Long-course Team World Championships: Lukas Fienhage cannot hide his disappointment

“I would have been delighted if Erik Riss and Martin Smolinski had been selected,” says Lukas Fienhage, revealing his personal disappointment. Riss and Smolinski were part of the squad selected by German team manager Jörg Tebbe, who had already finalised his pool of riders at the start of the year. Alongside Riss, Smolinski and Fienhage, Daniel Spiller, Dominik Werkstätter and the brothers Timo and Fabian Wachs were also among the potential riders set to represent Germany. Spiller is injured and is unlikely to be able to get back on his bike this year. Riss withdrew due to a speedway race organised by his club, AC Landshut; according to Jörg Tebbe, Smolinski had not got back to him by the time the team manager had to submit the squad for the World Championship. This left the quartet of Fienhage, Werkstätter and the Wachs brothers.

“For me, there’s no question about it: if I’m selected for the national team, I’ll ride,” says 27-year-old Lukas Fienhage from Lohne in Lower Saxony. “For me, it goes without saying; it’s a distinction and an honour.” Since 2017, he has been a regular member of the DMSB team at the Longtrack of Nations, as the Team World Championship is officially known. With the exception of the two Covid years, 2020 and 2021, when the competition did not take place, and 2023, when Fienhage was sidelined due to injury. “But even then, I was there at the race and gave my team-mates moral support. The Team World Championships is a prestigious title.”

This year’s opponents are Denmark, France, Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway. In the heats, they’ll face all these nations in three-on-three matches. The two teams with the most points will then battle it out for the World Championship title in the decisive final. In the competition, which has been held 17 times to date, Germany has come out on top ten times. Only in 2013 did they fail to make the podium. For Lukas Fienhage, who became a father to a daughter in January, this will be his seventh appearance at the Team World Championships. He was crowned Team World Champion in 2017, 2022 and 2024, and Individual World Champion in 2020. His first selection by the then team manager Josef Hukelmann, when he was just 18, was still a hot topic of discussion amongst fans. The rookie rose to the occasion and was delighted at the time with what was his greatest success to date.

Germany as underdogs

Fienhage isn’t thinking about gold this year, when the team has to integrate no fewer than three newcomers to the national side. What position might they achieve in 2026? “That’s very hard to say,” says the North German. “I hope we can upset one or two of the favourites and that each of us four performs to the best of our ability.” Captain Fienhage certainly brings a wealth of experience to the table and is keen to rally his teammates. He’s satisfied with his season so far – even though, in his own words, he’s had “a lot of bad luck”. “In Plattling I had two retirements; in Herxheim I’d won two races – until the race was halted by rain. I’d have won in Altrip if it hadn’t been for that withdrawal.” Fienhage shrugged off his fourth-place finish at the German Championships behind Riss, Smolinski and Spiller. “Mühldorf isn’t my favourite track. I often have problems there, and we used the German Championships more as a test run.”

In the Long-Track Individual World Championship, Fienhage is currently fourth in the overall standings after finishing seventh in Scheeßel and second in Morizes – just three points behind the joint second-placed riders, Dave Meijerink (NL) and Zach Wajtknecht (GB). Fienhage: “I hope to stay injury-free in Roden, as I reckon I still have a decent chance of finishing as runner-up in the World Championships at the final in Marmande a week later.”

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