Despite strong form and the title in the time trial behind him, victory in the road race at the national title fights in Sauerland is anything but a sure-fire success for professional cyclist Lennard Kämna.
When asked whether the 25-year-old Bora-hansgrohe professional saw himself as a favorite on Sunday after his victory in the fight against the clock, Kämna replied: “Nope! I will definitely be one of the favourites, but there are still many other strong drivers. I will approach it with a lot of respect.”
This year’s Giro and Tour stage winner of 2020 only received the victory in the time trial after the 27.5 kilometers with start and finish in Marsberg with a delay – because he did not receive any times on the route due to a problem with the transponder. “I didn’t notice anything, that’s usually not a good sign in time trials. After that I cycled to the bus and that’s when I saw my time.” With 15 seconds, Kämna finally prevailed against Jannik Steimle. Third place went to Kämna’s teammate Nils Politt, 24 seconds back.
After the loss of his team-mate and defending champion Maximilian Schachmann due to Corona, Kämna is one of the narrowest contenders for the jersey with the black, red and gold chest ring on the demanding 189-kilometer course on Sunday. It is still unclear whether Kämna will start the 109th Tour de France on July 1 in the Danish capital Copenhagen.