Ricarda Bauernfind is in a season of discovery: the German rider, who turned 22 in April, revived her cycling career last winter by joining Canyon-Slam Generation's development program, and has been putting her talents to work in several UCI and non-UCI races He quickly demonstrated his talent in several UCI and non-UCI races.

This week, Bauernfind put in a groundbreaking and groundbreaking performance at the inaugural Vuelta Ciclista Andalucía Ruta del Sol.

The cyclist from the small Bavarian city of Eichstädt finished in the top three in all three stages of the grueling race, which featured a mountainous course. In the final overall standings, she finished third, just 15 seconds behind the overall winner, and was joined on the podium by two proven Women's WorldTour riders, Arlenis Sierra of the Movistar team and Mavi Garcia of UAE Team ADQ.

"I didn't expect such a great result," Bauernfind said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know where I'll be in a year or two, but right now I'm really happy and enjoying my performance."

Bauernfeind's burgeoning cycling career has been remarkable. She began to develop her talent at the age of 12, becoming a regular on the German national team both on the road and on the track, and winning several medals at various European championships.

However, for the past two years, she has been away from cycling as she prioritized her teaching studies at TUM (Technical University of Munich) in Munich over her passion for racing on the road, velodrome, rollerblades, etc.

"In 2019, during my first year of college, I decided to focus on my studies and cycling just for fun," she explained. '2020 and 2021 turned out to be my two best seasons ever. This is how I ended up in the Canyon Scrum development program."

"Right now, I typically race on the weekends. When there isn't much time between races, I stay in Girona with my teammates. But every couple of weeks I come back home to attend classes at the university. Sometimes it's hard to balance cycling and studying, but it's very important for me to do both because I want to train both my body and my mind."

The Canyon Storming Generation is a program that trains eight riders from seven countries and four continents. The team's season began with a non-UCI race, the Spanish Cup, which is the main target for the Spanish UCI Continental team that year.

Bauernfind won Pontevedra, one of the three Spanish Cup races, and finished fourth in the first UCI race of the season, GP Feminine de Chambéry. The Vuelta a Andalucía was her first UCI stage race since 2019, and the 19-year-old completed both the Festival Elsie Jacobs and the Thuringian Ladies Tour within a month.

"Ricarda is really consistent as a rider," explained team sport director Adam Szabo. 'She's an all-rounder who cares about winning. She's good at climbing, but she hasn't reached her full potential yet.

"Her track cycling background has given her the skills on the bike and the power to sprint fast. She also excels on the downhill. Her biggest room for improvement is in her tactics and how she reads the race. Overall, she is bound to be a very good rider in the future."

Bauernfeind's next challenge is the Thuringia Ladies Tour, a six-day UCI 2.Pro stage race in Germany at the end of May. Szabo says, "Later this year, I hope to be selected to represent Germany at the European and World Championships."

Bauernfind's stellar performance this past 2022 season has attracted the attention of some of the biggest teams in women's cycling. When asked if offers for next season have already been received, she humbly replied, "Yes. She smiled shyly, "I guess a few teams have taken notice of my performance."