Lennard Kämna looked aside a little embarrassed, he seemed to want to reassure himself with the dignitaries who stood with him on the podium: was he allowed to uncork the champagne bottle now? So often he hadn’t had the honor of accepting the jersey of the leader in the overall classification during a tour. He had now succeeded on the long-distance Tirreno – Adriatico, on the fourth stage, after 218 kilometers and a crisp ramp up to the finish in Tortoreto. In any case, the dignitaries on the winner’s podium gave the go-ahead for the champagne shower, and Kämna unwound it so enthusiastically that the guests of honor dodged a few steps for cover.
In the end, it wasn’t enough for him to win overall after a week through the Apennines – it went to Primoz Roglic, the three-time Vuelta winner. But fourth place, 34 seconds behind Roglic, that was news that some in the scene may have longed for. Ever since Kämna won World Championship gold in the juniors’ time trial in 2014 and even then showed how quickly he climbs the mountains, this hope has been with him like a shadow: that he could one day get involved in the three-week tours with the pros.
German cycling, which after the years of doping attracted attention with sprinters and time trialists, has been rediscovering the climbing path and the overall rankings for a few years, even if business is tough and doubts about the honesty of the industry leaders continue to circulate. In any case, this season is the first for Kämna in which he and his Bora-Hansgrohe team have explicitly ventured into the overall classification: “I’m 26 now,” he says, the time has come to say: “Okay, let’s try it now.”
He will skip the Tour de France this time – a lesson from last year
Tirreno – Adriatico was the first small test balloon. The first big one is supposed to be at the Giro d’Italia, which starts on May 6th on the Adriatic coast, this time with three time trials alone, which Kämna really likes. Last year he jumped early into the breakaway groups at the Giro, he won a stage, and he is now familiar with these day trips. But if you want to be there for three weeks, you can’t crash if there’s a wind crest, you have to be ready when things get serious in the mountains. They want to practice that with Kämna at this Giro: lose as little time as possible in the first week, maybe even do something in the time trial at the beginning. “And then see how far I can get,” he says.
Kämna doesn’t pour out his thoughts openly, you have to dig into him to find out what his “somehow very relaxed” season break looked like last time. And then you don’t come across skydiving adventures, but rather a week’s vacation in Ireland and time with parents and friends in Fischerhude near Bremen.
On the other hand, Kämna learned early on that it can be worthwhile in his sport to season the goals with a dash of restraint. A year ago he was so exhausted after Giro and Tour that he missed the World Cup and the Germany Tour. He will skip the tour this time, and at the Giro Alexander Vlasow is the captain; in the absence of last year’s winner Jai Hindley, with whom Bora plans for the France loop. “I see myself as someone who can try things out in the shadow of the larger,” says Kämna. Sporting director Rolf Aldag says that they will not immediately close every gap that Kämna should tear onto the favorites, “also so as not to put him under stress again”.
Strong straight ahead and uphill: Lennard Kämna has at least everything to keep up with the rankings for more than three weeks.
(Photo: Dirk Waem/Imago)
Almost two years ago, shortly before the start of the Tour de France in Brest, Kämna’s team manager Ralph Denk gave a remarkable presentation. At that time they had scheduled Kämna for the squad, he had already made a name for himself as a stage winner in the Dauphiné and the Tour. And then: he had exhausted himself too much before the climax, even when an illness was approaching. “He wasn’t honest with himself or us,” said Denk. This was followed by a forced break and the lesson: “He has learned to give us updates about his physical condition more often,” says Denk. Two years earlier, his former team, Sunweb, had taken him out of operation for six weeks. Kämna later said: “In terms of health and mental health, I was a bit on the limit.”
Denk is also cautious because he once had a great hope shattered: Dominik Nerz, who kept some of his worries and the consequences of a fall to himself. At that time, Denk’s team was still growing, but today the drivers can turn to people they trust if they experience problems. But even that is no guarantee, you saw it with Kämna, also with Emanuel Buchmann. He was fourth on the tour in 2019, fell and then injured himself again and again. This year things should go better in France, finally again.
No wonder Kämna prefers to keep his goals vague. Of course they measured him from head to toe as a team, 1.81 meters tall, 65 kilos, a lot of strength on the road and on the mountain. He also made a “big step” again in the time trial, he says, at Tirreno – Adriatico only world champion Filippo Ganna was faster in this exercise. But how sustainable can he stretch this ability over three weeks? He only knows that when he tries it, like a triathlete who dares to do long distance for the first time. And the competition will already be strong at the Giro; Roglic has announced himself again, as has Remco Evenepoel, who won the Road World Championships and the Vuelta last year, at the age of 22.
There is also an exciting question: whether Kämna, who used to drive without a speedometer, attacked on a whim – whether he will be happy if he has to struggle patiently with the favorites for three weeks, and at some point should also direct a team as captain ? He wants to try it: “I hope that I can also do the races offensively from the main group,” he says, “but that’s a giant step, I have to be patient.” And if it works out sooner: He’s gradually familiar with the protocol at the award ceremony.