Stefanie gasps greedily for air at the finish line. Her lungs are burning, her legs are aching, the best time is the reward - but no feelings of happiness flood her body. For a few seconds, the world has been out of order. She is gripped by sheer horror, and the mixture of anger and despair kills even the last spark of joy. There are mistakes in a time trial that you don't even want to think about. But can it all be true, did she really mess up? What about
what about the super speed, the many riders overtaken, including a world champion? Stefanie just wants to get away. The 33-year-old disappears, leaving her parents and boyfriend horrified at her destination.flashback: The day before, Stefanie Güttinger from RSC Kempten was still full of anticipation - as were Maico Hertenstein from Schuttertal and Oliver Schmid-Schmidt from Salem. In a four-star hotel in Bad Saulgau on the eve of the German Grand Prix, they are standing in front of three stylish time trial bikes: lightweight carbon frames, full carbon rims, ultra-flat recumbent handlebars. These are their competition machines for tomorrow. All three have never been on a time trial bike before, having competed in the Jedermann time trial on normal racing bikes last year. That's exactly why we chose the three of them. Our idea: to equip time trial bike debutants with top equipment for a race and to document their experiences. It didn't take long to persuade German GP sponsor Specialized to provide rental bikes for the event. And the call from the TOUR editorial team was met with great joy by the three candidates.
You can read the full article in the August issue of conveniently here.
