anton palzer tour de france 2022

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Red Bull given green light to take control of Bora-Hansgrohe team

Energy drink to buy 51% of German WorldTour team’s management company

The Austrian anti-trust authorities have given the green light for Red Bull’s takeover of the Bora-Hansgrohe team, with full details of how the energy drink will transform the team due to be revealed later in the 2024 season. 

In a brief note published on Monday, the Austrian Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde (Federal Competition Authority) said no formal request to review the deal was lodged before the January 26 deadline, effectively giving the deal the green light. 

Early in January, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority records revealed that Red Bull GmbH, intends to make an ‘indirect acquisition of a controlling interest of 51% in RD pro cycling GmbH & Co KG and RD Beteiligungs GmbH.’

The two companies own and manage the Bora-Hansgrohe team and are owned or controlled by team manager Ralph Denk, his family and other partners.  

Red Bull wings could lift Bora-Hansgrohe to super-team status Winners and losers: How the 2023-2024 transfers will shape the men's WorldTour Red Bull partners with Bora-Hansgrohe to boost involvement in cycling Red Bull could have a 'major impact' on 2025 rider transfer market

"With today's decision, we have cleared an important hurdle. The foundations of our partnership with Red Bull are now officially in place. This is the green light we've been waiting for to go ahead with the formalities and many specific parts of the collaboration," Denk said in a brief statement from the Bora-Hansgrohe team.

"Everyone in cycling knows how important the basics and preparation are for success. So, we are now taking this step with the necessary consideration and resolution. We will present the further details of our partnership in the course of the season."

There have been reports that Red Bull will become the title sponsor of the team despite Bora and Hansgrohe recently extending their title sponsorship contracts until 2027. 

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Denk is expected to remain as team manager as part of the Red Bull agreement. 

Bora-Hansgrohe signed Primož Roglič from Jumbo-Visma for 2024, making them a true Tour de France. The team allowed Cian Uijtdebroeks to join rivals Visma-Lease a Bike after a contract dispute but their 2024 roster includes Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, Aleksandr Vlasov, Dani Martínez, Jai Hindley , Lennard Kämna and Bob Jungels. 

Many were surprised by Red Bull’s decision to move into team ownership. The energy drink brand has preferred to sponsor individual athletes such as Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Blanka Vas (SD Worx), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and most recently Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-Sram) but they also own a Formula 1 team and several European football teams.

However, the arrival of Red Bull is expected to have a 'major impact' on the rider transfer market for 2025, according to leading rider agent Alex Carera.

Red Bull made a profit of €1.56 billion ($1.64 billion) in 2022, and reports indicate that Oliver Mintzlaff, the managing director of sports sponsorship at Red Bull, expects the team will be strengthened and rebuilt for 2025 with the aim of winning the Tour de France. German news agency dpa suggested the Red Bull logo could appear on the team's jersey as soon as the 2024 Tour de France . 

"The arrival of Lidl as a title sponsor changed a lot for the 2024 rider market, raising team budgets, and so has the more recent arrival of Decathlon. The arrival of Red Bull will only raise the value of the biggest riders even more," Carer told Cyclingnews recently. 

Dpa suggested that Bora-Hansgrohe have already put out 'feelers' to investigate if Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel would be interested in joining the team. Both have contracts with Visma-Lease a Bike and Soudal-Quick Step until the end of 2026 but could have limited exit clauses in their contracts and so become targets for Red Bull, who usually target globally appealing riders.

Denk was cautious when speaking before the Austrian anti-trust authorities had approved the deal but hinted that Red Bull could be a game changer, especially if the One Cycling reform project to modernise the sport’s business model is confirmed.

"It could be a strategic and big partnership that will help us to grow and reach our goals," Denk said, indicating he is hopeful Red Bull's investment can help them become a superteam and so take on the likes of UAE Team Emirates.

"In the last few years cycling has changed a lot and Arabian countries have more influence. If you look at the budgets of the teams, the average grows and grows every year, so we have to react."

