Interview with Jannik Steimle: "Now I've finished my apprenticeship and have to deliver"

Jannik Steimle has been back on his racing bike for a fortnight now and is preparing for the new season. It is a special winter for the 27-year-old, as he has changed teams for the first time in his professional career: For the new season, he is part of Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling. On paper, this is a step back from the World Tour to a ProContinental team. For Steimle, however, it is a necessary change, as he explains in the interview.

After an impressive start with victory in the 2019 Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen as a stagiaire and overall victory in the 2020 Tour of Slovakia, injuries and the team hierarchy have set him back in recent years. With Q36.5 Pro Cycling, Steimle now wants to build on his previous successes.

TOUR: Mr Steimle, at the end of the season, are you someone who puts the bike completely in the corner and doesn't touch it - or can't you do without it?

Jannik Steimle: I actually manage to leave it in the corner quite well. I play golf on the side, so I used the good weather at the end of the season for the golf course. I think I only moved the bike three times in four weeks. Because there was actually one season when I didn't really put the bike away - and when it started again, it felt like I hadn't had a break. That wasn't good. Last season had its ups and downs, so I needed to clear my head and not see the bike for a few weeks. It gives me an appetite for training again and after three to four weeks I'm really up for it again.

TOUR: There are stories from riders like Geraint Thomas that after the end of the season the discipline brake is released and people eat and drinkwhich is taboo during the season. Do you also take it easy then?

Jannik Steimle: I'm not someone who says: now I can finally celebrate and go for a drink. To be honest, I tend to incorporate unhealthy snacks into my training to reward myself after a long, hard ride. If the form and weight are right, then a burger or a pizza won't ruin it. I actually pay even more attention to my diet in the off-season. Because I have to get rid of all the weight I put on afterwards. And I don't want to start training again with five kilograms too much. At Quick-Step, the subject of nutrition wasn't taken too seriously either. We had some Belgians, I'd say they weren't the healthiest when it came to nutrition. There were things after the races that other teams certainly didn't have. We were given a relatively large amount of freedom.

TOUR: You are now embarking on a new chapter, a new experience with your first team change as a professional. You are moving from the World Tour to a Pro Continental team. To what extent did you ponder this step?

Jannik Steimle: I'm very happy that I took this step. The feeling right now is similar to before the 2020 season, when I got my first professional contract. I have the urge to want to deliver again. This motivation carries me from week to week. However, the decision to do Q36.5 wasn't easy for me at first. I was already thinking about whether I would leave the World Tour for a Pro Continental team. I had never really thought about the team before. I then spoke to a lot of people, the family, the management and riders who had taken the same step. And the more I followed the team, the more I liked it. From conversation to conversation, the topic became more interesting for me.

No longer in the A squad at Quick-Step

TOUR: What was the deciding factor for you in the end?

Jannik Steimle: I get my freedom. In my years at Quick-Step, I showed what I can do, but unfortunately I slipped into a pigeonhole. My qualities have mostly been used for other purposes, mostly as a helper. And at some point it was difficult for me to get out of this pigeonhole. However, Q36.5 told me straight away: "They know what I can do and what I've already shown. They gave me the feeling that they really wanted me and wanted to invest in me. I am now 27 years old and have to take the step to race on my own account - with a team that helps me. The first few weeks have vindicated me: I feel that I'm not a number in the team, but that something is expected of me. That feels good. The team is super professional, whether it's the coaches, doctors or sports directors. The material is not a step backwards either. I'm sure that the team has a huge future ahead of it financially.

TOUR: Was there a key moment this season when you said: I have to change teams?

Jannik Steimle: After the spring. I did really well in the winter and travelled to Australia in January, where I wanted to spend four weeks preparing for the classics in good weather. However, I was sent straight from Australia to an altitude training camp in Calpe. By my standards, I started training there again far too early due to jet lag. The two and a half weeks in Calpe basically destroyed my spring, I always felt tired afterwards. The second problem: if you're not in the A squad, you're thrown into a lot of races for which you're not actually on the schedule. If you are then sent from race to race for four to five weeks and can't train, your form doesn't get better, it gets worse. Modern cycling shows that fewer and fewer races are being organised and more training camps are being held instead. With a structured preparation and race plan, with goals and highlights in the year where you are at the top level, you can achieve completely different results. When I come to races like Paris-Roubaix or Milan-San Remo and I'm one of the leaders, then I have to say for myself: I did everything right.

