Above all, the great teammates often provided a good spirit, which also gave me a lot of motivation. But also the whole sports school system helped me to develop a strong self-motivation and to progress.

During my time in Cottbus, my favourite place to ride was Schleife – a small town in Saxony, a big name among those who know the Cottbus cycling scene. Since I’ve been back in Berlin, I like to go to Bad Saarow. But the most beautiful places for cycling for me are Mallorca and the area around Milwaukee, which I had the pleasure of getting to know two years ago as part of a race series.

It is a very big step. I’m leaving the whole environment and system in which I was trained (as one of the last active cyclists to go through all levels of the Brandenburg Pyramid sports school system). With the Pushbikers I also have international and differently positioned teammates for the first time. However, I am already familiar with Bavaria through my studies at the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences.

In my second U23 year Heiko Salzwedel joined LKT Team Brandenburg as a coach, under him I raced track for two years and finished fifth in the 1000 metre time trial at the German Championships. I also raced a few SixDays Nights and the UIV Cup twice in Rotterdam and Berlin. Overall, I think that some track training is also very helpful for road professionals.