At the thought of Alpe d'Huez Lennard Kämna goes into raptures. "This is a historic climb. I skied up there as a teenager and now I'm looking forward to doing it as a professional," says Kämna.
The talented German cyclist will have to wait a little longer before the 109th Tour de France heads to the ski resort for the queen stage. The spectacle is not on the programme until 14 July. Perhaps he will have reached his goal by then and won a stage.
Kämna reports back after mental problems
"I'm very motivated and in good shape," emphasises Kämna before the start of the tour in Copenhagen. "I don't have a specific stage in mind, but there are plenty of good opportunities for breakaways. I will definitely give it a go." Just like at the Giro, as Kämna won the difficult stage on Mount Etna and finally made his comeback in 2021 after a difficult year accompanied by mental problems.
Although Kämna has already won a Tour stage in 2020, he is something of the discovery of the season. The fact that the North German would ever ride as a professional cyclist again was in doubt for a long time. It was only a mountain bike trip to South Africa, which team boss Ralph Denk sent him on, that reawakened Kämna's desire. "I'm proud that we were able to get him enjoying cycling again," says Denk.
Kämna extends contract
And because Kämna directly delivers strong results and spectacular escapes, his team has also Bora-Hansgrohe Fun. Shortly before the start of the Tour, the contract with the immensely talented cyclist was extended ahead of schedule. At the Tour, the 25-year-old will support Bora captain Aleksandr Vlasov in the mountains, but will be given more freedom, as he was at the Giro.
These are obviously important for Kämna in order to realise his full potential. "He's a bit of a free spirit," says Denk and reports on the first time trial of the Giro d'Italia, in which Kämna surprisingly finished eighth: "He pulled that out of his hat. He barely looked at the course and had no radio connection. He wanted to ride it freestyle."
Time trial champion
Last Saturday, Kämna secured his first ever German time trial championship title. However, he does not see himself as a candidate for victory in the opening 13.2 kilometre time trial of the Tour on Friday in Copenhagen. "It's the time trial specialists' turn, I'm not at that level yet. I'll see where I end up," says the former junior world champion in the battle against the clock.
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Winning a stage remains the big goal. Possibly because he has a strong personal connection to the Tour. After his stage win in Villard-de-Lans in 2020, Kämna gradually slipped into a slump that almost cost him his career. "As soon as there are difficulties, I have problems getting satisfaction outside of the sport. I missed out on opening myself up to other things, developing other interests. I was living my life the wrong way," Kämna once told the "Weser Courier".
Today, he no longer wants to talk about that time. His focus is understandably on the future and Kämna seems to have overcome his problems. This is good news for him and for German cycling. Because there aren't many riders of his calibre left in this country.
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