Team Olympic champion and individual world champion Franziska Brausse won the women’s 3000-meter individual pursuit at the start of the 136th German Championships in track cycling.
The 24-year-old athlete from Eningen beat Justyna Czapla from Schwabach in the final on the Cottbus cycle track in 3:41.942 minutes and had a lead of more than eleven seconds. Lea Lin Teutenberg from Cologne took third place.
Nicolas Heinrich from Zwickau successfully defended his title for the men. The ex-European champion caught up with his opponent Theo Reinhardt from Berlin in the final. In the small final for bronze, Leon Rohde surprisingly beat Tobias Buck-Gramcko (Göttingen) in 4:35.715 minutes.
The championships go until Sunday. Around 300 athletes in the elite, junior and youth classes are at the start. 52 titles will be awarded. In some classes, the competitions also qualify for international highlights in the coming weeks.