Carla Hahn rushes from victory to victory - it just doesn't work out at the season finale

Created: 12/31/2021, 09:30 AM

Far and wide no competition: Carla Hahn won seven out of eight races in the national sighting.

The 16-year-old from Sindelsdorf won the German title in the U17 age group.

© Marko Haas

In the German U17 championship, Carla Hahn was in a class of her own.

The Sindelsdorf native just missed the “perfect season”.

Sindelsdorf - At the end of the season, mountain biker Carla Hahn was a bit unlucky. Nevertheless, she won the overall ranking of the federal junior sifting with a maximum number of points and thus crowned her impressive final season in the U17 age group with the German championship title. Hahn's goal for the last two races of the sighting series in Wombach (Lower Franconia) was two victories, in order to conclude the national racing year with the flawless series of eight wins in eight races.

This project was not a good star for the Sindelsdorf resident.

In the week before the competition, she fell while training on the slalom downhill track.

She sustained a hand injury and had to take a week off.

On the day of the race Hahn was able to hide her injury perfectly and drove to victory in the slalom.

The only thing missing was a triumph in the final cross-country race to make the series perfect.

Hahn approached the start a little hesitantly, which was actually atypical for them.

“The day before I broke my chain for the second time in the season, that made me a little insecure,” she admitted.

Carla Hahn is troubled by an injured hand

Nevertheless, she managed to overtake the competition again on the starting loop and to go from the front of the field into the first lap.

But then the injured and aching hand made itself felt again.

“I missed a hole in the track in the start loop and drove in unprepared,” she recalls.

She had received a massive slap on the hand, whereupon it began to rumble again.

So she didn't have the right control over her bike, especially in the downhill sections, and she had to approach these sections of the route a little more slowly.

"Even uphill, I couldn't pull the handlebars as I should have", says Hahn.

DM title with maximum possible number of points

Her competitors take advantage of these small weaknesses of the dominator in her age group. Natalie Kaufmann and Lucie Hückmann overtook the woman from Sindelsdorf and won against each other. Hahn finally crossed the finish line in third place. The result, which corresponds to the circumstances, was a very good one anyway, but no longer played a role in the overall standings for the German championship. Because in this there are two deleted results, third place fell out and Hahn won the title with the maximum possible number of points. "It's a shame that my dream of eight wins in eight races didn't come true, but overall victory is more important."

Back home, the painful hand was found to have broken metacarpal bone. "That meant a three-week break, they are over and the hand is much better," said Hahn. “I've already started training for the new season.” And these days it's pure bike training, because the 16-year-old quit her skis and alpine career last spring. “To be honest, it feels strange that I haven't been on skis before and that I haven't had any glacier training. But there is also something good about having time in peace for friends and school. "

The passionate mountain biker will certainly not get bored.

Because with the new cycling season, the transition to the U19 is pending - and there are enough challenges waiting for Hahn to be sufficiently challenged with just one high-performance sport.