsch could find themselves in the hunt for the overall title.
SSF Bonn Triathlon Team – 3rd
Daryna Moskalenko was the top performer across the season for Bonn as they capped a brilliant campaign with a spot on the overall podium.
Moskalenko was Bonn’s fastest woman in the 2+2 event in Kraichgau. She handed over in 3rd place and the team would go on to finish 7th. Thereafter, Moskalenko was the top performer for Bonn in Düsseldorf, finishing 13th, and then added a 14th place in Hannover.
Eva Daniels beat her in Hannover as she took 7th, Bonn’s best finish of the season. Daniels’ form, though, came round a little too late as she finished outside the top-30 in Schliersee and Düsseldorf.
Given her consistency across three events, Moskalenko was on balance Bonn’s top performer.
Dr. Loges Triathlon Team Lüneburg – 5th
Lüneburg are a tricky team to figure out as they took important contributions from multiple athletes without any one individual carrying their success.
Franka Rust had the best finish of the team, taking 5th in Hannover. Yet it may be Robin Dreyling that was the top performer.
Dreyling had a huge performance in Kraichgau. She clocked the fifth fastest leg of the day, and the best of any woman not racing for Buschhütten, to lift Lüneburg to 4th place. Kraichgau really set up Lüneburg’s season and Dreyling played a massive part in that result.
In addition, she added a 9th place in Hannover, helping the team to lock in 5th overall at the end of the season. In between, she did not finish in Düsseldorf but nevertheless gets some credit for appearing three times.
Aniek Mars and Silke De Wolde hit top-10 finishes in Tübingen. For a Junior, Mars’ race 8th place in Tübingen was especially impressive. De Wolde also raced in Kraichgau but was 2 minutes slower than Dreyling.
On balance, though, Dreyling was the key athlete for Lüneburg in 2023.
Triathlon Potsdam e.V. – 7th
Potsdam’s season went up in smoke when they failed to put a team out at the second round in Schliersee. Even with a talented squad at their disposal, their Schliersee absence left them playing catch up for the rest of the year.
Regardless of their disappointing final position, Potsdam still had one of the top performers of the season. World U23 champion Selina Klamt was their key athlete and stepped up on multiple occasions.
She had a good race in Kraichgau, handing over to the second pair with the team in 2nd place. At her next appearance, she won the silver medal in Düsseldorf and was the only Potsdam woman inside the top-10. To finish her Bundesliga season, Klamt added 4th place in Hannover.
Klamt thus provided the only top-5 finishes the team logged, although Celia Merle finished 6th in Tübingen.
Julia Bröcker also impressed in 2023. She matched Klamt in the first pair in Kraichgau and then finished 12th in Düsseldorf and 8th in Hannover. However, Klamt was the clear star of the Potsdam team.
SG Dresdner Spitzen Triathlon Team / LTV Erfurt – 9th
Caroline Pohle takes the top performer title for Dresden/Erfurt courtesy of her top-10 finishes in Schliersee and Düsseldorf.
In the former, she finished 6th. She followed that with an 8th place in the latter. Although she only made two appearances in 2023, Pohle’s interventions were decisive and among the best performances of anyone on the team.
Romana Gajdošová’s 5th place in Tübingen should not to be ignored. However, that represented Gajdošová’s only appearance in 2023. With no one else finishing inside the top-25 at a race, Pohle was a cut above the rest.
Sparda Bank Team Hagen – 11th
Margareta Bicanova was the star performer for Hagen in 2023 and was the team’s top finisher at all three of her appearances.
In the first race of the season, at which Bicanova did not appear, Hagen did not finish, putting them in last place. They therefore needed to bounce back at the second round in Schliersee.
Cue Bicanova’s entrace.
The Slovakian athlete dropped a startling performance to take 5th place, using a big bike split up the mountain to lift herself through the standings. After the disappointment of Kraichgau, her display was a welcome tonic for the team.
Bicanova went on to finish 16th in Tübingen and 12th in Hannover. For her efforts, she would rank 8th in the end of season individual standings.
Tereza Zimovjanova and Joanna Wozniak added 10th place finishes in Düsseldorf and Schliersee, respectively. Across the board, though, Bicanova was the standout athlete on the Hagen team.
Team Bad Orb – Gesund im Spessart – 13th
In a similar fashion to Bicanova, Stephanie Weiß was the top performer for Bad Orb after stepping up as her team’s top finisher at three different events.
Her 12th place in Schliersee was the best result of any athlete on the Bad Orb team and she followed it up with team-leading finishes of 16th in Düsseldorf and 35th in Hannover.
With multiple appearances, the team’s highest finish, and a perfect record of being the team’s top athlete in 2023, it is impossible to look beyond Weiß for Bad Orb’s star athlete.
SV Würzburg 05 – 15th
Although she was not able to lift the team out of the relegation zone, Lea Cagol was Würzburg’s star performer in 2023.
She appeared four times for the team and logged the highest finishes in Düsseldorf and Tübingen. At both events she finished 26th. She would also finish 33rd in Hannover and Schliersee, displaying remarkable consistency.
Kim Van T Verlaat’s 21st place in Hannover gave her the top result for Würzburg. However, Cagol’s consistency gives her the edge when it comes to identifying Würzburg’s top performer.
Check back tomorrow for part 2 of the top performers in the 2023 women’s Bundesliga.
