Interview with national coach Greipel: "There must be clear communication"

TOUR interview with André Greipel

The interview was conducted by Andreas Kublik

TOUR: André, in your biography "Out of the slipstream"* your wife Kristina has described how you both lived in two different worlds for a long time during your time as a professional cyclist. Have you now arrived in the everyday world at home in Hürth near Cologne - in a life with less adrenaline, less frenzy of victory, but perhaps also fewer disappointments than in your life as an active professional cyclist?

André GreipelIt definitely takes some time to get there. It was a change that wasn't easy. I always had a training plan and lived by it, working towards a goal. Now I first had to reorganise myself. I have to or am allowed to take on tasks at home that I wasn't allowed to do before because I would have just messed things up. My wife and children definitely had their own lives.

TOUR: How does it actually work?

André GreipelYou have to learn to deal with the situation, you lead a different life and have different priorities. I'm still travelling a lot at the moment. But my wife can rely on me more now. All in all, family life is a nice thing and also the fact that I wake up in my own bed more often now.

TOUR: As a sprinter in particular, you have lived extremely well from energy and aggression throughout your career. Where do you put all that energy now?

André GreipelI definitely have a surplus of energy. I still cycle, of course. It's still my passion and my outlet. It allows me to switch off and get myself in order - I need that too. I cycle alone most of the time now - and not for that long, maybe two or three hours. When I cycle alone through the countryside, it's a kind of meditation for me.

André Greipel on his role as national coach

TOUR: Your schedule is very tight. You have several contracts with sponsors, have been to the Giro, the Tour and Tenerife. It's been known since April: You will be the national coach for the professional cyclists. How did that come about?

André GreipelI had no intention of taking on this position. The BDR (Bund Deutscher Radfahrer; editor's note) approached me. They didn't just talk to me, but also to other ex-pros: Christian Knees, Marcel Sieberg, Marcel Kittel, Robert Wagner - they were all approached. I was chosen because I don't belong to a team and am therefore independent.

TOUR: Why did you decide to take on the job?

André GreipelI do it for the athletes because I think they deserve it. It's important for me to emphasise that I'm not doing it for my ego.

TOUR: Marcus Burghardt, another ex-professional, has been on the BDR presidium for some time now. Was that a reason for you to take on the job?

André GreipelOf course, that also played a major role. It is a very nice sign from the BDR that they are trying to get young people who are still very close to cycling onto the presidency. It will definitely be a very nice task, because I know that "Burgi" always keeps his word and also wants the best for the organisation.

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TOUR: You two have something like a shared vision?

André GreipelOf course. But it can only be done together with the athletes. I am loyal and know what the BDR has done wrong here and there in the past in its dealings with professional cyclists. And together with "Burgi" I am trying to do better.

TOUR: In cycling, unlike in football, not all eleven win, but at best one. How did you motivate yourself in the past?

André GreipelIt was always an honour for me to put on the national jersey - only if there was a plan, of course. If there was a plan, I was always very happy to play my part in the team, to subordinate myself and to take on responsibility as a leader.

André Greipel on the 2011 World Cycling Championships

TOUR: You are the last German pro to have won a medal in the World Championship road race - in 2011 in Copenhagen in third place behind Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss. What value does this success have?

André GreipelIn the end, I was happy that I made it to third place. On the other hand, it's also true that if different decisions had been made at the time of the nomination, more would have been possible.

TOUR: You would have liked to have had more loyal and suitable helpers in the team. Five years later, there was the fiasco at the World Championships in Qatar. The German team wanted to become world champions. But the BDR got bogged down with three captains without a hierarchy: Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb and you. All the Germans were left behind early on. What went wrong back then?

André GreipelI don't dwell on the past because nothing can be changed. But it was a classic example of poor communication, of bad behaviour on the part of the BDR towards the athletes. There had already been internal agreements a year earlier that I should have been the one to ride for - if I was in top form.

TOUR: Like Marcel Kittel, you won a stage at the Tour de France that year and also took the German championship title - you were in good form. Who had you agreed with beforehand?

André GreipelThe agreements were not honoured. Who exactly was involved at the time is no longer relevant. I described this in detail in a chapter of my book - I don't want to say any more about it. But for me, that was not fair treatment of an athlete. A world championship is not about not wanting to mess things up with one athlete or another for the future. I can only speak for myself: Back in Qatar, I was already mentally exhausted before the race even started.

I want to pursue a clear plan and put the best German professional cyclists on the start line at the World Championships. All the athletes we have contacted are ready! (André Greipel)

TOUR: After that you quietly and rather unnoticed resigned from the national team ...

André GreipelI am someone who addresses things directly with the people involved and doesn't seek media hype. After the race, I communicated very clearly with the people responsible and said: Just don't call me anymore. It was very bad behaviour - not just with me, but also with the others who raced in Qatar. The other athletes involved also saw it that way.

TOUR: What consequences do you draw from the events back then for your own work as national coach?

