TOUR The Tour de France Femmes is preparing to outshine women's cycling even more than the Tour does in men's cycling. How did your team Lidl-Trek fare in the most important race of the season?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Of course, we took part in the Tour to finally win a stage. That was our first goal, but unfortunately we were once again unable to fulfil it. But with Niamh Fisher-Black we did well in the overall standings. She is still quite young and was pushed into a captain's role for the first time. And that directly after her switch from SD Worx-Protime to us.
Fisher-Black finished fifth overall. She also rode a strong World Championship race in Rwanda and finished runner-up. Was she the favourite candidate to succeed Elisa Longo Borghini, who left the team at the end of last season?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: I'm not the right person to talk to about that, as I wasn't directly involved in the negotiations. But the fact is that we can hardly compare any rider with Elisa, nor should we, as she can deliver in almost every race. She won Paris-Roubaix and also the Giro in the last two years. Filling this shoe is hardly possible. Niamh is a different type of rider. But of course, we secretly had our eyes on the podium with her. Looking back, however, we got the maximum out of her fifth place. We want to go into the grand tours with Niamh over the next few years in a stronger position. We want to develop her further and then hopefully finish on the podium with her in a Grand Tour.
You are now entering your eighth year as the sports director of Team Lidl-Trek. A three-part documentary about the team shows you as a mixture of gruff but also motherly supervisor. How do you interpret your role?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Of course, on the one hand, I have to be the boss and act strictly, especially when things don't work out. On the other hand, I work with a lot of young women who could be my daughters. It's all in the mix, but building trust is fundamental. I want the girls to honestly know where they stand with me, and most of them have a good judgement of my nature. But sometimes it's not that easy for young newcomers to deal with me.
That was the emotional view of things. Do you follow a certain concept of leadership in your work with the female racing drivers?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: To be honest, I don't follow a precise line. I just try to be myself and the bottom line is that we want to win races. I want to convey that to the riders, coupled with the self-confidence that they are capable of doing so.
Sounds quite sober. Your father Horst used the phrase "The journey is the reward" as a guiding principle. Is that also your motto? Did you already internalise that as an active racing driver?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: First of all, you're basically in the wrong place if you don't want to win. Then you don't need to do any sport at all. I think anyone can win a bike race, but you have to know where you are as a rider and how strong you are at the moment. As a professional, if you know where you are on your path at the moment, you can win at some point. You just have to be honest with yourself and not give up even when you're disappointed.
As a professional rider, you were particularly successful in the sprint and, with well over 100 victories in UCI races, you rank directly behind the still active Marianne Vos in the all-time best list. What does that mean to you?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: I don't even know how many victories I have on my account. As not all of my victories are listed in various lists, being listed in a leaderboard means nothing to me. You can't really compare the times either. Nowadays, the women almost exclusively have one-day races in the first two months of the year, whereas we used to ride a lot of stage races at this time of year. I also used to have 60 to 65 race days, a figure that no female rider can match today. That's why 25 season wins for Lorena Wiebes are certainly more impressive today than my 22 or 23 in one season.
Would such successes still be possible in today's women's cycling with the skills you had back then?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: I think so. I still believe in myself, that I would have adapted! You can always sprint (laughs). I don't know if I could beat Lorena Wiebes, but I could certainly win a few more bike races.
Development of women's cycling
What has changed the most in the years since you stepped down in 2013 that you might have wished for in your time?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: The money that is now available in our sport. I can't really complain now, as I've already earned good money during my career. In my T-Mobile and Highroad days, our team manager Bob Stapleton was very keen for us girls to do well financially. I received 65,000 euros, which is the minimum salary our team currently pays. Stapleton had seen and understood how difficult it was for us back then.
And apart from the money?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Of course, other things such as media interest have also grown enormously. But I wouldn't have wanted to be confronted with social media like that and not have to post something all the time. It's mentally more difficult for the riders now; we used to ride a bit more under the radar. And the flood of data collection and the additional pressure that comes with it doesn't make it any easier these days, especially for the young pros. I'm certainly glad that I wasn't under constant observation as an 18 or 19-year-old.
