Cycling: Moritz Milatz has already celebrated great successes in the Albstadt bull valley. In 2015, however, everything will be different for the man from Freiburg. He's studying and racing for the new team of his long-time rival Wolfram Kurschat, but keeps an eye on the 2016 Olympics. Last Sunday he made his season debut, on May 31st he wants to be in good form at the start of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano in Albstadt.
June 1st, 2014, World Cup in Albstadt. Moritz Milatz waves from the podium to the audience, who celebrate the best German of the day for his fifth place. After third place in Nove Mesto, he is among the top five in the world for the second time in a week. He had never done that before in his career.
The season should be the best of his career. Even if he had to give up the European Championships sick a week later and lost the German championship title in July after a defect. At the World Championships he came fourth and just missed out on the bronze medal and he won the overall ranking of the BMC Racing Cup in Switzerland.
But the flight of fancy was followed by the most difficult phase of his career. Moritz Milatz (32) was deeply disappointed to learn that BMC reduced the team budget and that after so many successes of all things there was no more room for him.
In an emergency, the Freiburg native decided to resume his studies in microsystems technology at his home university, which he had interrupted ten years ago for a professional contract with Multivan-Merida. "That was the right decision", he says from today's perspective. "I enjoy studying."
At the beginning of December, all options for a contract that would secure his family's livelihood were gone.
This is where his longtime competitor, Wolfram Kurschat, came into play. With whom he fought a great duel for the German title in Bullenäle in 2011 and with whom he has a very respectful relationship. At least since they did the Olympic preparation together in 2008.
Wolfram Kurschat is still active at almost 40 years old, but works as a pharmacist and as a consultant for companies. And: He was about to build his own team. In January, former European champion Milatz signed with the formation entitled Koch Engineering-Müsing-Bikes. It's not a professional contract, but with 1500 euros from the Elite Promotion of Sporthilfe, he can make ends meet. "That's very important. I have to justify to my family that I invest so much time in sport.", explains Milatz.
And Kurschat knows the situation of a student athlete with a family from personal experience. “Moritz gets all the freedom in the team. It's great for me to have such a top driver with me right at the start of my team.", says the man from Neustadt, who also signed the junior world champion from 2013, Lukas Baum, and another U23 biker, Daniel Voitl.
What will be possible for Moritz Milatz in 2015 with reduced training effort can hardly be predicted. However, last Sunday in Schaan (Liechtenstein) there was a hint that put a smile on Milatz's face. After a bad start, he moved up from 20th to sixth place when world champion Absalon won, including the best lap time at the end. “I didn't know at all what my training was worth. It could also have been, I get stuck where I was on the first lap. But that was fun.", he said with a grin.
And Wolfram Kurschat (11th) had temporarily put himself in the service of his teammate. "That was a good start, wasn't it?" That was a rhetorical question that Kurschat asked.
Moritz Milatz formulated his goal for the 2015 season as follows: “I want to stay in the game this year so I can qualify for the 2016 Olympics. And I hope to be able to improve the conditions for next year.”
Will he be able to wave from the podium to the audience again on May 31, 2015? Milatz did not set that as his goal. "I don't put any pressure on myself," he says. "But I want to be in good shape at the start." And with all the positive memories of Albstadt, his first German championship title in 2006, that of 2011 and fifth place in the World Cup last year, there might be an extra boost.