Deutsches Blog



19.04.09 "Backnanger Rundstreckenrennen"

This race was my first and only win in 2008 and I came to Backnang with the intention to defend my title. I knew it would be a tough goal to reach, after I won the two previous races I participated in, but, having such a fantastic fitness level at the moment, I succeeded.
The 85km competition was held, as every year, on a demanding 2,5km circuit with a nasty hill right after the finish line. Usually the action only takes place in the second part of the race, but this year a dangerous four man group already attacked after the third lap. This wasn’t the time to hesitate yet, but when three more racers went across a lap later I had to react. The next time up the climb I floored it and jumped, with loads of pain (but no one in my slipstream), across to the seven leaders.
Most of the time we worked well together and our lead steadily grew. So nothing much happened in the front, until it we were in the last eight laps, where there were some primes up for grab. With five to go, I wanted my part of the prime and accelerated a bit. One of the competitors, Leif Lampater, tried to jump me for first place, so I forced the speed even more. I still don’t know who won it, was pretty close, but with that acceleration we got a gap over the remaining breakaway.
Thinking, it’s a good chance to get away, I kept the speed high and suddenly I was one my own! No time for thinking anymore, as I out my head down and soloed home for win number three.

15.04.09 "Rund Um Schönaich"

Only eight days after my first win of the season, I soloed to the next victory in Schönaich on Easter-Monday. After 126km and 2:48 hours I finished a couple of seconds in front of Rolf Hofbauer (Merida Road Team) and Tobias Riedl (Erdgas Schwaben).
The race took off wit the usual furious fast start, as some riders wanted to get clear before we had to tackle the 500m long, but very steep, climb just before the finish. The rise had to be conquered 14 times and promised to make the race hard and painful.
I relaxed during the first couple of laps, sometimes maybe a bit too much, but I was always able to bridge up to the dangerous breakaways on my own. Only after about eight laps a successful group of eight got away. I missed it initially, but ex-Gerolsteiner Pro Sven Krauss and I made such a powerful attack, that nobody could follow and we crossed over to the leaders.
We worked reasonably well together, although Hofbauer (finishing second) strangely skipped a lot of turns, complaining the he was suffering badly. Funny, that he was still able to sprint so strong in the end. Even so we steadily increased the lead to the main bunch. On the second last lap I decided that I would not take any chances and hammered up the climb. Nobody was able to go along and after another lonely 9km lap I easily took home my second win for 2009!!

07.04.09 First win of the season!

On Sunday I won my first race for the season! At the "Aichacher-Frühjahrsstraßenpreis" I out sprinted Fabian Pohl from the Continental Team Isaac, to claim the top position on the podium.
After I missed the decisive break the previous weekend in Zusmarshausen I wouldn’t allow that to happen again. After being in most fruitless breaks in the race a seven man break finally managed to gain a decent gap to the peleton. Alongside me, there were also two ex-teammates, Tobias Erler and Stefan Löffler, in the front group.On the final climb attacked again, only Pohl could follow, but on the ascending finishing straight I was the faster one and won took home my first victory for 2009!
Some more news which I should have told you a ling time ago is that I will not be racing as a pro anymore, because in have to do my Diploma now. This takes up too much time, but I will stick to cycling, have some fun and hopefully win some more races J
A big thanks goes out to all my supporters, who supply me with equipment and nutrition and make my life a bit easier.

20.12.08 Pearl Izumi

I received some extremely nice and warm winter clothing from Pearl Izumi this week. Pearl Izumi is one of the leading cycling gear manufacturers worldwide and will help you to achieve proper fit and performance when on the road.
The Pearl Izumi Octane SL shoes are the lightest (only 200g) I ever held in my hand. The one piece upper construction makes them fit very snugly to my foot, while the thin, but strong, carbon sole promises optimal power transfer. Can't wait to ride them in the coming races!!

17.12.08 Wintertraining

After a three week break, I started with my winter training on Saturday. Perfect timing, as it snowed a lot during the week and the previous weekend was wet and grey. With temperatures just above freezing I had to dig out the thermal-clothing, cover my shoes with two pairs of over-shoes and put on the thickest gloves available. For the three hour ride it was warm enough, but the next day my hands got a bit cold. Even though we had some awesome sunshine, it was probably 40 degrees less than back home in Namibia! After the four hour ride, the legs did feel a bit weary and I was happy to throw in some Nürnberger Lebkuchen, Butterstollen and a cup of warm coffee :-)
Due to my long season, until end of November, I'm still a bit behind with my training compared to the other cyclists, who are all on their way to the first training camp of the season. But I'm trying not to get too nervous. A good rest is more important and it would be devastating if I would get drained half way through the season.
My plans for next year are getting more and more finalised, hope to tell everything soon!
Until then: "Kette Rechts" ;-)