"My goal is to run a team that is really competitive. The arrival of Red Bull looks like it could be the next step forward for us."

"We have to wait and see the evolution of cycling. For sure Red Bull has shown that in some other sports, they can make the difference but it's far too early to talk about it," he said.

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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

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Anton Palzer on his ski mountaineering to cycling switch: "I want to tell my story"

The 30-year-old German, who only became a cyclist in 2021 after a successful ski mountaineering career, tells Olympics.com about his decision to switch sports and why he doesn't agree with comparisons to teammate Primoz Roglic, an ex-ski jumper.

"I go my own path, it's my own way. I'm telling the story of Anton."

As Anton Palzer sits down for this interview with Olympics.com before the start of the 2024 season, it's hard to fathom just how far the "story of Anton" has already come in three seasons.

See, the German wasn't always a road cyclist . In fact, he came to professional cycling very late, being aged 28 in April 2021 when he took part in his first race, the Tour of the Alps. Before that, he was a highly successful ski mountaineering athlete.

And yet, in his three full seasons as a cyclist – and one for a UCI World Tour team, at that – he has already competed in two Grand Tours as well as finished in the general classification top 10 of the Tour of Türkiye.

That has drawn some comparisons to his new Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Primoz Roglic , who was a world junior champion in ski jumping before making his own impressive transition into cycling.

It's a comparison Palzer, who turns 31 in March, can see, but doesn't agree with.

"For sure there are some explanations about the same way, maybe with Primoz Roglic, with Michael Woods, a few amazing cyclists who entered the sport after a different career, I guess a bit older. 

"But I want to tell my story. It's my journey."

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Why Anton Palzer switched sports at 28

By anyone's standards, Palzer, nicknamed 'Doni', was a top skimo athlete. "I won 15 World Cup races, I won six World Championships medals, I was on the overall World Cup podium," he shares.

But that repetition got Palzer down. "For me, it was a bit like 'The Truman Show' every year, the same. And first of all, I thought, okay, I do my own projects. I go to the big mountains of this world and set record times like on Mont Blanc or the Matterhorn in Swiss or the Himalayas, the real big mountains and stuff like this.

"Cycling was never on the plate. It was maybe a dream, but I knew, okay, I'm already 28 years old, there would be no chance to enter the highest level of cycling."

How wrong he was. At Bora-Hansgrohe, with a few contacts in the right places, Palzer was invited to do a few tests. As a skimo racer, he said, "cycling was always part of my training, but [not] 5000 to 6000km per season. Most of the time I was on road skis and spent a lot of time running; cycling was just a small part of my preparation for winter."

But he did enough to impress Bora boss Ralph Denk , who put an offer on the table. After mulling it over for a couple of months, Palzer signed.

"I grew up in a small mountain village 1100m above sea level in a small ski resort," Palzer explains of his love for the outdoors, which he now gets to experience in a different way.

"Climbing, skiing, hiking was always part of my daily business when I was a kid. My dad is an Alpine guide. It was always like an adventure to go to the mountains with him and to discover the mountains and to have a good time outside.

"The past years, I did it on skis and by foot, and now I try to do it as fast as possible with the bike. And the good thing is when I'm done with cycling, the mountains will be still there. So I can go back to skiing, I can go back to climbing, I can go back to hiking."

Steep learning curve in cycling

Despite the similarities – and his cycling training background for skimo – the transition was difficult and the learning curve was steep for Palzer, who even considered quitting.

"The first two years were pretty tough for me, and actually I was not sure if I would continue," he admits.

"Because it was 'Okay, now you are in the bunch in the world of cycling, do this.' And it was super hard for me because I never did a race before. Tour of the Alps in '21 was my first bike race, and if you have never ridden in a bunch of cyclists, it's really tough."

However, the German did enough in his debut season to earn a selection for Bora's Vuelta a España 2021 squad late that summer for his Grand Tour debut – and he made it to the finish line in Santiago de Compostela, placing 102nd.

After a 2022 which saw him gain more experience on tour, in 2023 Palzer took part in his second Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia , before his 10th-place GC finish in the Tour of Türkiye in October.

