Previously opponents at the highest level of international competition, Germans Bernd Mlady and Raphael Kopp have joined forces in 2024 to form a formidable cycle-ball team.
Undefeated this year, they were victorious in their first UCI Cycle-ball World Cup tournament last weekend in Mosnang, Switzerland, winning all their matches en route.
Mlady and Kopp – both already crowned UCI World Champions with their previous partners – have been competing as a team since the beginning of the season after the retirement from competition of their respective teammates (and family members): Gerhard Mlady and André Kopp.
It quickly became clear that the remaining players from the two top teams RMC Stein and RV Obernfeld would pair up to form one team. They now play for RMC Stein.
Friends having fun
It was almost meant to be, as Bernd Mlady and Raphael Kopp have been very good friends for years.
“It was of course a joint decision, but we have always said that before we stop, we want to play one more season, together,” says Mlady. “Up to now it was always just for fun, like other people say 'I'll open a bar,' but now the opportunity came and we took the chance.”
When asked what it was like to be on the field for the first time as a team and not as opponents, they both answered at the same time: “It's nice!” Mlady continued: “You just go onto the field with a good friend and have fun together.”
But, as Kopp explains, it also goes beyond the ‘fun’ aspect: “The focus should certainly be on fun, but we also both said that we don't go to the trouble of going somewhere just for fun. We wanted to approach the year with a certain seriousness, with motivation and of course with goals that we want to pursue.”
For the reigning UCI World Champion (Kopp) and former UCI World Champion (Mlady), the geographical distance between them is not a problem: Kopp lives in Obernfeld, west of Göttingen, and Mlady in Stein near Nürnberg, around 330km away.
“Before the season started, we picked out the free weekends where there were no games and met up,” Kopp says. “I was also in Stuttgart a few times recently for work-related reasons, so we used the time to train together. We also took on a relatively large number of preparatory tournaments this year in order to get a little used to it,” explains Kopp.
And with success, as the results show.
Looking for future success
The duo had by no means expected such a wave of success, but they had “hoped for it,” says Mlady. “We didn’t expect things to go as well as they have. But of course we are happy.”
And it appears this success could continue. “We would really like to go to the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships,” says Kopp. “That would be a home game for me, so to speak, because it is only two hours away from my home. Accordingly, I have a high level of motivation to qualify.”
At the moment everything seems to be pointing to Raphael Kopp and Bernd Mlady wearing the German colours at the UCI World Championships. Nevertheless, the team doesn't take it for granted and names several German teams as serious competitors: Schiefbahn, Großkoschen, Waldrems, Ginsheim and even their own second team from Stein.
Although they are currently in a good position, nothing can be certain until the German Championships in the autumn. “If everything goes well and perfectly, then we will probably have our place relatively secure before the National Champs,” said Bernd Mlady. “But until then it’s about continuing in a disciplined manner, staying focused and not thinking that you’ve already done everything. The season is still long.”