I was going pretty well in January, February, March this year and I thought of continuing as a professional cyclist in 2019. Then I talked with our team manager, Luca Guercilena and he mentioned an opportunity for me to join the team as a staff member.
I thought that opportunity might not be available for me if I ride for one more year so, in the end, it was an easy decision, even though I still have the passion and motivation to the ride the bike.
I never expected to have such a long career.
In 2000 I was called up as a stagiaire to the Post Swiss professional team. I was one of the best under 23 racers in the world but when we went to race those big one-day races in Italy, I realised how tough cycling is. Pantani was on the start line so you knew it was going to be hard. I was dropped inside the first 20 kilometres on the flat. I could not follow the wheels. Then I had some doubts about turning professional. The team boss took us there on purpose to show us how big the gap was if we wanted to make it. It was good lessons for us young guys to learn.
View this post on InstagramYesterday reco ride of #parisroubaix young @treksegafredo fan need also a trek team bottle!
It’s really good to stop a little and actually look back at my career and enjoy these old stories. It has been an unbelievable time and I have had so many experiences.
I remember in 2003 the Tour of Germany was still a huge event with the best of the best. German cycling had these big teams like T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner. I went into the breakaway on stage 2 with two other riders. We dropped the third guy so in the end it was just this Dutch guy Gerben Löwik and I. He was strong like a horse. It became clear we were going to survive and we started talking to each other. He would get the stage win and I would get the yellow jersey. It was funny because I was on the limit and could barely hold his wheel. I was just bluffing and saying yeah, let’s split the results. If he knew how much I was suffering, he could have easily dropped me and got the stage and the jersey.
It was such a special time for a young guy like me because all these big riders were there. I think Jan Ullrich won the race in the end.
There have been some tough times too, especially in the early part of my career. After one year of turning professional in 2001, my team ended. I had to go back to finding a job while riding in the amateur ranks.
I worked for a company that installed lightning conductors on houses. I would work from 7 am – 12 pm in the morning then go ride in the afternoons. I had a boss who really supported me which allowed me to still ride on a good level. I won the national under 23 road race and was sixth in the world championships where I decided to help a teammate because I already signed another pro contract with Phonak.
It was very different back then, most under 23 riders had to work and could not ride full time. The under 23 ranks today are much more professional. Young guys now in the development teams like Sunweb and the BMC development team, they are basically professionals. They work full gas as a team. This was not the case when I was young.
Some young guys who come from those teams immediately make it in the professional ranks and others just need more time to adapt. They all need individual attention and I hope that’s the role I will be playing in my new career next year on Trek-Segafredo.
Some of my most special moments are from when I was young so I think I understand them a bit.
Before turning professional, I was in a small Swiss team and we had a really good generation of riders. Michael Albasini, Martin Elmiger, Fabian Cancellara. Those were some of the best times. We enjoyed it and had a lot of success. We all had dreams of turning professional and worked for those dreams.
Another great moment was the London Olympics where Fabian was in really good shape and we knew he could win. That race was maybe the best I’ve ever been part of in my career. We executed the tactics really well and it made me so proud to be Swiss. Everyone was committed 100% to the team plan. We didn’t achieve our objective of winning but it became a special result for a regular rider like me. Fabian crashed and as I passed him I was just hanging onto the back of the 25-rider peloton. I saw he wasn’t going to make it back so I tried to hang on. In the end, I sprinted and finished 8th. I got an Olympic diploma. That was something special for me and something I will keep with me forever.
