Cycling: In recent years, some career changers have come to road cycling. A very exciting one of them is Anton Palzer. The ski mountaineer is now in his second season for Bora – hansgrohe and is taking part in the Deutschland Tour for the first time. We were allowed to interview him before the start of the first stage.
[translated from Bavarian]
Check out this post on Instagram
Toni, you can speak Bavarian because I'm from Bavaria too.
Anton Palzer: Yes Perfect. Then it's okay.
You are now driving your first tour of Germany. You wouldn't have expected that a few years ago?
Yes, it's really cool. I think being a German racer in a German team at Germany's biggest cycling race is very special. I am now looking forward to the next few days. Sure, that's not my home now, because I'm from Bavaria. But it's really cool. You could already tell at the prologue in Weimar yesterday that the mood here is really good.
How satisfied are you with your prologue?
Ah, yeah ... well, I haven't really made any plans there either. A bit of three kilometers flat … that's not what I'm really good at. I think the most important thing is that you just got through well. I think my time comes on the third day with the mountain finish at Schauinsland. In any case, we can be very satisfied with Nils Politt's third place.
Uphill was more your profession before your cycling career. How difficult was this career change for you in the end?
There were some difficulties. To be honest, I didn't think it would be that difficult. Ski mountaineering or running is something completely different from cycling. I really did my first bike race at the Tour of the Alps. Then I saw what it actually means to move in such a field of riders and that there is little point in driving up the mountain quickly if you drive into the mountain far behind. There were a lot of things I had to learn. And I'm definitely still in the learning phase. But step by step. It can't happen overnight.
Which of the two sports is more strenuous?
There won't be much of a difference. Ski mountaineering and running is definitely harder because you just have a shorter distance. That's why you run more intensively right from the start. Cycling becomes so exhausting because of all the trappings. It starts with the stage races, where you have to perform every day. We sit there on the saddle for five to six hours. And the transfers are often forgotten. The days are extremely long, but you get used to it over time.
Check out this post on Instagram
Were you initially trained differently than your teammates because you came into cycling with a different foundation?
No, it was actually the same training and I also think that was very important. I noticed after the Vuelta last year that I was pretty much on the limit. Physically I was just completely through. But in hindsight it was probably the right decision of the coaches to throw me in at the deep end. You have to imagine: Normally I cycled 6.000 to 7.000 kilometers a year because I had so many commitments while running. I've now clocked up over 20.000 kilometers. So the jump from my old limit to my current one is enormous, but that's what I achieved. This is the highest league and you simply have to invest a lot to find a connection.
What personal goals do you still have in cycling?
My big goal is to be able to ride the Giro one day. That would be important to me. Of course I want to get back on track. It's a situation that I don't think many people understand. It's not easy for me at all. I've been racing in races for years that I win. And I was a very successful athlete for many years. Now I'm an apprentice again. I started from scratch again. You have to deal with this situation first. Going to a race and not winning, but being at the service of your teammates. Of course, my goal is to be able to build on my successes again and achieve good results. I don't know if that will work. But that's what motivates me to get through this. So I can continue to work on my dream of cycling.