The interview was conducted by Tim Farin.
TOUR: You won your first World Tour race in January, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race in Australia. Were you surprised by this yourself?
Marius Mayrhofer: No, I had already thought I could do it. I was supposed to ride for Patrick Bevin in Australia. But he crashed in the Tour Down Under criterium. Then I stepped in as leader at the Tour and finished in the top ten twice despite difficult positions.
TOUR: What has changed for you as a result of your success?
Marius Mayrhofer: That was a huge signal for me: I had my first professional victory and a World Tour win to boot, which was good. But by the time I got to the classics, it was all forgotten again. A victory like that doesn't give you any advantages or disadvantages in the race. I passed the Giro, but I didn't win anything. And after that, nothing went as planned.
TOUR: You're changing teams in 2024, joining Tudor and moving down a league. What are the arguments in favour of this?
Marius Mayrhofer: On paper, it's a smaller team. But I can see how many drivers are developing there. The team showed interest in me very early on, regardless of the victory in Australia. I have the feeling that they believe in me. And I believe that Tudor has a lot of potential and that I can improve there, both as a person and, above all, physically. My goal is to develop towards the classics.
