Keen to take the next step in his career: Kämna wants to ride for overall honours at the Giro
DPA
· 16.12.2022
A holiday in Ireland, a trip to San Francisco with the team, a visit home to Fischerhude and a few days in Austria - Lennard Kämna seems relaxed and ready to go. Ready for the next step in his career.
Lennard Kämna wants to ride the Giro d'Italia 2023 in the overall standings
The highly talented professional cyclist wants to compete in next year's Giro d'Italia will tackle the overall classification in a grand tour for the first time. "I'm 26 now, and the time is slowly approaching when you say you're either going to give it a go or not. I will definitely try," announced Kämna at the team camp in Mallorca.
Kämna has established himself as a stage hunter with stage wins at the Tour de France and the Giro in recent years. In the summer, he was just eleven seconds short of the yellow jersey on an Alpine stage of the Tour. "I think I still have room for improvement. In general, I would say that I haven't utilised everything yet. I'm still not there yet to say that I'm one of the top ten best climbers in the world," emphasises the North German. His team-mates, however, believe that he is capable of this, as German champion Nils Politt says: "Lennard is a miracle bag. He can do anything. If he's mentally fit, I believe he can do anything."
Lennard Kämna: One with great potential
He has always been recognised as having great potential. After his junior world title in the individual time trial in 2014, comparisons were already being drawn with Jan Ullrich. "I think I was still very naive about a lot of things back then. I didn't even know what the level of the pros was like. I didn't know anything about watts per kilo. I rode without a speedometer back then, just by feel. I had no idea how good someone was who won a mountain stage in the Tour de France," says Kämna.
Today, the 26-year-old knows better, having experienced personal highs and lows. This also included two mental time-outs over a longer period of time when he lost interest in his sport. The joy of cycling has long since returned. And because the people in charge at the Bora-Hansgrohe team are aware of his abilities, he enjoys all the freedom he can get. There are no plans for the exceptional rider to assist the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov, who is due to start the Giro as captain on 6 May in Abruzzo.
Lennard Kämna meets Remco Evenepoel
"Lenny has time trial qualities. We have a lot of time trials in the Giro, and the mountains suit him too. With Lenny, it's still a development process of saying: let's see how far we can get," says sport director Rolf Aldag, talking about an exciting project, while also emphasising: "But we're not saying that we have to close every hole for Lenny in order to put him under stress."
So what is possible with this talented man from Wedel? Could he possibly one day take on the big names in the sport such as Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) or two-time champion Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)? Kämna would have to adapt to this. Less attacking, but being alert at all times, showing no weaknesses. "I believe that I'm well prepared to ride for three weeks. And that I can also recover well."
At the Giro, he will first have to deal with prodigy and world champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium). "Remco is going into the winter with a huge tailwind and will be in top shape for the Giro. Whether you can beat him then is perhaps a little difficult to say." But it's definitely worth a try.
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