No stage won, the race ended prematurely due to a cold – and yet professional cyclist Lennard Kämna provided two of the most emotional moments from a German perspective at the 2022 Tour de France.
The then 25-year-old already had the Giro d’Italia in his legs when he traveled to the tour. A spontaneous decision – his use was not actually planned. But Kämna is fit and up for it, his Bora-hansgrohe team won’t say no. He travels to help captain Alexander Vlasov, but as a tragic hero he sweeps the fans away.
Tour de France – Kämna struggles on the “dirt mountain”
7th stage, mountain arrival in the Vosges. The Planche des Belles Filles was a stage of the tour for the first time in 2012. The goal is about 100 meters below the summit at the ski station. In 2022, however, the goal is: La Super Planches des Belles Filles – because it is exactly these last hundred meters of altitude that the drivers still have to climb this year. A gravel ramp, at the steepest point with a gradient of 24 percent. “dirt mountain” Kämna calls the ascent later.
The 25-year-old is the first driver in this section. But the group with overall leader Tadej Pogacar and pursuer Jonas Vingegaard is relentlessly closing in. Around 90 meters before the finish, Kämna struggles up the ramp, almost stops, and Pogacar and Vingegaard overtake him shortly before the end. pure drama.
Kämna’s big fight in the end without success
The great struggle of the North German remains unsuccessful. He’s fourth. But on the “dirt mountain” he can’t blame himself, it just couldn’t be faster.
This is another reason why he has fond memories of this stage: “I take the positive impressions of the last climb with me. It was an amazing atmosphere, you go up first, everyone is on your side, trying to push you up there as quickly as possible. That was a nice event for me personally and me think mainly of that and less of the fact that I missed a stage win there”he says in an interview with Radio Bremen.
Suddenly favorite on the tenth stage of the tour
He has more problems with the second Kämna drama of this tour. Tenth stage from Morzine to Megève. Not a spectacular route, the favorites for the overall classification are holding back. Kämna starts the race with a deficit of eight minutes and 43 seconds and as 21st overall and there in a larger breakaway group with drivers who are behind him in the tableau. He is the favorite to win the day and has already triumphed in Megève in the Dauphiné Tour.
The distance to the yellow jersey is getting bigger and bigger, it is now more than nine minutes and so Lennard Kämna unexpectedly drives in the yellow jersey around 20 kilometers from the finish line.
Kämna is only eleven seconds short of the yellow jersey of the tour
No German has been allowed to wear the “Maillot Jaune” since 2015. Only eleven German riders have ever done that in the history of the tour. Kämna is offered a historic opportunity that he himself doesn’t really realize in the race, in the tunnel.
For a long time he has the stage victory in his head, the information about the tour radio does not really reach him. He struggles in a tough final, finishes tenth – and then the shaking begins. When will leader Tadej Pogacar come in? In the end, only eleven seconds are missing to the yellow jersey.
Abandonment due to cold – Tour de France ended prematurely
A few days later, Kämna had to give up the tour because of a cold. Even today he says: “The stage hurts a bit more because I know that not everything went well and I could have done one or two things differently for sure. Sometimes I also think: ‘Oh man, I would have liked that.’ But nonetheless, I’m not bothered about it too much.”
After all, Kämna already had a lot to celebrate in 2022. Stage win on Mount Etna at the Giro d’Italia, main helper of his captain Jai Hindley, who wins the Giro, German champion in the time trial and a day win at the Ruta del Sol in Spain.
After the crisis, the realization: “It works again”
And all that in year one after his crisis. In 2021, Kämna paused for months and lost interest in cycling. This is one of the reasons why he experienced his personal highlight this year away from the Grand Tours. “The most emotional moment was definitely the first win this year at the Ruta del Sol. That meant a lot to me personally and was also a sign to myself: ‘Ok, I’m back, I’m back and I’m still in the able to fight for victories'”says Kämna looking back.
What a comeback for the 25-year-old. The year 2022 was a good one for Lennard Kämna. The coming year will certainly be an exciting one, because the 26-year-old now wants to find out for himself. As co-captain at the Giro d’Italia, he is supposed to be in the overall ranking for the first time. The chances are not bad that Kämna can deliver great moments to the German fans again.