After his impressive fourth place on the Tourmalet at the 106th Tour de France, Emanuel Buchmann is competing for the top places in the overall classification. "I'm on a very good path. It can go on like this," said the rider from Ravensburg, who is not exactly one of the loudspeakers in the peloton. He rejects comparisons with the former Telekom stars: "I don't want to follow in any footsteps." What is behind Buchmann's successes?
HIS BEGINNING: Buchmann made his Tour debut at the age of 22 and made a name for himself with a third place on the Pyrenees stage to Cauterets. Shortly before that, he had surprisingly won the German championship title. He was carefully built up at Bora-hansgrohe. Last year, he captained the Vuelta for the first time and finished twelfth overall. An even better placing would have been prevented by errors in his nutrition. He seems to have rectified this in 2019. In any case, he finished third overall in the demanding Tour of the Basque Country and the Criterium du Daphiné.
HIS TEAM: Just ten years ago, the cycling team from Raubling was one of the no-name teams and travelled with a borrowed camper. Today, Bora-hansgrohe is one of the top teams and has already notched up 34 victories this season. In three-time world champion Peter Sagan, the most colourful personality in the peloton rides for the team. "Peter has the most pressure. He gets the most money, the most is expected of him," says Buchmann.
HIS CONCURRENTS: Are beginning to take notice of him. "He's been riding very well the whole time," recently praised Tour title defender Geraint Thomas, who felt the effects of Buchmann's attack on the Tourmalet. However, he went unnoticed by the Tour organ "L'Equipe" for a long time: he was not mentioned in the list of top favourites until the Pyrenees.
HIS FRIEND: Claudia Eder is a nutritionist and used to work in the Bora team herself. With her as his counsellor, the 26-year-old has no problems with his weight. Buchmann weighs 62 kilograms at 1.81 metres - perfect for the high mountains. "He doesn't sleep well when he's on ice," reports Denk. Buchmann also blossoms with Claudia Eder in other ways, as she told ARD: "He's not so quiet at home, otherwise it would be boring."
HIS MANAGER: There is no such thing. Buchmann negotiates his contracts himself - and as a self-starter, he doesn't do a bad job of it. "He conducted the negotiations himself, but in a confident manner. He recognised the basics of the law. He is known as a calm contemporary. But when the door is closed, he can be completely different. I congratulated him on his approach after signing the contract," said team boss Denk.
HIS ROOMMATE: No longer exists either. Buchmann shared a room with Maximilian Schachmann at the Tour, but the latter crashed during the individual time trial in Pau and suffered a triple fracture of his metacarpal. "That's a shame, he was an important helper," said Buchmann. The chemistry between the two was also good in other respects. The most frequent topic of conversation was financial security in old age, as Schachmann revealed. Buchmann was a pleasant partner in the room. He snored briefly once, but then turned round. Buchmann now has the luxury of a single room.