21.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 7 & 8

With the Tour the long season has finally come to an end. I'm back in Germany, getting ready to start with my Diploma and also thinking about my plans for next year.
First things first and those are the two final stages of the Tour of Hainan. Stage seven was the "Königsetappe", the longest and hardest day with 211km and two mountains to tackle. The race started quite calm, a six man break got away early on and the Russians allowed them to get a head start. On the first climb I wanted to increase the pace a bit, but nobody followed my attack and suddenly I was on my own in now-mans-land. I decided to continue with my attack and soon caught up to the breakaway. This did not suit the leading the yellow jersey though, as I was not too far down on GC, and our group was caught with 60km to go. The final summit was just 10km before the finish, so it was important for David to crest it among the first riders. With some of the teams help he did not only manage this, but also got third on the stage and moved up into second overall!
The last day was only 100km, but also had two KOMs and two hotspots. Nothing much happened, as a high pace was set. Stefan really wanted to win this final race, and we put him into a good position, where he launched his sprint from. But the unbeatable Boris was too strong again and took his 5th stage victory, while Stefan finished fourth.

17.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 6

Same s***, different day ;-) Today we had the usual pace-making by the Russians all day. Even the three climbs could not make them change their tactic… The first peak came already after 34km, I didn't get any points, as I was fourth over the summit. On the downhill I caught up to the leaders and we tried to stay away until the next KOM, but the above mentioned team closed us down. On the second climb I again failed to get into the points by, just like the third time, cresting in fifth or sixth position every time.
The last time though, a dangerous looking group got away with some GC guys in it. I managed to hang onto it, but refused to do any work, as David had been left behind. Eventually the peleton came back and after that the Russian team took control again, even the yellow jersey did some super strong turns. At the end he won his fourth stage, Stefan got third again and I somewhere in the top ten, although the result is not confirmed yet.
Some words about Boris Shpilevskiy, the bearer of the yellow jersey: He is incredibly powerful and there seems to be no possibility of beating him. He won four stages in the sprint so far and also appears to be strong in the mountains. He was banned for doping a couple of year's back though, so one starts wondering… These thoughts one should rather forget about when racing, because it makes you frustrating and angry, but I recently found out, that the winner of the World B Championships, Ivan Stevic, will be banned for life from cycling. He was involved in the "Oil for Drugs" scandal and is accused of drug trafficking in 2004. I was second at the Championships, I feel betrayed and really don't see any improvement happening. Dopers are allowed to race again and again, they are always one step ahead of the tests and the fines they receive, IF they get caught, are not hard enough.
Well, it's only two more days, two days to enjoy this beautiful sport. Only then I will think about my future and make some plans, hopefully some god ones ;-)

16.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 5

Really boring stage! After we've raced alongside the coast in the previous days, we went inland, on very undulating terrain, almost no flat part during the whole race. The leading Russians were once again really strong and allowed no riders to escape for long. At the only King of the Mountain sprint, I managed to crest the summit third, but it all came back together. In the final we got helped Stefan into a good position and he finished third again. He's quite close everyday, so hopefully he'll get another chance!

15.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 4

Stage 4 was marked by a 25 man group escaping not far into the race. Soon after the start some riders, including Alex broke away, but the Russians chased the so hard, that the peleton broke up. From Giant Asia McCann and Couts were in the front, while I and Löffler didn't manage to get across. While "Tete de la course" worked well together, the remaining bunch did not manage to organise themselves and only little groups tried bridge across on their own. None succeeded though, until another large group, this time with myself, left the rest behind. We did not manage to catch up, maybe because I didn't do any work ;-), but kept the loss reasonably low and lost 2:20 to the leaders.
This break suits David quite well, as most climbers were left behind and he feels confident once we get into the mountains.

14.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 3

Today's stage didn't go as we had planned. Not that we planned much, but we expected (and hoped) for a big group early in the race. It appeared to happen after not even 5kms with strong crosswinds. David and I were wake up to be upfront and tried to get the break going. Just like previous days, nobody really wanted to work and when the crosswind turned into a tailwind it was all over.
After that it was almost all over and we had an easy day. In the sprint it didn't work out either for us. We lost each other in the peleton with 4km to go and so Stefan was on his own and unable to repeat his performance from the previous days.
Tomorrow we have a category two climb, probably nothing serious. David is third overall now, so we have a position to defend and also try to attack the yellow jersey.
Till tomorrow, Erik

13.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 2

After a slow start on this 159km stage, things heated up soon with some fierce attacks, where I managed to get into a short-lived break. Shortly afterwards, I was still busy catching my breath, a large and dangerous group went up the road. With no Giant riders in it, we were forced to chase and went flat-out for some painful minutes.
Fortunately Stefan got into the next break of four and stayed ahead until the first points-sprint, but then dropped back into the bunch, only to be countered by David who went up the road with a Chinese Cyclist for 40km and won the next two hotspots and with that claiming 6 more vital seconds!
It finally all came down to the sprint again, while I bumped into a cyclist lying in front of me 150m before the finish, Stefan sprinted to a marvellous second place, even though he was in the long break earlier on the day. Well done!!