André Greipel: These are things that we definitely don't want to do again. I clearly want to pursue a plan and put the best German professional cyclists at the start. In the current phase in which German cycling finds itself, with only six World Championship starting places (only the top ten in the nations' world rankings get eight starting places, Germany was ranked 15th; editor's note), you can't take young athletes with you to give them a taste of the World Championships. The best have to be at the start.

"I am an advocate of plan A"

TOUR: Against the background of your own World Cup disappointments, what motivated you to take on the job of national coach?

André GreipelWe are all only human. It's about open communication with the athletes about what you want to realise at the World Championships, European Championships or Olympics. If you talk to each other sensibly and respectfully, formulate a clear and sensible plan of what you want to do in the race, then you can still get a no from an athlete. And that's okay. In the end, it's all about putting a powerful, versatile squad on the start line - and above all: a team! And I'm an advocate of Plan A - that means a clear structure in the team that is independent of the course of the race and is orientated towards a single leader.

TOUR: So you have a clear direction, a concept for Greipel ...

André GreipelYou don't have to talk about a Greipel concept. I am also not the one who makes the selection alone: Marcus Burghardt (Vice President Contract Sports), Günter Schabel (Vice President Competitive Sports), Patrick Moster (Sports Director), Robert Pawlowsky (Coach) and I are responsible for the nomination.

TOUR: Even if the former BDR vice-president Udo Sprenger, who you criticised in your book because of the events surrounding the World Championships in Qatar, is no longer there: It's a big committee. Isn't there a danger that too many people will have a say and agreements will not be honoured?

André GreipelI have a good feeling that this will not happen again, that the people who make the decisions now will honour their word. That was a prerequisite for me.

TOUR: What exactly do you see as your task?

André GreipelI can only contribute my expertise: formulate what tactics I'm planning and which athletes I need for them. Of course, you can't say much more on the radio during the World Cup.

TOUR: There is no radio communication between the riders and the sports management.

André GreipelThat means you have to have intensive discussions about roles and tactics beforehand. I want the athletes to have a clear vision of the race and the right mindset for a world championship.

TOUR: Recently, the willingness to ride for the German national team was no longer particularly great ...

André GreipelWe definitely want to get away from having another World Championship like last year in Australia, when many professional cyclists didn't want to go. We want to have the best athletes at the start. They should know well in advance that they are nominated, that they can prepare for a goal. And we seek communication with the teams so that the riders are also released. That worked out well with regard to Glasgow.

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TOUR: What kind of course can pros and fans expect in the Glasgow road race on 6 August, what might the plan for the race look like?

André Greipel: The course already existed in a modified form at the 2018 European Championships (Matteo Trentin won ahead of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert; editor's note). It will be a similar race. If it rains, then it will be an elimination race. It will be very important to have a strong team that takes control of the race and places the captain at the front. There are 2.7 bends per kilometre. This shows that battles for position will definitely be decisive. In combination with the short, crisp climbs, a preliminary decision can be made early on in the race. There are only short straights, 400 to 500 metres long, on which the peloton is not much faster than a leading group.

TOUR: Which route can you compare it with?

André Greipel: I think you can compare it quite well with the 2021 World Championship route in Leuven. The roads there were perhaps a little narrower and the climbs a little longer. In my eyes, it will be a classic race - especially in terms of length (271 kilometres with around 3,500 metres of climbing; editor's note). A racer has to be explosive here.

TOUR: Your first appearance as national coach will be at the premiere of the so-called Super World Championships in Glasgow with almost all cycling disciplines. How do you like the concept?

André GreipelFrom cycle ball to artistic cycling to BMX, everything is included. It's definitely a great opportunity to put together this big picture of cycling. Let's see how it is realised on site.

André Greipel - about the person

• Nationality: German
• Born16 July 1982 in Rostock
• Place of residenceHürth : Hürth
• Marital statusMarried, two daughters

When André Greipel ended his career as a professional cyclist at the end of 2021, he was one of the most successful in the international peloton with 158 victories. After starting out in the Telekom U-23 team, he rode in the jersey of the Wiesenhof (2005), T-Mobile (2006-2007) and Columbia/HTC (2008-2010) racing teams. His most successful period was with the Belgian Equipe Lotto (2011-2018), before ending his career with Arkéa-Samsic (2019) and Israel Start-Up Nation (2020-2021).

The sprint specialist has celebrated numerous stage wins at the Tour de France (11), Giro d'Italia (7) and Vuelta a Espana (4). He also won the overall classification of the Tour Down Under in Australia twice and the Cyclassics one-day race in Hamburg. At the 2011 Road World Championships in Copenhagen, he took bronze behind Mark Cavendish and the Australian Matt Goss. At the end of April, the German Cycling Federation announced that Greipel would be responsible for professional road cycling at the European and World Championships as well as the Olympic Games. He succeeds Jens Zemke in this position.

"Out of the slipstream. How I learnt to love cycling and win"

André Greipel with Tim Farin, Riva, 18,00 Euro >> e.g. available here.