"Actually, I'm super proud of myself, because I continued," he reflects of his difficult start in cycling. "I said to myself: 'Okay, you have to give it a try, it's not possible to do it in one year or in two years.'

"I think now, the process is pretty good, especially last year there was some, some really, really good races from myself."

Reflections from Anton Palzer: "Sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone"

As Palzer prepares for his fourth season as a professional cyclist, he reflects on the remarkable turn of events that have changed his life since 2021 – especially knowing now that he could have become an Olympian in 2026, when skimo will be an additional sport at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

"I love cycling, and if I have the chance to continue as a cyclist, I will continue on that. I don't think about the Olympics and ski mountaineering.

"I would say when you get a chance at 28 to join about a World Tour team, one of the best teams in the world, it's for sure super special," the German acknowledges. 

"I think I'm the first one at this age and with really no experience. For me, [skimo] was like a super comfortable living. I had super good sponsors, I was in the military sport group in Germany, ski mountaineering became Olympic sport in 2026, so for me it would be like a good life.

"But I was not happy anymore with my life. And for me, the most important thing is to be happy. 

"I think you sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone to try something new, so that you will be happy again."

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From ice to tarmac: How ski mountaineer Anton Palzer is making the switch to road racing

Bora-hansgrohe rider is hoping to dominate the mountains on two wheels the same way he did with boots and skis in vuelta a españa debut..

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GANDIA, Spain (VN) — Anton Palzer rocked up to the start line at the Vuelta a España in this bustling beach town with beads of sweat trickling off his brow, and he couldn’t be happier.

The 28-year-old German is used to a more chilled atmosphere, as in snow, ice, and altitude.

The 90-degree-plus heat and a peloton of nearly 200 of the world’s best cyclists reveal just how far the former ski mountaineer has come in a very short time.

“Four months ago I was still a ski mountaineering athlete, and now I am riding in a grand tour,” Palzer told VeloNews . “It’s an adventure. Let’s see how it turns out.”

Also read : Bora-Hansgrohe signs Anton Palzer

Palzer might not be recognized in his road racing kit, but the wire-bound German is renowned within the world of ski mountaineering and mountain endurance running.

So much so, sports marketing behemoth Red Bull is one of his backers.

After a decade of lighting up the world of “SkiMo,” capped by a closet full of World Cup and world championship trophies, Palzer is pedaling into unknown terrain.

Before 2021, he’d never raced in a major international road race. Now he’s halfway through the Vuelta a España.

“So far, things are going pretty good,” Palzer told VeloNews . “It’s important to go step by step, and take the process as it comes to me.”

Palzer is used to climbing mountains, yet his transition from a snow-bound athlete to a professional cyclist could be his toughest challenge yet.

From mountain trails to paved roads

Palzer is the latest cross-discipline elite athlete trying to elbow his way into cycling.

Transferring skills from one sport into another is never easy. Having a huge engine helps — Palzer reportedly tested his VO 2 max at 92, according to reports in the German media — but it’s quite something else to handle the argy-bargy of racing flat-out at 50kph on open roads in a peloton of 185 riders.

Palzer’s left arm and knee were wrapped in bandages and gauze from a crash on oil-slick roads in a roundabout when VeloNews checked in with him a few days ago.

Keeping rubber down is essential to any pro, and Palzer is slowly learning the tricks of the trade.

“When you crash in ski mountaineering, you normally break a leg — now it’s only skin,” he said with a laugh. “For sure, it’s pretty painful. It’s all new for me. It’s completely OK. I think I will survive.”

Palzer’s mission in this Vuelta is to survive as long as he can. He rode in with the gruppetto in Sunday’s summit finish at Alto de Velefique, the hardest climb so far in the Vuelta.

The rest day will come at a good moment for his ongoing transition from ski mountain and mountain endurance runner to professional cyclist.

One mountain at a time.

“It’s not so easy for me. The fitness level is good, but in cycling, every day you need to pull, and there’s nothing in ski mountaineering that is similar,” Palzer said. “Normally we race two or three races in a weekend, now it’s the seventh stage and more days to come.”

