His departure from the competitive scene will be missed, not least by the reigning UCI World Champion and World Cup winner Lukas Kohl (Kirchehrenbach). After successfully defending his Single Men UCI World Cup title in Erlenbach, Germany, last Saturday, Kohl grabbed the microphone at the award ceremony to publicly farewell his opponent and friend Maute (Tailfingen).
Maute has decided to concentrate on his private and professional life. In April, he moved with his girlfriend from his home region in southern Germany to northern Germany. "My girlfriend wanted to go back to her home and I would like to try it out in the north," says Maute, who has also become self-employed as an event manager. There is little time left for dedication to high-performance sports with more than 15 hours training required each week.
Max Maute narrowly missed his big goal of participating in the UCI World Championships again this year. Three Germans fought behind Kohl for the second German spot at the UCI Worlds (4 to 6 November) in Ghent, Belgium. In the qualification process, Maute lost out to the 2019 runner-up Marcel Jüngling (Dornheim/ GER).
That means that two weeks after the National Championships, where Max Maute won bronze, the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup in Erlenbach was his last competition. He was honoured with standing ovations.
But it need not necessarily be Maute’s last performance, according to UCI World Champion Kohl, who suggested that, as an Event Manager, Maute organise a highly professional farewell event.
Visibly moved, Maute told his long-time supporters: "It was an honour for me and there are no suitable closing words for that."
A family affair
With Max's resignation comes the end of an era of family tradition. His grandfather Manfred Maute and father Dieter Maute were both successful artistic cyclists, winning several UCI World Championship titles. Dieter has also been the German national coach for nearly 20 years and is the world’s only active full-time artistic cycling coach.
In this role, Dieter Maute – moved to tears after his son’s final performance - was once again able to record a maximum yield from the German athletes in Erlenbach, who claimed the overall victory in all five categories.
UCI World Cup standings
After four rounds of the 2022 UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup the overall winners are: Single Men, Lukas Kohl; Single Women, Ramona Dandl (Bruckmühl); Mixed Pairs, Nico Rödiger/Lea-Victoria Styber (Langenselbold); Women Pairs, Selina Marquardt/ Helen Vordermeier (Oberjesingen/Stuttgart); Act4, RSV Steinhöring with Judith Kania, Jasmin Hauke, Hanna Kasper, Nicole Weichenhain.
Action from the UCI World-Cup Final in Erlenbach can be watched here.