12.11.08 Tour of Hainan Stage 1

As usual a bit of hectic before the start in our team, as we didn't find the way there from our hotel right away. We left early enough though and arrived with plenty of time still left. The 163km started with ten laps on a 4km circuit and only then we headed towards Xinglong.
The stage was mostly flat, but once a little climb appeared after 60km, I used the opportunity and attacked. I was joined by a Japanese rider, but we were not able to get away for good. Some 15km later another five cyclists joined us, making it a real "international" break. Alongside the Namibian and the Japanese, there was then a Kazak, Pole, Dane, American and an Australian. Bur even with this added support we were reeled in another 15km later.
It was then Alex's and David's turn, who both ended ob together in relatively big breaks (about 30 riders) twice, but neither of the opportunities was successful. It eventually came down to the sprint for Stefan, where David and I gave him a nice lead-out. He was on his way to winning the stage, when a Kazak pushed him into the barriers, he had to break and accelerate again. He still finished third, not too bad, but frustrating when one thinks about what could have been…

11.11.08 Prologue Tour of Hainan

At exactly 11:11 on the 11.11.08 was my start time! Didn't bring me luck though and once again the crazy Asians made us get up way way to early. There was a team presentation an hour before the prologue, where everybody had to be present and then wait there until their turn. Starting in the second half, I thus had to have breakfast four hours before my start. Wasn't that bad after all, since I was lying awake from 4:40… I guess one never gets used to the time change.
The 3km were nothing special: Along the beach for 1km, then left, 500m later a u-turn and all the way back. Almost no altitude changes, this meant getting into a big gear and kill yourself ;-)
I thought I was doing not too bad, but some others were somewhat faster. With the 12th place I already lost some 7 seconds. First and second were some Kazaks and Russians, who are here with their national teams. All of them, plus the Danish national team, seem to be really strong and will be the guys to watch.

10.11.08 Tour of Hainan

This will probably be the last race for this year, it's about time! In previous years this time around, I just got started with my winter training, but not in 2008! The journey to Sanya, a popular tourist destination in Hainan, was once again long and tiring.
It all started on Saturday at 3:30 in the morning. My girlfriend dropped me off in Frankfurt, from where I took the plain to Paris, then Canton and finally about 27 hours later I arrived in Sanya.
The Tour of Hainan is a nine day long stage race rated 2.1. It'll all start with a 3km prologue, the other stages are all, but one, mostly flat. So I hope my sprint training and high intensity sessions on the rollers will pay off. Off course I'm still aiming for a win this year, but since I'm still clueless about my future, maybe I should just enjoy this last race!

1.11.08 Namibian sportsman of the year

Last night I was awarded with this prize. Unfortunately I was unable to receive this award myself, because I will be flying to China again next week, so my mother picked up the trophy!
She was also the one who broke the news to me right after the announcement. For me it is a great honour, after all the hard work, time and energy I put in. It also makes me proud that the Namibians take notice and that I can represent my home country all over the world. I would like to thank everyone that helped come so far, first of all my parents, my family, who supported me all they way and who always believed in my capabilities. Then there are numerous cyclists in Namibia who have stood behind me, helped me with training and motivation. There I would like to thank Hella Rust, Mannie Heymans, Tokkie Bombosch, just to name a few.
More info about the awards can be found at www.namibiasport.com.na

24.10.08 Rain In Japan

After almost six weeks of no racing it was time for me to fly to Asia again. On Sunday Asias biggest one-day race, the Japan Cup, will take place in Utsunomiya a city about 100km north of Tokyo.
There are some famous names present; Damino Cunego and Ivan Basso are the most prominent. Obviously they are the big favourites, the course suits them perfectly with a steep 1,5km on every of the 15laps.
For me things have been quite tough lately, recent scandals made it hard to get motivated and an uncertain future has also done its part, but I've managed to get some decent training done in the last two weeks.
Unfortunately my bike once again took its own flight, and only arrives a day later, so was unable to train on the first day. The second was almost worse, with continuous rain. Hopefully it'll be better the next two days!

28.09.08 Powerbar Interview in Beijing


06.09.08 Tour of Thailand

Thailand was certainly the best tour this year, which was maybe due to the fact, that my girlfriend came along. Already on the first stage the team showed, that we were serious with a fourth place by David and 10th by me.
read more
index_main2.html

09.08.08 Olympic Games Road Race

What an experience, what a race! The 22nd place at the Olympic Road Race was certainly the Highlight of my career. After a long preparation it all came down to this one day, to these 254km in Beijing.
read more

29.05.08 More German racing

After a two week "holiday" In Namibia, the racing was on again in Germany. Of course I struggeld again at first, but in the end I was back on the podium!
read more

20.05.08 Adidas Sponsorship

This year I got support again from Adidas Eyewear! Great glasses, wich do not only look good, but also protect your eyes from sun, wind and rain perfectly!

13.05.08 Racing in Germany

My first two races on German soil, "Rundstreckenrennen in Backnang" and "Essingen Kriterium", were a real success, despite struggeling with my health.
read more

Race Reports

Tour of East Java
Tour of Taiwan
Tour de Lankawi

Next Races

31.05.08 GIANT Cup (Taiwan)
01.06.08 GIANT Cup (Taiwan)

For sale

click here