Despite being one of the world’s best ski mountaineers — a unique discipline of climbing up mountains and then skiing down them — Palzer was ready for a new challenge.

At 28, he’d done all he could in the niche sport and was always drawn to cycling, though he never raced at any formal level.

He’s completely turned the page, and totally committed to this new challenge.

“For training, I will still do some ski mountaineering in the winter, but I will stop the competition, because I want to become a really good cyclist, and I need some time,” Palzer explained. “I have decided to completely focus on the bike, so we will see how long this project will take.”

https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1337022085475000320

Latest cross-over athlete trying their luck

Swapping out one sport for another is nothing new in cycling.

The peloton’s history is full of speed skaters, runners, Nordic skiers, and rowers who’ve transitioned from one discipline to another .

Eric Heiden and Connie Carpenter-Phinney moved from the ice rinks to roads in the 1970s and 1980s, just as Michael Woods swapped out running shoes as a middle-distance runner to racing cleats, and Primož Roglič leaped from ski-jumping to racing in today’s peloton.

Also read : They have the numbers, but do they have the skills?

Palzer’s move from ski mountaineering and trail running seems to be a first. After nine years as a pro ski mountaineer, he simply decided it was time for a change.

“I was tired of always doing the same, so I decided to try and see what can come in the future,” he said.

A scan at Palzer’s social media reveals he’s not shy from taking risks. A link on Red Bull reveals him running across a highly exposed ridge-line in the German Alps.

Yet the challenge of racing a bike is something completely different.

https://twitter.com/BORAhansgrohe/status/1428077003585032194

Contacts via his friend, Bora-Hansgrohe rider Lukas Pöstlberger, who linked him up with team coach Helmut Dollinger in 2020. That opened a door with conversations with team boss Ralph Denk, who invited Palzer to a team training camp a few years ago.

Palzer didn’t go then, but stayed in touch with Denk and began working with Dollinger. After some impressive testing numbers, Palzer watched in awe as German rider Emanuel Buchmann ride to fourth overall in the 2019 Tour de France.

The racing bug was firmly implanted.

“He’s a young guy like me, and I think the dream started there and it became big for me,” Palzer said of Buchmann. “It’s a dream that at first seems impossible. It was no option to go on a smaller team because I had sponsors in ski mountaineering. I got an offer from Ralph Denk because I had asked his coach if he could be my coach. Then he had to see if I could ride a bike.”

Therein lies the rub.

It’s one thing to post huge power numbers on a stationary bike in a lab, but quite something else to finish a race anywhere near the front of the bunch in something as grueling as the Vuelta a España.

The high-altitude endurance sport helped hone his fitness and natural-born motor. Now it’s about honing his bike-handling skills and racing acumen.

“The most challenging thing is at the start or the end to have a good position because we ride so close with really high speed,” Palzer said. “Sometimes it is super-stressful for me, but for sure, at my first bike races in April, it was hard. I went to the Tour de Suisse, it was super-hard. Now I am here, and it is getting better.”

Dreaming of climbing mountains on two wheels

At 5-foot-8 and 135lbs, Palzer certainly has the look of a pro racer.

One thing that stands out is his Red Bull-sponsored helmet, providing a telling clue that something is very different about Palzer than the typical first-year, grand tour rookie.

Born and raised in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden along the German/Austrian border, Palzer was one of the best in the world at skiing and running up icy, vertical faces of Europe’s biggest mountains.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anton Palzer (@antonpalzer)

Now he’s dreaming of racing up them on two wheels.

The ultimate goal? Reach the Tour de France, and perhaps translate his innate watts-producing engine into a successful bike-racing machine.

“Ski mountaineering is a winter sport, and you use different muscles,” he said.

Right now, he’s hoping to make it to Galicia for the final stages of the Vuelta. One step at a time.

“Crashing is part of the game. I also had crashes as a ski mountaineering athlete. I hope to survive these next few days,” he said. “The Vuelta is still hard for me, but it’s part of the process. I knew this project would not be easy. Step by step.”