"Nobody would have said no to Quick-Step"

TOUR: It almost sounds as if, looking back, you had imagined your years at Quick-Step a little differently?

Jannik Steimle: But what you mustn't forget - and what I sometimes forget too: I've had a few injuries over the years. A crash in spring 2021 almost ended my career. I had twelve fractures. You don't just tick that off in your head. In 2022, I rode a strong spring, was in top form for the Tour of Germany in August - and then I was shot down in the Tour of Burgos. Broken collarbone. So I have to leave the church in the village. I would never have dreamed that I would get this far and spend my first four professional years with Quick-Step. Looking back, was it the right team? I don't think anyone would have said no to Quick-Step. That's why I'm not worried about it. I was on the team with Sam Bennett, Julian Alaphilippe, Mark Cavendish, Remco Evenepoel and Fabio Jakobsen - the elite of cycling. Of course, it was also a great training programme to become a classics rider. I'm grateful for that time. Now I've finished my training and have to deliver next year.

TOUR: What do you learn in this training programme to become a classic rider?

Jannik Steimle: The sporting directors have already won the classics themselves and live in the area, so they know every pothole and every roundabout. Once you're in shape, you basically just have to steer - the rest happens from the back of the car. This knowledge of the track is a huge advantage: where can I save energy, where do I have to be in front? That was outstanding. I invested a lot of time there, often stayed longer in Belgium and looked at the tracks. We were also the Wolfpack - and that wasn't just a name. It's a big family. I didn't just develop as a cyclist there, but also as a person. These killer genes, this always being hungry, that's what I hope to take with me now.

Jannik Steimle happy about failed merger between Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma

TOUR: Your team manager at Quick-Step was Patrick Lefevere, a polarising figure in cycling. How do you experience Lefevere as a rider?

Jannik Steimle: He is already a person of respect. When he enters the room, it's completely different. You don't see him as a normal team boss, but as Patrick Lefevere. He's a huge figure in Belgium who enjoys the publicity and certainly goes over the top at times. You can love him or hate him for that. But I can only say positive things about him. He would go through fire for his drivers. In the spring, he kept telling me that he knew what I was capable of and that he was sorry to see me like this. I always gave him credit for that.

TOUR: In recent weeks, cycling has been dominated by headlines about a merger between the Jumbo-Visma and Quick-Step teams. How did you experience this?

Jannik Steimle: What has happened in the cycling world over the past two to three months is not really Lefevere's fault. His hands were tied. That's why we parted ways quietly. I haven't heard much from the team recently, but in hindsight I understand why. I'm glad that we're now continuing with two different teams - not with a joint team. You shouldn't break up a traditional team like Quick-Step.

TOUR: Did you have any discussions about a possible contract extension beforehand?

Jannik Steimle: Not directly, no. But it was also never the case that I was told I had to find a new team. I knew early on that I didn't really want to stay. That's why I never really thought about it. It was more of a feeling: I'll see what's on the market - with the option that I might be able to stay with Quick-Step.

Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in view

TOUR: To what extent have you already got to know your new team and future team-mates?

Jannik Steimle: When it was known that I was changing, I spoke to a few riders at the last races of the season. I know Giacomo Nizzolo quite well from the races. I've also spoken to Tom Devriendt and Matteo Moschetti, I rode together with Matteo Badilatti at Vorarlberg and I was together with Frederik Frison at the fitting in Milan. I think it could be a cool team. If everyone pulls together, we can have very good races. I now also have a German coach in Helmut Dollinger.

TOUR: What goals have you set yourself?

Jannik Steimle The March and April are the two months in which I want to deliver. In the Tour of Flanders, with its 4000 metres of climbing, it is now difficult to achieve a result as a non-top star. It's all about luck at Paris-Roubaix, where I've already had a taste of the front and know how to ride. Milan-San Remo too: Of course all 200 riders want to be at the front on the last climb, but such tough races with a small climb in the finale have suited me in the past. These are small highlights. I also want to invest more in the time trial. Q36.5 is well positioned in this respect and wants to push this with me. One-week tours that are decided by a time trial are therefore a goal. I also want to focus more on the German individual time trial championship. And next year, the second stage of the Deutschland Tour will finish ten kilometres from my front door in Schwäbisch Gmünd. That will also be in my focus.