Up, down, right, left, over crests and through hollows, past farmsteads and small reservoirs, through forests and across plateaus with views of the snow-covered mountains, the Bregenz Forest and the Säntis in Switzerland. Always with a whirling pedal, always with a pull on the chain. Light-footed uphill, as if pulled by an invisible rope, as if there were no gravity to make climbing on the bike difficult. A quick glance and a dash across the main road, flying past groups of amateur cyclists, under the motorway and, on the descent, in close contact with the bumper of the car in front. It goes on like this for hours; focussed, fast, without a drop of sweat on your skin, without a heavy breath. We are on the road with Emanuel Buchmann as he trains in his home town. His team boss Ralph Denk hopes that the 23-year-old from Ravensburg will keep German cycling fans glued to the television during the mountain stages of the Tour de France. "He is someone who has great potential in stage races," says Enrico Poitschke, the sports director at Team Bora-Argon 18 - the man who made it possible for the talent to become a professional cyclist in the first place. He is confident that the quiet Upper Swabian will one day finish in the top ten overall in the Tour, Giro or Vuelta.
A big promise. Yet the dark-haired rascal is someone who doesn't really like being the centre of attention. His discomfort is palpable when he has to answer questions on camera. Then his eyes move as if searching for answers while he speaks quietly. But his face remains still, expressionless - even to people who have been with him for a long time, he sometimes remains a mystery. What is he thinking? What does he feel? When searching for answers to these questions, you get the impression that Buchmann prefers to express himself on his bike rather than in words.
His father, Manfred, realised that he liked to cycle fast and, for fun, pushed his son to increase his speed on hills. Ten years later, the offspring still likes to sit in the racing saddle - now professionally. "He just loves cycling races," says Tobias Hübner, his first coach, who got Buchmann into cycling as a 13-year-old. "But he doesn't want to win to be the centre of attention," emphasises the sports teacher, who is always picking up talented cyclists from the streets around Ravensburg. "I'd rather have my peace and quiet," agrees Buchmann, as the coach sits with him on the garden terrace in Ravensburg's Südstadt district.
But this is becoming increasingly difficult. Buchmann has been a sought-after young man since last summer. "We never thought he would get this far," says his father, a master carpenter. The Buchmanns are a reserved, unagitated family - you have to challenge the mother's pride, almost forcing her to get the newspaper cuttings with stories about her son out of the archive. Father Buchmann writes on the website of his cabinetmaking business: "Unfortunately, making beds takes a little longer for us than in fairy tales." This is probably the reason why Buchmann junior is not a dreamer, not someone who believes in fairy tales, but in hard work, a kind of cycling craftsman who doesn't advertise himself, but works and trains; first as a footballer, then as a handball player and finally, when he realised that this is what he does best, as a cyclist. "Cycling was never the most important thing in this family," says coach Hübner. It resonates unspoken: And that's a good thing.
The family has been overwhelmed by the success of the youngest, who still lives in his parents' house in his basement room with a garden terrace. "Two years ago, I wouldn't have thought that I could become German champion and ride the Tour de France," says Germany's greatest climbing talent. In the late summer of 2014, he was about to start studying mechanical engineering in Constance - he already had a place at university, but not a professional contract for the following season, even though his time as an U23 rider was coming to an end and he had just won the overall standings of the German Cycling League. It wouldn't have taken much for Buchmann to become a professional cyclist. But he has always stood his ground against the odds and found the gaps. At the age of 13 or 14, the quiet youngster pedalled around the WLZ fruit hall in Ravensburg on a small, red Stevens 26-inch racer with normal pedals, as all beginners in the KJC Ravensburg cycling department do because they are safe from traffic there. Although he enjoyed it, success did not materialise at first. Even in the youth classes, Buchmann recalls, he was happy to cross the finish line with his peers in the peloton - and not to be left behind for once. Winning was out of the question. "You don't recognise climbers and cyclists when they are children. It takes hard work, consistency and mental strength," emphasises coach Hübner.
