When Peter Segeroth moved to Cologne and started cycling again, the then 49-year-old IT project manager soon got tired of riding alone. It was 2017, he was looking to join a group, researched online and found an offer from a club with an Italian name. "When I rode the cappuccino circuit for the first time, I was surprised at how many people were there at the Severinstorburg," recalls Segeroth of his first meeting with the Scuderia.
"It was nice to see how groups then set off in different directions from this place, how it all organised itself," says the man, who has long been a member and has been on the board since 2021 and manages the association's public relations work. Segeroth was looking for a way to stop just driving through the surrounding countryside on his own and found the solution in the centre of the city. The Scuderia rides, which start and finish in the bustling Südstadt district, are fixed points for Cologne residents looking for company in the saddle. One of the city's epicentres is located in this "Veedel", or "district", where the density of pubs is high and the carnival is particularly festive.
Scuderia Südstadt: The beginnings of the club
The upswing in cycling in the place where the Rose Monday parade traditionally starts was triggered by the desire of a few amateur athletes to form a team. When secondary school teacher Ole Buckendahl and a friend set their sights on taking part in Rund um Köln in 2010, they wanted to enter as a team rather than as individual starters. As they came from the southern part of Cologne, they were looking for a suitable team name.
There is a strong Italian migration background in this part of the city, which is how they came up with "Scuderia", the Italian word for "racing team". At first, they didn't have anything formal in mind - but that soon changed. "Some people wanted to do licensed races, insurance issues came up, so we founded a club," says 42-year-old Buckendahl. This step was taken ten years ago. The Scuderia now has more than 200 members.
On my first round of cappuccinos, I was surprised at how many people were standing at the Severinstorburg. - Peter Segeroth, Member of the Board
Cycling in the industrial quarter
A Sunday afternoon at the beginning of March in an old industrial area in Cologne-Mülheim on the right bank of the Rhine, where a cultural and working neighbourhood is now sprawling. There are cups on patio tables outside the branch of a Cologne coffee company. Soon after, a group of men and women on gravel and cross bikes roll into the car park, all wearing jerseys in blue and yellow and having just completed their final tour of the winter season - in spring-like conditions. "We're celebrating the end of the cyclo-cross season together here today because we have a lot of active athletes, but above all a lot of people who cheer us on and actively support us," says Christian Höfener, 48, a sports equipment salesman who is involved in the sport of cyclo-cross at Scuderia Südstadt.
The club's cross-country division has only been growing for a few years, but it is very lively. Around 30 active members of the club took part in cross-country races last winter, says Höfener, but the participation of Scuderia members as marshals and supporters is much greater. The club organised its own cross-country race in the NRW Cross Cup. "But we can't organise that anywhere in Cologne, the authorities don't allow it," says Höfener. There is too much competition with dog owners, walkers, nature conservation and bureaucratic adversaries in the city's parks and green spaces. So they move to a town to the west of Cologne, to Pulheim. Höfener says the word "community" several times.
Sporting success for Scuderia Südstadt
"We do so many different things at the Scuderia, you always have the chance to get involved and contribute - that's community." There is also sporting success. Scuderia put together the best team in the NRW Cross Cup last winter. The Cologne club even celebrated a European Championship title in 2022: Katrin Iglhaut won the 35-39 age group race in Namur, Belgium.
Katharina Garus has also brought the Scuderia a number of successes. The 42-year-old editor won the bronze medal at the UCI Masters Cyclocross World Championships in Hamburg in 2023. She joined Scuderia a good five years ago out of necessity. She was looking for a sporting club in Cologne because she was keen to take up licenced racing after a number of amateur races. "At the time, I thought there would be a club with a women's cycling team - but there just wasn't one," recalls Garus. Instead, she searched further, now for a club that suited her lifestyle. "I thought: Südstadt, I like that. I didn't want a classic club bureaucracy, but I wanted a modern club where people were involved."
The Scuderia made an open-minded impression on her at the time. That has been confirmed. "I believe that we have an extremely high rate of commitment and that we hardly have any dead bodies," says Garus. If you ask around at the Scuderia, this seems to be due to the various subject areas that the club members are involved in, as well as a club culture in which ideas can be realised: Riding cross races and organising them themselves, holding rides for different levels and e-cycling events, promoting licensed racing - all of this has happened in recent years, launched by individual members and not just a few people at the centre.
