Let me welcome you to this blog of mine, where I will provide you with lots of information on myself, my professional career and progress and that of my team, Bora - Hansgrohe. But first things first - let me introduce myself:
My name is Emanuel Buchmann - that much I assume you knew already. I'm 24 years old, and one of the few dedicated climbers that German cycling currently has to offer.
Testing the waters as a professional cyclist in the continental teams of Specialized and Rad-Net Rose, I made the first big step in my career when I signed for then pro-continental team Bora - Argon 18 for the 2015 season.
In my debut year with the team, I achieved my first, and to this day only, win at the German National Championships! And with the champion's jersey on my shoulders, I tackled my first grand tour, the Tour de France 2015, which had another highlight in store for me: A third place on the tough mountain stage up to Cauterets!
I came back to the Tour a year later, a stronger and more experienced rider. And it showed. With a 21st place overall and 3rd in the young riders classification, I proved to be somewhat close to the best. Now, in both my and the team's first year in World Tour, I want to take it to the next level.
Before I wrap up this first post, let me quickly tell you what you can expect on this blog: The main focus will of course be my own development, so you'll get reports from every race I participate in, the occasional training impression, medical news and all that good stuff.
In addition, I will give you some insights into our team, let you know the main results in monthly updates, and maybe show you a special highlight every now and then. Lastly, should there be any other major news in the world of cycling that I feel are important, I will give you my thoughts on them as well!
So, this is it for now. I hope you'll enjoy this blog and stay tuned as you get to see my career progress further and further.
@Mre & Ian: I'm happy to see the two of you (see what I did there?) commenting here It really does feel a little like old times!
@everyone: Thanks for your positive reactions! I expect to be posting probably two updates per day for the next few days until I hopefully find a regular rhythm. Racing should start sunday at the latest
The new pro cycling season is officially underway with the Autralian National Championships starting tomorrow, so I feel like this is a good time to give you guys an understanding of what my season is going to look like. It's going to be roughly divided into three parts:
Part One
14.-19.2.
Tour of Oman
2.HC
23.-26.2.
Abu Dhabi Tour
2.WT
8.-14.3.
Tirreno - Adriatico
2.WT
20.-26.3.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
2.WT
3.-8.4.
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
2.WT
11.4.
Paris - Camembert
1.1
16.4.
Amstel Gold Race
1.WT
19.4.
La Flèche Wallonne
1.WT
23.4.
Liège - Bastogne - Liège
1.WT
I will start racing in February already, which is great! The warm climate in on the Arabian peninsula will be nice as well. As you can see, I'm doing almost exclusivley World Tour races, and Abu Dhabi will be the first.
Both there and in Italy, I'll be assisting Rafal Majka and Leopold König, but afterwards, I am supposed to get more of a leading role. In both Spanish races, I will be the team's main GC contender, which is awesome!
Finally, I will be racing in the Ardennes classics. I was a little surprised at first, since I tend to see myself more as a climber and stage racer. But the team management told me they see great promise in one-day-races for me as well, and it's true that I have been somewhat successful in this department last year, especially in the Olympic Games.
In total, these are 33 race days, so quite a lot from the get-go.
Another 35 days of racing will leave me at 68 after the Tour.
Part Three
The last part of the season is still very much in the air. Originally, I was hoping to be able to do both the Tour and the Vuelta, but with the first part of my season being as long as it is, I don't think that's a possibility anymore.
Since the team seems to see me potentially as a classics contender as well, maybe I'll take a longer break and then ride some autumn classics, go to Canada and Il Lombardia, something like that. We will just have to see how I feel in late July, and go from there.
In general, I'm very happy with this schedule. I'm doing some very challenging races - most importantly of course Le Tour -, and I will even get to lead the team in some of them. Also, I am going to be able develop a lot by riding on a great variety of terrains.
That's a lot of information to take in, so I'll leave it at that. Let me know what you think about the season planning, and what you think I'll be able to achieve!
Love it love it love it, that old Cunego format is back <3 Will be following, and great start!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Saw the title and immediately knew it was you
Tour of Oman
Abu Dhabi Tour
Tirreno - Adriatico
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Paris - Camembert
Amstel Gold Race
La Flèche Wallonne
