Bahnrad-EM: Germans dominate the event, which is the largest in Japan

Created: 08/17/2022, 13:58

By: Gunter Klein

Briskly to the top: Lea Sophie Friedrich in the keirin final – strong tactical performance.

© AFP/Tobias Black

At the track cycling European Championship, the Germans took off.

Now they are following up in a discipline that is celebrated hard in Japan.

Munich – The last day of the European Track Cycling Championships was all about Japan.

Keirin was driven, this wild spectacle that is big in the Far East.

But the Germans also master the format, they are the Japanese of Europe.

Lea Sophie Friedrich won the women's title, Maximilian Dörnbach silver for the men.

And in the Madison, another type of sprint, Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt added the final gold.

Lea Friedrich was already part of the successful sprint team around Emma Hinze, who was too exhausted to compete in the keirin.

The day before, Dörnbach had won bronze in the 1000 meters – alone against the clock.

In the keirin you have to share the lane with five others.

And with a derny.

The moped rattles a few laps ahead before it releases the hunt.

Before that, a small lottery took place.

Everyone must draw a card - this is how the position is determined at the beginning.

Lea Sophie Friedrich's victory had special value because she had to go up front from five.

The Federation of German Cyclists delivered in Munich in almost all categories: in the pursuit and the sprinters.

The success is linked to the name of Jan van Eijden, who has returned to Germany after 15 years of bringing the British forward.

The 46-year-old, who used to be a sprinter, is modest: "The home trainers in the bases are important, they do the daily work." It's good for the division "if they're keen on sprinting".

Jan van Eijden sees German track cycling in a good position, which even brightens the perspective: "In Cologne we'll get another track." GÜNTER KLEIN