{"id":379339,"date":"2025-12-30T01:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T01:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/379339\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T01:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T01:02:15","slug":"back-from-the-brink-with-ricarda-bauernfeind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/379339\/","title":{"rendered":"Back from the brink with Ricarda Bauernfeind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ricarda Bauernfeind won a stage at the Tour de France in 2023 but has endured two difficult seasons. Photo courtesy of A.S.O.\/Jennifer Lindini.<\/p>\n

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Two years ago, Ricarda Bauernfeind achieved what remains the biggest win of her career, a stunning solo victory in Albi on stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. <\/p>\n

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It was a victory that introduced the young German to the broader cycling community and marked an outstanding day of racing, which ended with a nearly 40km solo break that started on the slopes of the C\u00f4te de Lagu\u00e9pie and concluded with Bauernfeind holding off a strong challenge from SD Worx and Movistar, after both teams had launched a fierce chase.<\/p>\n

When Bauernfeind crossed the line, her hand covered her mouth, almost in disbelief at what she had accomplished, and it seemed as though a star had been born.<\/p>\n

Two and a half years later, much has changed for the now 25-year-old Bauernfeind, as we meet at the Lidl-Trek training camp in mid-December. <\/p>\n

Older and wiser but still on the comeback trail following two knee surgeries, Bauernfeind has switched teams for the first time in her career after parting ways with Canyon SRAM – the team she turned professional with in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cNervous probably isn\u2019t the right word, but I was really excited to have a new start,\u201d she says as she explains her departure from her previous squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter four years with Canyon, it was time for a change for me. I had a really good time with that team, but at one point, you want to see something new. I wanted a new environment,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

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2025 was a year characterised by cautious progress and a prolonged recovery for the German rider. The previous season saw Bauernfeind perform decently, finishing sixth overall in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a – her third top-ten finish in Grand Tours – and ninth in Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge Femmes. <\/p>\n

However, while preparing for the summer and the Olympic Games in Paris, she began experiencing pain in her left knee during a routine training ride. By the end of that session, she was riding on one leg, and what was initially planned as a single knee surgery in August that year ultimately led to a double knee operation, with her right knee needing the exact procedure that October.<\/p>\n