Frank Sinatra not only sang well, but also played cards. He once said, “You only live once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough.” It remains to be seen whether Lennard Kämna likes hearing Sinatra, but if you hear the word Life through attack replaced, the sentence quite aptly summarizes the driving style of the 25-year-old. Kämna is not one of those mountain specialists who keep accelerating with a bang. But if he attacks, then the action sits.
At the current Giro d’Italia, the Wedeler demonstrated this – as the French say – façon de courir. During the fourth stage up to Mount Etna, Kämna was in the breakaway group. The Spanish mountain specialist Juan Pedro Lopez tried his hand as a soloist and had a decent lead. But Kämna calmly caught the haste more than two kilometers from the finish. An attack, but a diesel like Kämna, who can keep his rhythm stoically, doesn’t need more. In the last corner he managed to put a small gap between himself and the pursuer and was able to – supposedly – comfortably raise his arms in cheering at the finish line.
Such achievements by this cycling talent are not surprising. In 2014, Kämna became Junior World Champion in the individual time trial. At 20 he signed his first professional contract with what was then Team Sunweb. In 2017 he won world championship gold in the team time trial with teammates such as Tom Dumoulin. Kämna is 1.81 meters tall, but according to his current team, Bora-Hansgrohe, weighs only 65 kilos. It has a lot of power on flat roads and only a few can shake it uphill: perfect conditions for a classification driver.
When Kämna wanted to start after his tour stage win in 2020, he caught two infections
The highlight of Kämna’s career so far is the victory of the 16th stage of the Tour de France 2020. As is so typical for him, Kämna arrives in Villard-de-Lans as a soloist. Before that, he had left top-class players like Julian Alaphilippe, Sébastien Reichenbach and Richard Carapaz behind in a breakaway group. This is Kämna, how he loves and lives cycling.
However, there was a period after the win when, like last year, he Weser courier said he didn’t feel like getting on his bike anymore. “The original trigger for this break was probably a portion of over-motivation,” says the manager of the Bora-Hansgrohe team Ralph Denk. Because if you win a mountain stage at the Tour at this young age, the next logical step is for you to strive for the yellow jersey yourself. Kämna got an infection, got back into training too early and caught another infection. “Then nothing worked anymore,” remembers Denk. “I then said to him: Get in touch if you want to go back.”
Career highlight so far: Lennard Kämna wins the 16th stage of the Tour de France in 2020.
(Photo: David Stockman/Belga/Imago)
The top talent took a break for five months. The first bib number he pinned back onto his jersey was for a mountain bike race in South Africa. New discipline, new culture. Kämna enjoyed cycling again. In addition, he says, without giving any deeper insights, he has found an inner balance thanks to family and friends. Although he fell ill with Corona in March and missed competitions and high-altitude training camps as a result, he kept his cool and now seems to be able to cycle at the Giro d’Italia as he enjoys it.
The only question is: does he want to remain the successful stage hunter or would he like to be on the podium of a Grand Tour? Ralph Denk says he’s dying to have this post-Giro conversation. In any case, the team manager wants to extend the contract with Kämna, which expires at the end of the year – no matter what role he sees himself in. Denk is convinced that his protégé has the physical requirements for the overall standings: “We have to talk about whether he is capable of the mega-stress of a captain on a Grand Tour. I would like to hear his answer too.”
In any case, this year’s Giro is not about achieving a top place in the overall standings. Lennard Kämna enjoys freedom, should ride in breakaway groups on stage wins. This has worked well so far. For everything else: “Let’s see,” says Bayer Ralph Denk.