The Sparkasse MTB Festival in Stuttgart's Schleyer Hall was the meeting place for the international MTB elite last weekend. In addition to the Hall of Dirt contest, a freestyle competition, there was also an indoor sprint. Guido Tschugg, track builder and Red Bull team driver, created an indoor track especially for the event. Almost 70 starters, including European sprint champion Daniel Federspiel, tried to set a good time in the sand on the 450 meter long track. Federspiel got off to a good start, only losing to Lubomir Vojta in qualifying. The fast Czech has a strong BMX background and was particularly familiar with the starting technique, so he found himself in the final together with Federspiel and the two Lexware team riders, David Horvath and Christian Pfäffle.
Vojta left nothing to chance in the final and secured the victory. Behind him, the battle for the podium raged. "That was a very special sprint here in the hall. The start was crucial, and then you couldn't afford to make any mistakes. It's fantastic that they organize something like this here; I really enjoyed it," said Vojta, who also plans to compete in several World Cup events this year. Pfäffle slid out in the very first corner. His teammate Horvath seized his opportunity and moved into second position, which he successfully defended, securing second place ahead of Federspiel. "I never thought I'd get this far. Once I was in the final, I had nothing to lose, which calmed me down. The fact that there was so much technical skill involved really suited me ," said the 18-year-old junior rider.
Hannah Grobert caused a big surprise for the women. She takes first place in her first sprint competition. "I thought, let's do a sprint." Hannah Grobert was completely surprised herself. "It was my first real sprint."
Veronika Brüchle secured second place, followed by Kim Riesterer and Nadine Rieder.
result men
1. Lubomir Vojta (Dukla Brno)
2. David Horvath (Lexware MTB Team
3. Daniel Federspiel (Ötztal-Scott)
4. Christian Pfäffle (Lexware MTB Team)
5. Georg Egger (Lexware MTB Team)
result women
1. Hannah Grobert
2. Veronika Bruechle (Stevens)
3. Kim Riesterer (Lexware MTB Team)
4. Nadine Rieder (AMG Rotwild)
5. Lena Wehrle (Lexware MTB Team)