Pirmin Eisenbarth is one of the country's best mountain bike riders. This year he raced his way into the top ten at the German Championships in the marathon, competed in world championships and many international races.
He has been competing in mountain bike races for many years, currently with the German team Texpa-Simplon, one of the flagship teams in German MTB sport. However, his coach Björn Kafka has long been convinced that Pirmin is an even greater talent on the road. Rather unusual for an MTB marathon rider, the coach sees him primarily as a sprinter.
So it came about that Pirmin had another look at the whole thing. He competed in a few races with the BIKE AID Developement Team in 2022 and was impressing every time.
In old school manner, Pirmin was put right at the start of a Belgian UCI race, where he finished in the top 20 straight away. The first Bundesliga race followed just a week later. With five riders in the lead, Pirmin won the sprint of the chasers to take the jersey of the best amateur. He repeated a top 6 result at his second start in the Bundesliga in Schweigen. Finally, he took on the hardest test by racing a criterium. He started at one of the Palatinate Monday classics, where the German criterium elite normally doesn't give any newcomers even the slightest chance. And what did Primin do? He won sovereignly!
His coach seems to be right. Pirmin achieves results that an experienced road cyclist would like to have in his palmares.
It quickly becomes clear that this is a path worth pursuing. But Pirmin also feels comfortable in his MTB team and it is difficult for him to tell team manager Manfred Reis about his plans. However, he gives him his full backing. " Lad, do it if you have the chance," he advised him not only as a team boss but also as a good friend.
"First and foremost we are a club full of mountain bikers that has a professional road racing team. Pirmin fits right in with us there. And of course it's much more fun to have an athlete on the team that no one really had in their sights before," says Matthias Schnapka, looking forward to the new addition.
"With the transition to the road, I'm looking forward to new challenges with BIKE AID. I'm very excited to see what the racing scene is like on the road and what the differences are here compared to MTB. With the new input, I want to further improve and expand my physical abilities. To do this, I'm looking forward to the first team meeting, getting to know the staff and the riders, and I can't wait for the first race," says Pirmin himself.