Just like climbing a mountain.

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\"derailed by the doctor: rider fractures fibula in mix-up with volta a catalunya race medic\"}}\u0027>\n derailed by the doctor: rider fractures fibula in mix-up with volta a catalunya race medic\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"joe martin stage race canceled for 2024 in shock to us stage-race calendar","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/joe-martin-stage-race-cancelled-for-2024\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/joe-martin-stage-race-cancelled-for-2024\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"joe martin stage race canceled for 2024 in shock to us stage-race calendar\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/joe-martin-stage-race-cancelled-for-2024\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"joe martin stage race canceled for 2024 in shock to us stage-race calendar\"}}\u0027>\n joe martin stage race canceled for 2024 in shock to us stage-race calendar\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "}]' > >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>advertise >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>privacy policy >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>contact >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>careers >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>terms of use >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>site map >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>my newsletters manage cookie preferences privacy request healthy living.

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From ski mountaineering to professional cycling

After 12 years as a world class ski mountaineering and mountain running athlete, Toni Palzer followed his dreams: He put the skis aside to become a professional cyclist and joined the German UCI WorldTeam BORA - hansgrohe.

The chronology of a transformation

March 2021: Toni races his final ski mountaineering competition at the ISMF World Championship in Andorra - and seals the silver medal! An emotional and successful farewell from the world of ski mountaineering

April 2021: Only 4 weeks after taking a silver medal at the ski mountaineering worlds, Toni lines up at the Tour of the Alps - his first ever professional bike race.

September 2021: With only 6 months of experience as professional cyclist, Toni concludes his first ever Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España. A novelty in the world of cycling and an achievement he even convinced his critics. Definitely a baptism of fire!

With courage and hard work you can achieve anything in life!

Anton "Toni" Palzer

since April 2021 professional cyclist

until April 2021 professional ski mountaineering and mountain running athlete

Growing up at the foot of the Watzmann, the Berchtesgaden Alps are Toni's home and source of strength. Today, the steep mountain roads at Hochschwarzeck and Rossfeld serve as a perfect training ground and opposite pole to the travel-intense life as a professional cyclist. Before his career on two wheels, it was the ridges and sharp peaks of the Watzmann and Hochkalter massifs where Toni did most of his training and built the base for his successful career as a mountain running and ski mountaineering athlete.

Legendary: That day in early July 2020 when Toni set the record time of 02:47:08 h for the infamous Watzmann traverse.

antonpalzer

‘Lesson one, never give up’: Ski mountaineer turned cyclist Anton Palzer on stepping out of his comfort zone

A film released by Red Bull depicts the German rider's journey from ski champion to professional rider

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Sometimes in life, doors open on new possibilities which could lead to a whole new world of adventure and change. Something which on paper seems like a terrifying prospect could bring exciting new opportunites. 

The hardest part is always breaking the mould and taking a first leap into the unknown. This is exactly where Anton Palzer found himself the day he was offered a professional contract by Bora-Hansgrohe . 

Palzer, who speaks fluent English, clearly demonstrates his passion and commitment to his new sporting career and life as a cyclist. The 29-year-old told Cycling Weekly that the last year has taught him multiple life lessons. 

“Lesson one is never give up, especially when you start something new," he said. "It's always hard leaving your comfort zone I think and to leave behind the ‘normal’ things you do in your life. When you’re confident and when you’re bold in what you do it pays off. 

“Also just never stop pedalling, something I guess you can apply to everything in life. The Tour of the Alps and Suisse was super hard but I just pushed through and kept going. 

“Finally just stay patient with yourself, cycling is a strange world and there is so much to learn. If you take your time and don’t stress then it pays off.” 

Earlier this week, Palzer, in collaboration with Red Bull and Eurosport, released a 45 minute documentary called 'Breaking the Cycle' depicting his transformation from elite skier to top level professional cyclist. Just over a year into his journey, Palzer reflected back on his transformation and admitted that there were times he doubted his initial decision to take a leap of faith. 

