BRANDL Maximilian

General
NEW DIET
He has followed a vegan diet since 2015, and admits that while it has not been easy to follow, he believes it has improved his performances and health. "Since 2015 I changed my nutrition to vegan. At first I did it just for health reasons and it was not a sudden cut but after getting into the topic I decided to become strict. I'm not missing anything, except that plant-based foods are sometimes not that functional for cooking or baking, but veganism is also about seeing animals not as something functional or a kind of tool, but as equal creatures. Nowadays, vegan recipes have endless possibilities and with a little bit of creativity there are nearly no boundaries. At first I was only concerned with the advantages that I could gain as an athlete, such as a more alkaline diet, less putrefactive substances, which lead to a reduced risk of injury, illness and faster recovery. I can't say that in five days I felt like a new person but my performances improved tremendously over the next few months and since then I haven't got really sick in winter either." (thebikemax.com, 06 Mar 2021; mtb-news.de, 06 Mar 2019)

TEAM EXTENSION
In December 2020 his contract with LEXWARE Mountainbike Team was renewed until 2024. "Of course, that's a good thing if you can just focus on the races. Personally, however, I have to live up to my contract. I consider the security and opportunities that I get with it to be unique in mountain biking." (mtb-news.de, 06 Mar 2021; thebikemax.com, 23 Dec 2020)

NEW COACH
In Autumn 2019 he left his former coach, Marc Schafer, to begin working with new coach, Fabian Neunstocklin. He said the change rejuvenated his performances on the bike. "It is definitely important that I had a change of coach in 2019 after the U23 European championships, which brought new input and new motivation. I changed the scope and intensity, for example, which might explain the leap in performance." (mtb-news.de, 06 Mar 2021; mtb-news.de, 17 May 2019)