The latest round of national championships has finished on the weekend, and it was Ricarda Bauernfeind from CANYON//SRAM Generation that shone brightly. After winning the U23 Individual Time Trial title on Friday, Ricarda backed it up with a silver medal in the elite women’s race yesterday in Neheim, Germany.

Not only did Ricarda take the U23 title, but her finish time was also faster than the winner of the elite women’s title, Lisa Brennauer, on the same 27.5km course just one hour earlier.

“This is my first title on the road and I can’t really believe it,” said Ricarda after her U23 ITT gold medal.

“It wasn‘t a typical TT course but it suited me well. Straight after the start, there was a 1.5km climb up to 18%. On top, it was undulating and windy so you always had to change your rhythm. There was another climb, 7km before the finish, and then a technical and fast final.”

“Lars Teutenberg was in the follow car and guided me perfectly through the TT and I could pace it really well.”

Ricarda continued, “Nobody expected this result because I‘ve never ridden a good TT. But Friday was just a perfect day. I had a fast bike, the course suited me and the tips from the car helped me a lot. So I‘m happy and overwhelmed. And that my time would have won the elite category is just amazing.”

While the U23 and elite time trials were separate races, the two categories were combined for the women’s road race, where Bauernfeind backed up her performance with a silver medal behind winner Liane Lippert (DSM). 

“It‘s just amazing that I could win a medal again and it shows that I did everything right in the last months. At the beginning of the season, I doubted I’m a good enough rider to be in the elite category. But I trusted my CANYON//SRAM Generation team and my coach and I’ve shown I’m on the right development path.”

“I have no words for this weekend. The U23 national title in the ITT and a silver medal in the road race are just amazing. It wasn‘t easy, because a lot of people said that I‘m one of the favourites for this road race so I put some pressure on myself. But I had teammates who supported me very well and in the end, it was a sprint finish so we decided that I‘m going to sprint and I could manage second,” added Ricarda.

In other national championships, CANYON//SRAM Generation rider Alia Mansor took bronze in the Malaysian ITT, and Antonia Niedermaier finished fifth in the elite women’s road race in Germany.

For CANYON//SRAM Racing, Shari Bossuyt won silver in the Belgium ITT and won the bunch sprint for 9th place in the road race, Lisa Klein won silver in the German ITT and was 14th in the road race, Elise Chabbey was 4th in the Switzerland road race, Alice Barnes won the bunch sprint for 6th in Great Britain road race, and Soraya Paladin was 10th in the Italian road race and 13th in the ITT.

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