We are now active in association sport and also support organised sport with contributions. - Ole Buckendahl, founder and president
Südstadt values
Scuderia Südstadt was not only founded and is at home in one of Cologne's liveliest neighbourhoods. It is characterised by this origin, its members emphasise the "Südstädtische". This neighbourhood is a mixture of deep Cologne tradition and a lot of openness for "Immis", as immigrants are called in Cologne - regardless of whether they come from Troisdorf or Tonga. The people predominantly vote Green, the writer Heinrich Böll came here, the neighbourhood is home to the politically active music star Wolfgang Niedecken and the socially liberal former federal minister Gerhart Baum - there's not much more to say about the social atmosphere here.
The club is also socially active and based on values, as Garus says. She was part of a team that developed a new mission statement for the Scuderia on behalf of the members. "We scrutinised what we want to stand for," says Garus, "it is important to us that we define these aspects and values in a binding way." The result is a document that describes the essence of the club and is also intended to calibrate ethical principles. Racism, sexism, violence and anti-Semitism are explicitly excluded. The club has already set itself the task of preventing sexualised violence in sport - a topic on which Peter Segeroth also works in a team at Scuderia and which is becoming increasingly relevant in club sport.
Activism of the organisation
When Ole Buckendahl started an informal scuderia with his friends a good 14 years ago and advertised the first meetings on the internet, he had no contact with organised cycling. "You can now say that we are active in association sport and that we support organised sport with our contributions," says Buckendahl. Scuderia Südstadt has a representative on the board of the cycling district, it has helped with social media activities in organised cycling and also in the club that looked after the Cologne cycling track. The Scuderia itself has not yet really grown in terms of young talent, but it is committed to youth development on the other side of the Rhine.
The Scuderia has set up a cycling club at a secondary school in Cologne-Deutz and looks after the youngsters. The "Presidente", as he is known in the Scuderia, sees a strong "idealism" among the members. It has grown into a club that runs a classic licensed sport and even organises its own criterium. "That wasn't an issue for us at first, but people came to us - and that's how the Colonia Kids came about."
The team and the Scuderia organise their own criterium in Cologne-Poll, the Wahoo Rival Crit. It is intended to epitomise modern cycling. "The effort involved is huge, but it's a cool race and we manage to appeal to a broad spectrum - right down to the youth classes and a hobby race for women," says Laura Polaczek, who is in charge of licence sport at the Scuderia.
Lack of women
Within the club, you often hear that it's not about growth. But there is one segment in which the Scuderia would like to attract more people. "You have to get into the minds of women," says Polaczek. The 37-year-old knows that there is no shortage of female racing cyclists in Cologne. But the step into cycling clubs is a big one. "Many women don't trust themselves to ride in a group, they have inhibitions." That's why Polaczek, whose main job is as an architect, organises a weekly session for women together with her team colleagues.
Around 20 female cyclists are regularly active together on the rides, "testosterone doesn't play a role here - I'm sure that we will become more accessible this way," says Polaczek. At the centre of "Women's*Wednesday" is the "integration of women into the broad spectrum of the Scuderia", she says. In this respect, the club differs in focus from more activist teams such as the Cyclits from Cologne, who present themselves as distinctly feminist and activist.
We have many active athletes, but above all many people who actively support us. - Christian Höfener, board member and cross-country coach
Scuderia Südstadt: Members only on recommendation
The women's rides and the weekly laps starting at Chlodwigplatz form the core of the Scuderia. It's hard to find something like this in big cities. Here, the tours start in the centre of the historic city area. They are also open to non-members. During the coronavirus pandemic and due to the contact tracing rules, the club has also created an online programme that is still being used more and more. Another club from Cologne is now also using the software. The Scuderia's tours can be found in this "Meetup Planner", which also works without club membership.
"The tool has proved its worth - and the vast majority of people who come to the rides actually sign up," says Peter Segeroth. This shows how active the Scuderia is at the start and finish, but also digitally. However, there is a threshold to overcome to become a member - the so-called "assessment". Club boss Buckendahl points this out. The Scuderia only admits people to its ranks who have been recommended by three members.
"We want people to fit in with us and for the members to know each other," says the President. So you get to know each other during training, talk, and only then are there opportunities. After all, socialising is not only important while driving, but also afterwards. The Scuderia has described itself as a "bar team" since it was founded, and that's how it should stay. After the rides, a stop at the iconic Südstadt pub "Ubierschänke" is part of the programme. And most of the athletes, say the Scuderisti, also come along for a Kölsch afterwards.
