cycling
Schachmann’s restart Down Under
Bora professional Maximilian Schachmann will attack again in 2023. photo
© David Stockman/BELGA/dpa
Max Schachmann was Mister Reliable in the Bora-hansgrohe team for years – until Corona threw him off track. With the start of the season in Australia, he wants to put 2022 behind him.
Temperatures of over 30 degrees, fantastic beaches and encounters with one or the other koala on the training rides – Maximilian Schachmann could certainly have chosen worse places for a new start in cycling than Australia.
After a year to forget with two corona diseases and an exhaustion syndrome, the two-time German champion will really get back into racing on Tuesday at the Tour Down Under after a break of a good six months.
“It was important for me to do a reset and not to drag it out into the next season because I had the feeling that there wasn’t much left to save,” Schachmann reported recently from the training camp. “Then sometimes it’s better to take a step back and take a running start and then make another jump.” In 2022, jumps were no longer possible for the native of Berlin, who had actually always reliably delivered top results to his Bora-hansgrohe team.
infection after infection
A long-term infection followed a corona infection in winter. And when Schachmann finally regained his form in June, the next coronavirus test was already positive. A fall at the Tour de France was also added, and at the end of July nothing worked for the 29-year-old. So the doubts remained. You hear a lot in the media, also about Long Covid. “Then you start to ponder and think: Is the old thing coming back or was that it? The doctors say: Don’t worry, it’ll come back with calm. But I know that nobody knows for sure.”
At the moment he feels good again, but: “Training is one thing, racing is another. These are two pairs of shoes.” At the warm-up on Saturday, a criterium in Adelaide, he crossed the finish line in 64th place. At least a start. But Australia is not his goal for the season anyway. “If I can’t compete at the absolute top, it won’t be the end of the world. After that, there are many races in Europe that I focus on,” said Schachmann.
The traditional Paris-Nice Tour, for example, which he won in 2020 and 2021, or the super-difficult spring classics Milan-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders. “For him, it’s all about coming back first. You don’t win one-day races by questioning yourself. You have to be there with your head full. To prove via Australia and Paris-Nice: I’m back, a constant in cycling”, sports director Rolf Aldag formulated the short-term goals.
High standing in the team
A possible change to a driver for the big tours like Tour and Giro is off the table for Schachmann. The team leadership thinks nothing of that either. “He would have to give up a lot for the three-week tours in order to develop there. I think we should rather develop the skills he has before pursuing completely new goals,” said team boss Ralph Denk, who already has many good ones in his team tour operator has.
That Schachmann still enjoys great respect in the team is shown by the fact that his racing wishes were accepted without discussion. “I submitted my calendar request. And then they called me and said: Yes, that’s fine.” In addition to the great classics in spring, the Tour de France and the World Championships in Scotland are also on the agenda – assuming your health is good.
At least Schachmann connects great feelings privately with 2022. His daughter Emma was born in September. “It was good timing for me and a special moment. The three of us settled in quite well. It’s a new life’s work that has come along,” reported Schachmann. The only thing missing is a return to the top of the cycling world.