Anton Schiffer in a TOUR interview: "It's always cooler to act rather than react"

Personal details: Anton Schiffer (Germany)

• Born: 1 September 1999 in Cologne
• Size: 1.78 metres
• Weight: 62 kilogrammes
• Place of residence: Cologne
• Professional since: 2025
• Teams: Team Bike Aid Development (2023), Bike Aid (2023-2025), Team Visma | Lease a Bike (2025)
• Important successes: 2024 Tour of Hellas mountain jersey, 2025 Tour of Hellas second overall, 2025 Sibiu Cycling Tour fourth overall, 2025 Sibiu Cycling Tour stage win, 2025 third German Championships

Interview with Anton Schiffer

TOUR: Your career actually began in triathlon. Why did you stop doing that and switch to cycling?

Anton Schiffer There were two factors that played into the decision. Firstly, I often had injury problems when running, a so-called cam impingement. This is a bony deformation in the hip joint and particularly in the neck of the femur. I kept taking longer breaks from running because of this and I also had surgery, but unfortunately it didn't change. Even at that time, I devoted myself more to cycling during my running breaks. When the swimming pools were closed during the corona pandemic and there were no competitions, I was forced to cycle more. I really enjoyed that, so the focus shifted more and more to cycling training.

TOUR: So your first bike racing team was Team Bike Aid in 2023?

Anton Schiffer: Yes, before that I rode at hobby level, races like Rund um Köln, Eschborn-Frankfurt, but also a few cycling marathons like the Ötztaler or the Arlberg Giro. Plus a few local criteriums and circuit races. I then joined the Bike Aid development team in 2023. Although this is an amateur team, it works relatively closely with the Bike Aid Continental Team. After seven months in the Development Team, I then switched to the Continental Team in August 2023.

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TOUR: Seven months is a relatively short time?

Anton Schiffer: As a rule, the best rider from the amateur team moves to the Continental team every year. I rode quite well in a few Bundesliga races, I was the best, but I wasn't a high-flyer either. Nevertheless, I had a few phone calls with Matthias Schnapka, the head of the Continental Team. He was then convinced to take me on as a triathlete, but was initially a little sceptical as to whether it would all work out.

TOUR: Triathletes are often said not to be good cyclists. What experiences have you had?

Anton Schiffer: (laughs) Yes, that's true. On the other hand, maybe it's also a prejudice. I competed in the triathlon over the sprint distance, so the bike split is basically also a bike race. Maybe not as fast and not as aggressive, but riding in a group, how to circle, how to keep a rear wheel clean and how to ride round corners wasn't completely new to me. Nevertheless, I tend to be the more cautious rider. But I've also realised that I've developed over the last few years. In a race like the Deutschland Tour, however, it's difficult for a Continental rider to assert himself against the World Tour teams. It's less to do with your skills and more to do with the jersey. It's difficult to be at the front as a Continental team when teams like Visma and UAE are there.

TOUR: You have already tried to secure a professional contract for 2024 through the Zwift Academy. That didn't work out. What did you learn from that?

Anton Schiffer: It was definitely a cool experience and it showed me that I have what it takes, at least in terms of values. And the experience of being there in a hotel with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen was also really cool.

TOUR: At the time, the jury saw more development potential in your younger rival. You will soon be 26 - do you notice any differences compared to very young riders?

Anton SchifferIf you have two equally good riders, one 25 years old, the other 18, then it's reasonable to assume that the 18-year-old has even more potential to develop further as an athlete. On the other hand, with an 18-year-old from a junior team who has already spent his whole life as a professional cyclist, there may not be as much to be gained on a sporting level as with a lateral entrant from another sport. In my triathlon days, I trained around 300 to 400 hours of cycling a year, which in cycling is probably a third of what you do as a World Tour rider. You still have potential to develop further in training. Apart from that, as an older rider you are perhaps more mentally stable. You're not so easily rattled if you have a bad day in training. I have a degree and have already been self-employed. I didn't have to bet everything on getting a professional contract. My life would probably have been different, but just as good, if I hadn't made it - and that has given me a certain calmness.

Team Visma didn't view my age negatively at all; my supporters said that this craze to sign younger and younger riders was also difficult because you don't know how they will develop. Nowadays, everyone is looking for the next Evenepoel or Pogačar in the junior peloton, but there are also sports science studies that show that the criteria for success in the junior years are significantly different to those in the elite. If you only scout for the best juniors, you are likely to neglect many talents who then fall by the wayside. There are different opinions on this. Visma always takes a different approach; for example, they signed Bart Lemmen, who was already a bit older. Primož Roglič is a well-known example with his ski jumping career. My new colleague Niklas Behrens also comes from a triathlon background. He has a similar background to me, but is a few years younger.

