"Like on a magic carpet": Interview with Felix Engelhardt ahead of the Vuelta premiere
Sebastian Lindner
· 25.08.2023
Felix Engelhardt had just celebrated his 23rd birthday. In all due brevity and only with his roommates, of course, as the Cyclassics in Hamburg were on the programme the following day. For the Ulm-born cyclist, however, the race, one of the few in Germany, only had a preparatory character.
Engelhardt was back in his adopted home of Innsbruck on Monday. But not for long, because barely a day later he travelled on to Munich and from there by plane to Barcelona. Basically everyday life, because the number of kilometres that professional cyclists spend in the saddle is topped by the number of kilometres they have to travel to be able to do their job at all.
But in this particular case, Engelhardt's journey to Barcelona is likely to be a special one. Because that's where the neo-professional will start at the Team Jayco-AlUla his first Grand Tour on Saturday (26 August). He is part of his team's eight-man squad for the Tour of Spain.
Interview with Felix Engelhardt
TOUR: Felix, when did you realise that you were allowed to ride the Vuelta?
Felix Engelhardt: It's been planned for some time, perhaps since April. It became more concrete at the end of June, beginning of July. But the list of drivers who want to go there is long. If you don't deliver your performance, you're quickly out of the race.
TOUR: Nevertheless, it certainly has its advantages if you can prepare for it in the long term.
Felix Engelhardt: Yes, of course. It's good when you know what's going to happen. It gave me the freedom to train at altitude again beforehand. And it's also much easier mentally when you have clarity and aren't told two days beforehand that you have to go to Spain straight away. It's cool when you can look forward to it.
TOUR: What exactly did the preparation for your first three-week tour of the country look like?
Felix Engelhardt: After racing in Spain at the end of July, I headed up to the heights for almost three weeks. I have plenty of opportunities right on my doorstep here in Innsbruck and trained on my own in Kühtai. That's why I couldn't go to the World Championships in Glasgow. I was nominated but had to cancel.
TOUR: What do you want your first grand tour to be about?
Felix Engelhardt: The aim is to ride through to the end, to arrive. To see how the body reacts, how it feels. Gain experience. I have a relatively free role, but of course I also have to help our clear leader Eddie Dunbar to get through the flatter stages without any problems. Maybe I can also join a group if the day isn't quite so tough. We have Matteo Sobrero and Filippo Zana for the difficult stages.
TOUR: Does that all sound feasible to you?
Felix Engelhardt: The gruppetto should definitely be doable without having to go too low. But I'll have to see how I get on in the final stages. Especially there, it's extremely dangerous if you miss eating or drinking.
Engelhardt: "I'm already relatively old for a neo-pro"
TOUR: Even before the Vuelta, you have almost 50 race days under your belt. Ideally, you'll add another 21. That's quite a lot for a young rider in his first professional season.
Felix Engelhardt: But even by today's standards, I'm already relatively old for a neo-pro. I've actually always been a frequent rider, in my previous team Tirol KTM I always raced in the German and Austrian national leagues alongside international races, which is how I got to my 60 race days. Now it might be a bit more than 70, because after the Vuelta I want to ride two or three smaller races in Italy and also in Japan. Ideally, there will still be something for me. If there are more race days, I might have to reduce the amount of training a little. But the intensity, especially at the Vuelta, is important for me and my build-up next year. I only got into shape a little late.
TOUR: But good enough to celebrate your first victory as a pro at the Italian one-day race Per Sempre Alfredo in March!
Felix Engelhardt: The victory came as a surprise, I have to admit. I wasn't actually in such a good mood, having fallen out of the time limit at the Strade Bianche two weeks earlier. But then I had a really good day. In the finale, I just hung on to the Bardiani train. It was like a magic carpet. And then I was able to bring it to a good end. In my first year as a pro, I had achieved a goal that I had set myself for my entire career.
TOUR: And it didn't stop there. In July, they won the first stage of the two-day Castilla y Leon and came second overall. The competition there was even bigger. Which victory was better?
Felix Engelhardt: The first victory is special, you don't forget it so quickly. The second time was different because I knew that I could win. There were also different expectations.
TOUR: Are you talking about pressure?
Felix Engelhardt: It depends on how much you put yourself out there. If your team gives you the perfect start, then you want to realise that. For some it's pressure, for others it's extra motivation.
Deliberate move abroad - Engelhardt didn't want "anything German-speaking"
TOUR: Change of subject. How does a young German pro, who previously travelled with an Austrian continental team, end up signing with an Australian World Tour team?
Felix Engelhardt: I deliberately didn't look for anything in German. I wanted something completely new to tick off the newcomer theme. To start really fresh. It turned out to be Jayco - the mentality in the team is really good. And the management had a completely different image of me than all the other teams. In the end, cycling is not always about who is the best, but about who gets to ride for the win. And in the end, Marco Pinotti, who is Jayco's coach, also played a special role.
TOUR: Now that your first season is slowly approaching the home straight, do you think you've made the right choice?
Felix Engelhardt: It was the best thing I could have done! I am convinced of that. Everything that was promised to me, everything we agreed on, has always been realised so far.
TOUR: How often have you been to Australia?
Felix Engelhardt: Twice. Once last year for the World Cup and then again in winter when my girlfriend was there for a few months. Apart from the licence, the team itself has very little to do with Australia. Sure, a few drivers and employees are Australian, but the structures are all in Europe.
TOUR: Apart from two victories, what have you taken away from your first season as a World Tour pro?
Felix Engelhardt: That it is much easier than expected to lead a normal life alongside cycling. I've learnt from the older cyclists when you can switch off and when you have to train hard. That you have to relax during breaks and find a balance. It always has to be fun. Always going full throttle doesn't work, otherwise you won't do it for long. Nobody can tell me that they torture themselves every winter if it's only about the money.
TOUR: Did you always believe that you would make the leap to the pros?
Felix Engelhardt: After my time as a junior, I had a good year in 2019. But then came corona, I had a slump that year and even started studying at the university in Ansbach via the sports school. In 2021, however, I told myself that I was going all-in, even if it meant I had to pull myself together and be extremely determined. I then had a good year and added another winter afterwards, during which I almost lived in Mallorca. The European Championship title in 2022 took a lot of pressure off.
TOUR: Can you imagine continuing your career now, riding as a professional for another ten or more years?
Felix Engelhardt: I still love cycling. When it's going well, it's easy. But at the moment I still want to ride for a long time, yes.
TOUR: And maybe it will work out with the Deutschland Tour, which is now impossible for you because the tour overlaps with the Vuelta. Is it a bit of a downer that you're missing your home race?
Felix Engelhardt: It would be cool to ride the Deutschland Tour at some point, of course. Hamburg was also quite nice, there are still a lot of cycling fans in Germany. On top of that, it's also like a little family when you meet Fabian Wegmann as sporting director of the D-Tour or André Greipel as national coach.
About Felix Engelhardt
- Born on 19 August 2000 in Ulm
- Resident in Innsbruck
- Previous teams: Jayco-AlUla (since 2023), Tirol KTM (2019-2022)
- Successes: Winner Per Sempre Alfredo (1.1) 2023, stage win Vuelta a Castilla y Leon (2.1) 2023, European U23 road race champion (2022), 6th place Giro Next Gen (2022)
