Interview Pascal Ackermann: "If I fulfil my dream of winning a Tour stage, it will be with this team"
Andreas Kublik
· 27.12.2025
TOUR: Pascal, you've just become a father for the first time. What does that change for you as a professional cyclist at home in Vorarlberg?
Pascal Ackermann: I have a more structured daily routine. I now plan my training so that it fits in with everyday family life. And you're definitely a lot happier most of the time. No matter how exhausting it is, it's definitely something really great and I hope that this will give me a bit more of a boost.
TOUR: That's great news at the end of a year 2025 that was full of pain and setbacks for you. You had a serious crash at the start of the season in mid-February. At the Tour de la Provence stage race in France, you hit the tarmac hard in the final sprint due to a speed bump. What goes through your mind when you see these things - after all, you pass them every time you train?
Pascal Ackermann: You always have respect for it! Especially when you ride over it quickly, the bike jumps even during training. I make sure I have a firm grip on the handlebars and then either jump over it or lift the bike.
TOUR: Can you describe what exactly happened when you crashed in Provence?
Pascal Ackermann: I didn't see the bump. It wasn't a classic short speed bump like we have at home. It went up, 50 metres up, then down again. And on the way down, my rear wheel jumped up. Then the front wheel fell off. At first I didn't realise what had happened. At first I thought I'd blown a tyre.
TOUR: As a sprinter, do you expect such challenges on the home straight?
Pascal Ackermann: No, it should just be smooth tarmac. That has no place on the last kilometre.
TOUR: What did this crash mean for your 2025 season?
Pascal Ackermann: It was the very first race. All the training in winter was for nothing. The problem was that my knees stayed open and became inflamed again after two or three weeks. I also had something like a bruise in both kneecaps. I was actually OK on the bike. But every night I had pain on both sides of my knee like a knife.
TOUR: Your first big goal last season was Milan-San Remo at the end of March. You needed to prepare for this race.
Pascal Ackermann: At Tirreno (Tirreno-Adriatico stage race at the beginning of March; editor's note) it got so bad after two days of racing that we cancelled everything. And then I only came back for Dunkirk. I was in top form then because the training was right.
Only win of the season at the Classique Dunkirque
TOUR: You celebrated your only victory of the season there on 13 May in the Classique Dunkirque one-day race and continued immediately afterwards with the Four Days of Dunkirk stage race.
Pascal Ackermann: I fell there on the last day and my elbow burst open. Everything was completely open down to the bone, a huge flesh wound. It had to be stitched up. At the Dauphiné (stage race at the beginning of June; editor's note) I fell on it again and it burst open again. Then we cancelled all the races before the Tour. I arrived at the Tour with twelve race days under my belt
TOUR: What does it mean to start the toughest bike race of the year with so few race days?
Pascal Ackermann: A sprinter always needs a lot of races. We sprinters are fast, we need the lactate. But I wanted to ride the Tour no matter what. But I lacked the complete race hardness. We realised that after three or four days.
TOUR: Let's look ahead: you changed teams for the new season - from Israel-Premier Tech to Jayco-AlUla. Why did you choose the Australian racing team?
Pascal Ackermann: I definitely still have my goal: to win a stage at the Tour! I'm the only sprinter at Jayco. They said right from the start that they would back me all the way. And the team has always been a cool bunch, there are a lot of German speakers in it. I definitely want to have fun! If I fulfil my big dream anywhere, it will be with this team.
TOUR: You have spoken about the fact that the change also had to do with "slight family headwinds". It was about the ongoing protests against your team Israel-Premier Tech last season - because of the Gaza conflict. What did you personally experience in this regard?
Pascal Ackermann: Well, I didn't have any problems in training or in my private life. It started during the tour when one of them ran over the railing. Then we once had a presentation that was stormed by two or three people. And we had security at every race. There were always armed personnel in plain clothes at the bus. You could see a lot of things at the races. And sometimes the bus was specially parked away or positioned so that we could drive away immediately if something happened. So, there were very big measures.
TOUR: What do you want your 2026 season to look like?
Pascal Ackermann: For me, the Tour is a big focus. The race programme is not yet 100 percent set. I will definitely start in the AlUla Tour (stage race in Saudi Arabia; editor's note), then in the Tour of the Algarve and in a few smaller classics. Originally we had thought I could ride the Giro and Tour. But now the Giro profile came out. It doesn't really fit in now. On the flat stages, you often have a mountain with 200 or 300 metres of climbing in the last 10 or 15 kilometres. It will then usually be the case that the sprinters won't have enough time. There will be a maximum of five sprints in this Giro - and only if you ride to the end of the three weeks.
TOUR: What role does Milan-San Remo play in your plans for the 2026 season?
Pascal Ackermann: It's definitely not planned this year. We have Michael Matthews in the team (the 35-year-old Australian has already finished on the podium three times in San Remo; editor's note), for whom this simply fits in better. And as long as I have my Tour, I won't claim Milan-San Remo for the time being. I don't want to provoke any trouble. (laughs)
Mate Schwarzmann calls it a day
TOUR: With the change, the once successful Ackermann sprint train has finally disbanded. Michael Schwarzmann, her last old companion at Israel-Premier Tech, no longer accompanies her...
Pascal Ackermann: Of course the boys are missing. Especially Schwarzi, my best mate. I spoke to him on the phone and said: Jayco is a really great team, the only thing missing is you. He said he's had enough now because the sport has changed so much. He has ended his career, but he didn't publicise it.
TOUR: Who will be your most important colleagues on the sprint train in the future?
Pascal Ackermann: At the moment, the plan is for Mezgec to join the train because he has the experience. He will be joined by Bob Donaldson, a young British track driver. We are still testing the rest to see how it harmonises. We have Dries De Poorter, who came from Wanty and was on the train with Bini (Binam Girmay; editor's note). And then we also have Dries De Bondt and Patrick Gamper.
TOUR: Alongside you, there are two other Germans in the team squad in Jasha Sütterlin and Felix Engelhardt. How important is it to have compatriots in the team?
Pascal Ackermann: When you sit around the table at a training camp or in the evening, it's just a completely different atmosphere when you have a few German speakers. There's also Mauro Schmid (a German-Swiss; editor's note) and a few Danes and Dutch who speak German. So, almost a third of the team is German-speaking, I would say.
TOUR: Your old sprint team has disbanded. But your long-standing training group in Vorarlberg lives on?
Pascal Ackermann: Yes, there are always a few less old people, but a few new ones join us. There are currently seven of us: The climbers Buchmann and Kämna, then Steinhauser, Emil Herzog, Niklas Märkl and me. Now the Herzog brother (European junior champion Karl Herzog; editor's note) has joined us, but he hasn't been around that often because he's still so young and still at school.
TOUR: So you also work as a talent promoter for German cycling during training ...
Pascal Ackermann: Yes, Karl is definitely a huge talent. I hope he doesn't get wasted. That's really important! We older players also keep an eye on our other youngsters. We have the experience, have already been through a lot and always try to give them a bit of input. It's not always easy because the boys have their own minds. So we definitely try to help.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