TOUR: You have already briefly mentioned your sports science studies. Alongside your own career, you carried out performance tests on a freelance basis and worked as a coach. How did you manage to reconcile this?

Anton Schiffer: As a cyclist, you have the comfort of only having to train once a day - unlike triathletes. When I look back, my school days with two sessions a day, jogging in free time and swimming in the evening, were more stressful than the time I spent studying, working and cycling. And when your job feels like a hobby, you don't perceive a lot of work as stressful. Basically, I did what I would have done in my free time anyway and got paid for it.

TOUR: Since the Zwift Academy, your performance curve has been rising quite steeply. How do you explain that?

Anton Schiffer: My pure short-term performance, or rather the physiological components, haven't actually changed that much. My VO2max (maximum oxygen uptake, editor's note) was already good two years ago, I was already able to ride for over 20 minutes at six and a half watts per kilogramme of body weight. It's more about the soft skills. Riding in the peloton, positioning yourself, the length of the races; the consecutive race days, as you often have in cycling, but not at all in triathlon. I can now cope with that better and am not knocked out on the second or third day. Many submaximal performance parameters have also developed further, for example lactate thresholds, efficiency and fat burning. I have also significantly improved my performance in the low-intensity range. You don't see that so much in pure watt records. But I can see it because I've also tested myself quite a lot on the job.

TOUR: This season you were able to draw attention to yourself with some top placings, such as second place at the Tour of Hellas, winning a stage at the Sibiu Cycling Tour and third place at the German Championships. What was the deciding factor?

Anton Schiffer: In the year with the Zwift Academy, my season build-up was not quite what you would do when preparing for a season as a road rider. I had to take the highlight in January, the finals, into account in the training periodisation. Last winter, I was able to take it a bit easier, trained a lot more in the endurance area and adopted a more classic periodisation model. You then realise during the season that you have a different basis.

Last year, catering during the race was also an issue. I kept forgetting to take a gel every half hour. That's when you get the message relatively quickly in long bike races and the best performance figures are useless if you're starving (laughs). I've improved that this year. I also had good results last year, so I don't see an average, but rather a steady development. Things didn't always go so well everywhere this year either. I was left behind at Rund um Köln due to poor positioning and didn't make it to the final, and I didn't shine at the Deutschland Tour either.

TOUR: In the press release about your move to the Visma-Lease a Bike team, it says that you are particularly looking forward to the professional environment. What do you see as the biggest differences between the Continental Team and the World Tour?

Anton Schiffer: In a Continental team, you are responsible for many things yourself, such as the material. In areas where we don't have sponsors, you have to buy your own parts, such as tyres or handlebars. You also do the bike fitting yourself. With a team like Visma it's different, of course, as everyone has their own coach to work with. That will also be new for me. I haven't had a coach my whole cycling life, I've always trained myself. From now on, I will be working with a coach from the team and he will have other experts at his side who will carry out tests with me. You have a specialist who goes through your diet with you and we work with a tracking app. From now on, I have to weigh my food. There are already a lot of things that will change.

TOUR: In October you are due to compete in your first World Tour race in China. Why at such short notice?

Anton Schiffer: That's the plan. That's why Visma brought me into the team in October, because they also needed a rider there. The race in China is rumoured to be a relatively relaxed start to the World Tour, because the positioning in the field is not supposed to be too competitive and the course is not too demanding. You ride a lot on large roads and there are many flat stages. Not bad at all for a starter. Many races in France are probably tougher. That's a very simple thing to say, who knows, maybe I'll come back reformed (grins).

TOUR: Is there a clear agreement with those responsible or a precise plan for your future role in the team?

Anton Schiffer: The team has already made clear announcements for the races. But it's not contractually stipulated what role I should play. I also don't know my racing programme for next year yet, but I'm already assuming that I'll be taking on a lot of helper roles at the beginning in order to integrate myself into the team. Having big names in the team with you also brings responsibility. I'm not used to doing chasing work or riding a final from the front. As a Continental team, we always just ride along and hope to be somewhere in the final. That will definitely change. I think it's normal to start at the bottom of the team hierarchy as a neo-pro. But I'm also looking forward to that. I always have something to do; as a Continental rider you sometimes just roll along and wait to see what happens. It's always cooler to act rather than react.