Buchmann has been passionate about cycling for years, even without trophies. Even today, when asked what he likes about it, he says: "You spend a lot of time in nature. It gives you a feeling of freedom. And you get to know a few people through cycling." Obviously enough motivation to ride 30,000 kilometres on a racing bike, as he did last year - and to increase his workload this year. What appeals to him about the races is the comparison with others, he says, and pushing himself to the limit. "You try to be better - better than others." He challenges with his pedalling, not with pithy slogans. Buchmann patiently escorted his weakening captain Dominik Nerz in his Tour debut last year, even though he could have ridden faster. When his exhausted mate could no longer be helped, Buchmann stormed to third place in the difficult Pyrenean stage to Cauterets on the same day. Everyone who has worked with him, coached him, guided him and moulded him calls him determined. "A lot of self-motivation," says Hartmut Täumler, the long-time coach of the Württemberg state association, who has also observed this in his protégé. Buchmann is not one to live his parents' dream. The young athlete almost complains that they rarely took him to cycle races. He had sponsors at KJC Ravensburg, such as ex-racer Christoph Bulling, who drove him to bike races across the country weekend after weekend. At the time, Buchmann was the only one in his age group. His wordless enthusiasm and perseverance also seem to have infected his sponsors.
First the Ravensburg team, then the strict national coach Täumler, then the U23 national coach Ralf Grabsch, who still advises him today, and finally the people at Team Bora, who have made the long-term promotion of tour specialists their main task. Before he was allowed to sign the contract, Bora sports director Poitschke wanted to watch him at the Tour de l'Avenir, the Tour de France for young riders. "I knew I had to ride well," Buchmann recalls. Wasn't that crazy pressure? At the last chance to fulfil the dream of being a professional? "That's pressure all right. But a little pressure is not a bad thing," he says. He finished seventh in the race of the world's best young riders. "Withstanding pressure, being able to assert yourself" is important, emphasises Täumler - especially for the lightweights, for whom there are few chances of winning in the often flat junior races. Now everything has fallen into place: at the beginning of the year, Buchmann extended his contract until the end of 2018.
They have already realised on a small scale how much movement Buchmann can bring to cycling. The group of ten to twelve-year-olds at KJC Ravensburg didn't have a single member until the Tour de France 2015. After that afternoon in July, when the Ravensburg kids saw their neighbour's boy on TV riding through the Pyrenees at the front of the pack, the junior group suddenly had ten members. A taster session with Buchmann followed in the autumn - and all but one of the dozen participants stayed on. "You can sell him as a role model for other young racers," says Täumler. The enthusiasm could still grow. This season, Germany's up-and-coming mountain rider is probably even closer to the best. This was demonstrated by the Tour of Trentino at the end of April, where Buchmann felt the pace of some of the best climbers such as Mikel Landa, Jean-Christophe Péraud, Romain Bardet and Domenico Pozzovivo on the mountain road to Fai della Paganella. Afterwards, he read 385 watts as the average power for the climb from his bike computer. If there was no error in the measurement, then that would be the 6.2 watts/kilogramme needed to keep up with the world's best cyclists on the mountain during the Tour de France, given the Ravensburg climbing talent's 62 kilos of body weight. After this strong climbing performance, Buchmann stretched out in front of the leading group to lead his Austrian team-mate Patrick Konrad in the sprint for the stage win.
Emanuel Buchmann continues to climb. At the summit, journalists will be waiting and asking excited questions. The professional cyclist may then wish to return to the peace and quiet of his garden terrace or the hills of Upper Swabia. But of course he will politely answer all questions. "He has thawed out. He has realised that people are interested in him and are happy when he doesn't just say yes and no," observed team colleague Nerz. Nevertheless, he still seems to be finding it difficult. For him, it's probably not the journey to the summit that is the hardest part, but the questions at the finish line. But everyone who knows him is certain: he won't ride uphill any slower because of it. And he will also want to bite his way through this part of cycling.
