A close finale at the first Bundesliga race of the season saw Buschhütten beat out Hylo Saar in Kraichgau. Buschhütten’s win was in large part a result of nailing their tactics.
With the teams racing in the 2+2 format (in which each pair raced half of a Sprint triathlon), the balance between the two pairs had to be just right.
Across the race, there was plenty of variety in the legs and here we take a look at the top-15 men’s performances from the race.
The Top Men’s Legs
- Tim Hellwig (Hylo Team Saar) – 24:32
- Valentin Wernz (Hylo Team Saar) – 24:42
- Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten) – 24:50
- Jonas Osterholt (PSD Bank Tri Post Trier) – 24:56
- Jonas Schomburg (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten) – 25:17
- Henri Schoeman (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten) – 25:18
- Eric Diener (Sportunion Neckarsulm) – 25:19
- Justus Töpper (Triathlon Potsdam e.V.) – 25:24
- John Reed (Team Berlin) – 25:24
- Simon Henseleit (Sportunion Neckarsulm) – 25:25
- Amaury Dietrich (Sportunion Neckarsulm) – 25:25
- Gjalt Panjer (PSD Bank Tri Post Trier) – 25:33
- Cedric Osterholt (PSD Bank Tri Post Trier) – 25:33
- Neilan Kempmann (SSF Bonn Triathlon Team) – 25:36
- Euan De Nigro (Triathlon Team DSW Darmstadt) – 25:39
Tim Hellwig and Valentin Wernz were the fastest men of the day. Part of their fast times came from the fact that they had to bridge up to Vetle Bergsvik Thorn and Maximilian Sperl after the first pair had finished. Once they made the jump across, they were on course to log the best legs of the field.
A lack of a top-15 split from either man in Hylo Saar’s opening pair is ultimately what sunk their hopes of a win.
Thorn narrowly missed out on the best leg of the day despite crossing the finish line in 1st place. Nevertheless, he could come away from the race satisfied with his showing. His kick at the end to beat Hellwig showed his running is in splendid form.
Jonas Osterholt had an outstanding race after bridging to the lead Buschhütten pair in the swim. His leg, the fourth fastest of the day, went a long way to securing a shock 3rd place overall for Trier.
The quickest opening legs came from Jonas Schomburg and Henri Schoeman. After leading out the swim, they ran clear from the lead pack to set up the Buschhütten win.
The best of the rest from the opening legs came from Eric Diener. Diener’s performance would prove invaluable to Neckarsulm as he laid the platform upon which his team mates Henseleit and Dietrich could secure 4th overall.
John Reed was quietly good for Team Berlin but did not quite have the support he would have needed to push the team higher.
Meanwhile Trier’s opening pair, Cedric Osterholt and Gjalt Panjer, really stepped up. Both were close to breaking into the top-10 in terms of fastest leg times. In doing so, they set up Jonas Osterholt for his fast finish.
Neilan Kempmann was the best of the men from Bonn. That is no mean feat in a team containing Lasse Lührs. It will be worth keeping an eye on Kempmann as the season progresses. Still a fairly young athlete, he could really kick on this year.
Euan De Nigro rounded out the top-15 splits. His surge at the end helped to carry Darmstadt to 6th overall in what was a very positive start to the season for the team.
You can view the full results here.
