It's not just that the Germans collected the most medals. Rather, the splendid performance of the next generation of cyclists gives cause for hope. A number of strong time trialists and sprinters are growing up and are following in the footsteps of today's figureheads Tony Martin, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb. Only a new Jan Ullrich, a winning rider for the tours, is not in sight in the foreseeable future.
"That's a type of rider we don't have here. These days, it's mostly small riders who live and train a lot at altitude. We support the athletes, but we can't produce them as an association. If it were that easy, we would already have a masterplan," says BDR Vice President Udo Sprenger.
U23 rider Silvio Herklotz is expected to take on such a role, but the 22-year-old is currently still riding for the lower-class Team Stölting and has a long way to go. Jasha Sütterlin, who is one year younger, has similar qualities. This year he made the leap into the WorldTour with the Spanish team Movistar. However, alongside Giro winner Nairo Quintana and World Championship bronze medallist Alejandro Valverde, he will first have to provide support services.
Lennard Kämna turned out to be a jewel at the World Championships. The 18-year-old, a lightweight on the bike, dominated the junior individual time trial and favours mountainous terrain. "Good cyclists today are usually around 28 years old. That's still a long time. We can't afford to lose riders before then," warns Sprenger's BDR colleague Günter Schabel. Probably the best German cyclist at the moment is Dominik Nerz, who has finished 14th and 18th in the Tour of Spain in the past two years. From 2015, he will be able to try his hand as captain of the future Team Bora. "I'm looking forward to the project," says the 25-year-old.
For the time being, however, the sprinters and time trialists will probably continue to provide the top placings. Kittel, André Greipel, Martin and Degenkolb, who took a respectable ninth place in the world championship road race on Sunday, have taken 14 stage wins in the three major tours this season. In terms of stage wins, the Tour de France in particular was more successful than ever before for German cyclists. And the next generation is ready and waiting. Maximilian Schachmann would probably have won a medal had he not crashed in the U23 time trial - and Jonas Bokeloh sprinted to victory in the juniors.
The situation in the women's camp is similar: 26-year-old Lisa Brennauer from Allgäu has made the leap into the world elite with two world championship titles in the individual and team time trial as well as silver in the road race. In the junior category, Lisa Klein, who finished fifth in the World Championships, is regarded as a great talent.
"We won the Nations Cup in Ponferrada and can be very satisfied. The most important thing is that the young riders have taken another step forward," Sprenger summarised positively - even without a new Ullrich. But it doesn't have to be a one hundred per cent copy of the fallen cycling star.