Does that mean you are also critical of the scientisation of cycling?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Data is very good and important, but it cannot replace the feeling of racing. If you can't read a race, if you don't know how to move through the field, then even the best data is useless. We can make brilliant plans based on data before the race. But 25 other teams do the same. At the end of the day, not everything can be planned and we have to leave enough room for gut feeling. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to communicate this to the riders, as they are now all focussed on data.
Would you still want to be a professional today?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: I don't know if I would still get a contract (laughs). When I look at the scene today, I'm not sure whether I would survive. But you would have grown into it somehow. Nevertheless, weighing my food every day and only training by numbers - that would be difficult for me!
From the Teutenberg cycling dynasty, the spotlight is currently on your nephew Tim Torn and your niece Lea Lin, the children of your brother Lars. Both are learning a lot with and from each other. Were you able to benefit similarly from your brothers Lars and Sven back then as a sister?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Definitely! I was the little sister and didn't just want to keep up with the boys, I wanted to do everything better. I always had to fight at home and I was able to take that into the races. If I couldn't keep up downhill, they just left me behind. Then I had to ride home alone.
After retiring from active sport in 2013, you were not visible on the cycling stage for a few years. What did you do during this time?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: I first completed a long internship at the Animal Adoption Centre in Utah in the USA, as I love working with animals. I then spent some time in Canada working with a former team colleague on the topic of mental awareness. I then made the transition to sports management in 2015; I worked for the American Cycling Federation for two years and then for Team Rally Cycling from 2016 to 2018. However, these were all jobs that were not financially fulfilling enough for me to see my future in cycling at the time. Then Trek came round the corner with the idea of setting up a women's team and approached me.
"Always this comparing"
Women's cycling has developed rapidly in recent years. Are there any areas in which women may have already overtaken their male colleagues?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: Hard to say. What does outdated mean? Always this comparison, I find it boring. You have to see women's cycling as its own world. When I hear that women have to do it like men, I just find it sad. After all, women's football is also different from men's football. No one is better or worse than the other. You just have to recognise the differences and accept them. Full stop!
Women-specific topics such as menstruation or cycle-based training are dealt with much more openly in competitive sport today. As a female sports manager, do you actively address these topics in your team?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: It's definitely an issue, but I'm a bit out of the loop as the girls are coached by their home coaches and I usually only look after them during the race. If a rider has her period and simply can't make it on one day, then of course we in the coaching team know about it. From a sports management perspective, I have no problem with this; I've been in this situation often enough myself. You're often in a fog these days. It would be interesting to carry out scientific research into whether there are more crashes during this period; to what extent is the reaction time in cycling affected during the period? Ultimately, however, every woman reacts differently; if someone stands in front of me crying for no apparent reason, then I know: "Ok, you're pre-menstrual". I'm glad that this is no longer a taboo subject.
As far as both women and men in Team Lidl-Trek are concerned, what do you think about Lidl taking over a majority stake in the team and the associated change of licence to Germany?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: This will not change much for the riders and me personally. The positive thing is that we now have even more money and, with this major sponsor behind us, we will be able to work even more solidly and calmly over the next few years. That gives us stability, which is not a given in professional cycling.
You have a tattoo that reads: "Those who lose dreaming are lost". Which dream do you definitely not want to lose? Where will we see Ina-Yoko Teutenberg in ten years' time?
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg: On my farm in California. I sit there in the sun and drink coffee in the morning and beer in the evening. With lots of dogs around me.
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg - about the person
- Born 28 October 1974 in Düsseldorf
- Place of residence California (USA)
- Size 1.63 metres
- Professional from 2001 to 2013
- Sports Director since 2018 (since 2019 at Lidl-Trek, formerly Trek-Segafredo)
Teams
Saturn Cycling (2001-2003), T-Mobile (2005-2007), Team Columbia (2008-2010), Team HTC-Highroad 2011, Team Specialized-Lululemon 2012 and 2013
Most important successes
Junior World Road Champion 1990, International Tour of Thuringia 1996; 13 stage wins at the Giro d'Italia Femminile 2007-2011; Tour of Flanders 2009, German Road Champion 2009 and 2011, overall Tour of Chongming Island 2010 and 2011, bronze medallist at the Road World Championships 2011, World Team Time Trial Champion 2012; 4th place at the Olympic Road Race in London 2012
