TOUR: This is your 11th season as a professional cyclist. How important is it to you to compete in the Lidl Deutschland Tour as your home race?
Max Walscheid: The importance of the Deutschland Tour is growing every year. Of course, I have my own agenda and my role within the team. To be honest, these things are the most important. But I also think it’s great to race in front of a home crowd and, in doing so, help promote cycling in Germany. The Deutschland Tour has symbolic significance when you see real people standing by the roadside watching the race – rather than just having to follow it on TV from other countries.
TOUR: You rode the Deutschland Tour once, back in 2024. What memories do you have of that race?
Max Walscheid: It was important to me back then to put myself in the best light, as I was riding for the German national team in 2024. When you’re wearing the German national jersey, you always feel a bit of pride in representing your own country. So you want to do a good job. And ultimately, it was just like any other major race in Germany: once the race is up and running and well organised, it’s actually always really good. There were loads of spectators there and, from a sporting point of view, it was really tough.
TOUR: Lidl has been the title sponsor of the Deutschland Tour since 2023 and, as of this year, the team’s majority shareholder. To what extent does competing in the home tour as a team licensed in Germany change the pressure on the squad?
Max Walscheid: I’d definitely say the pressure is higher now. Riding in the Lidl colours, I particularly want to do a good job on the second stage when it comes to getting into the lead group for the sprint. That means the pressure on me on that day is greater than on other days, when I’m ‘just’ part of the team effort and don’t necessarily have to deliver.
TOUR: In recent years, the Lidl Deutschland Tour has always overlapped with the Vuelta for a few days. How significant is this fact to you when comparing the Tour with other stage races on an international level?
Max Walscheid: Its standing in an international context is quite high. Although the tour ‘only’ has Pro status and there are other WorldTour races taking place at the same time, such as the Renewi Tour in Belgium, it has to be said that the Deutschland Tour enjoys a good reputation despite its second-tier status. On paper, it isn’t in the top tier of cycling, but the field of competitors and the standard of racing tell a different story. The recognition and esteem in which the Deutschland Tour is held within professional sport and the cycling community are certainly higher than its status on paper would suggest.
TOUR: Could holding the Deutschland Tour on a regular basis – or even expanding it – help to ‘educate’ the German public a little, so that they don’t just focus on Florian Lipowitz as the only German rider in the Tour de France? After all, Germany has always had – and still does have – some good sprinters and classics riders.
Max Walscheid: I would also hold you media representatives responsible for shifting the focus. When people say that Germany would like to have the next Tour winner, or that Germany needs someone in the yellow jersey again, that’s a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy that causes the cycling public to internalise these ideas.
TOUR: Speaking of the public, has the public perception of your job as a professional cyclist and your standing changed compared to when you first started out?
Max Walscheid: I think I’ve chosen a pretty good time to be accepted as a professional cyclist. After all, I’m from a generation after Kittel, Martin, Degenkolb and the rest, so I haven’t had to struggle as much as they did with the legacy of their predecessors. Even in my early years, I received a lot of positive feedback about my career, and this has only increased in recent years, partly due to my work in the media.
TOUR: Back to the race, which gets underway on 19 August with a 2.6-kilometre prologue in Bad Orb. You played a key role for Mads Pedersen, the winner of the 2024 Deutschland Tour, in this season’s spring classics. Pedersen has opted for the Vuelta this year and won’t be on the start line. Will you slot seamlessly into the same role for another general classification contender?
Max Walscheid: Absolutely! We want to win the race – there’s no question about that. It’ll be anything but a walk in the park, and everyone involved will have to give it their all to ensure we finish right at the front. I don’t know the exact line-up in detail yet, but to be honest, I don’t really care which of my team-mates is on the grid. The main thing is that we have a strong team on the grid. But Cicco (Giulio Ciccone) will definitely have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
TOUR: Two years ago, the Tour began in Schweinfurt with a prologue of a similar length to the one coming up this Wednesday; you finished 15th. Are you aiming to potentially take the leader’s jersey on the second stage – which you’ve already mentioned – following a good prologue?
Max Walscheid: No, not at all! The prologue itself isn’t my forte – it’s quite hilly – and if I were to finish in the top ten there, I’d be very happy. And the first stage, which also passes through the Spessart, is tough. Gaps will already have opened up by the time the sprint stage comes around.
TOUR: Max Walscheid joined the team at the age of 32 and immediately signed a three-year contract? What are Lidl-Trek’s long-term plans for you, and what are your own long-term plans with Lidl-Trek?
Max Walscheid: When I signed, it was absolutely clear to the team what they could expect from me. I’ve reached an age where I know what I’m capable of and what I’m not. None of the parties involved expected me to make another quantum leap – whether for the better or for the worse. My roles for this year were clearly defined: sprint support for Jonathan Milan and classics support for Mads Pedersen. I’m very pleased with the year, and also with how my performance figures have continued to develop.
TOUR: Given such a long-term perspective, does the team have any other plans? Given your track record, the role of road captain or a mentor for young riders seems almost a natural fit.
Max Walscheid: As road captain, I’ve already been involved in various teams over the past few years, giving tactical instructions and acting as the sporting management’s right-hand man during the race. I enjoy doing that and I’m happy to take on the role – as I did most recently at the Tour of Denmark. Otherwise, for me it’s 100 per cent about sporting performance. I don’t see myself as a mentor for the younger riders, and I’ve no desire to be one either.
TOUR: An episode featuring you and Dominic Klemme, the mental coach at Lidl Trek, was broadcast as part of the Sportschau series “Deine Tour”. It deals with the topics of pressure, fear and mental strain in professional cycling. How openly are these issues discussed within the peloton, or does the ‘rule’ of treating them as taboo still prevail?
Max Walscheid: Compared to 10 years ago, there’s certainly been a change in how these issues are viewed. People are definitely talking about them more openly, and many riders now see that there’s an opportunity to discuss them. Nevertheless, I still think that this sport is, on the whole, very, very tough, and that many riders have to come to terms with a lot of things on their own. But that’s also down to the fact that we all have our own individual daily lives at home and only get together occasionally. So stressful issues aren’t necessarily shared with team-mates.
TOUR: Given the packed racing calendar, do you see any potential for a Tour of Germany lasting longer than five days?
Max Walscheid: I certainly see plenty of potential for that. The riders love coming here, the teams love coming here, and we always get to see some truly thrilling cycling. And Fabian Wegmann is doing his absolute best in his planning for A.S.O. to put us through our paces as much as possible and put together a challenging route. Regardless of the Deutschland Tour, however, the entire race calendar really needs a revamp. For people who haven’t been involved in the sport for years, it’s completely unclear and opaque which races are really important and which aren’t. Cycling really needs to have a proper clear-out – perhaps axing one or two races and giving the ones that really matter the prominence they deserve. For me, the Deutschland Tour is one of those important races, and 10 days would be a good idea.
TOUR: Following the final stage of this year’s Giro, which was won by your team-mate Milan, a member of the support staff was heard saying in an interview: ‘Max Walscheid is currently taking the team bus apart out of sheer joy.’ If Lidl-Trek were to win the tour, can we expect similar scenes on Sunday?
Max Walscheid: If we were to win the overall classification, that would be brilliant. Although it’s not quite the same as winning the final stage of a Grand Tour. From a purely sporting point of view, there was a bit more at stake there. But even so, I’d definitely be very happy.