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"It’s been super tough for me, I have to admit that I wasn’t sure after the first season if cycling was the right thing for me," he said.

Recognisable by his distinctive Red Bull helmet , also worn by the Belgian Wout Van Aert , Palzer arrived on the WorldTour in 2021 as a complete novice to the world of top level professional cycling. The 29-year-old German made his debut for Bora-Hansgrohe at last year’s Tour of the Alps on the back of a highly successful career in Ski-Mountaineering (Ski-Mo). 

Currently racing at the Deutschland Tour, Palzer explained that his new film has been met with great positivity. The 29-year-old admitted that he’s felt overwhelmed by the messages he’s received in response to the piece.

The German said: "After the premiere of the film on television I received so many positive comments and great feedback from all kinds of people.” He added: "So many people have written to me saying ‘Hey! What a cool story and you’ve really inspired us’, it’s always super motivating when you get comments like that.”

When initially taking the step into cycling, Palzer went straight from the ski season into the chaos of professional racing. The 29-year old explained that in the first season he rode around 50 races, which left him in pieces.

"At the end of that first season I was just f****d," he explained. "I’d never been that tired and it was clear it was going to take my body quite some time to adapt to this. The Tour of the Alps was just crazy and then I had the Vuelta.

“I learned so much in those three weeks on a Grand Tour. After a really good break last winter and a good start to this year I’d say I feel like a completely different rider and person to what I did back then.”

The ex-skier explained that there were times he was hanging on for dear life in the peloton. Working with his coaches, including Helmut Dollinger, and Bora-Hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk, enabled him to conquer his fear of crashing and keep moving forward. Palzer admitted that his transformation hasn’t gone unnoticed by other riders.

"A lot of other guys saw me riding last year and have come up to me and said how completely different I look," he concluded. "Last year I was always hanging on and in last position in the peloton regularly.

“So many guys from other teams have congratulated me and said how good it is to see. I’m super motivated to keep going now and see where this takes me.”

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Tom is a News and Features Writer at Cycling Weekly. Since joining the team he has reported from races and events across the world including the Tour de France and World Championships.

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German Swaps Ski Mountaineering For Road Cycling And First Grand Tour.

•   29  AUG  2022 

Anton Palzer earned a reputation as one of the best ski mountaineers in the world and accomplished mountain runner, but in 2021 he decided to swap them for road cycling with new Red Bull TV documentary, Breaking the Cycle, charting his incredible switch. Here is all you need to know:

German Palzer grew up in the mountains and wanted to climb them as quickly as possible, whether on foot or on his skis and the steeper the better as he went on to compete internationally.

In the new 45-minute documentary, Palzer looks back at moments when, aged 16, he was allowed to compete in the German Adult Championships with a special permit - and won by three minutes.

After three World Championship silver medals and one bronze in ski mountaineering, avid mountain biker Palzer decided to switch to two wheels but on the road instead with the BORA-hansgrohe team.

Road cycling takes athletes on gruelling rides through rain, hail and burning heat - sometimes on the same day - with the discomfort of peeled skin, aching muscles and countless other side effects.

Earlier this year, he said: "In ski-mountaineering, I took part in races to win them or to get good rankings. That has completely changed. I'm a 'helper' to the really good and successful cyclists."

The transformation from ski mountaineer to professional cyclist takes its course at the team meeting at Lake Tegernsee, where "Breaking the Cycle" shows exclusive behind-the-scenes footage as well as from his race premiere in the BORA-hansgrohe jersey in April 2021.

He approached World Tour level first with the Tour of the Alps, then June 2021's Tour de Suisse, where - wearing the bull helmet - he impresses fans and former time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara.

The 29-year-old revealed: "I want to tell the story of me and show everyone that anybody can achieve a lot in life if they are brave, fearless and work with determination. Especially during the scenes of my last World Cup race as a ski mountaineer, I had a few tears in my eyes."

Hugely passionate about his new profession, he made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España - one of the toughest global races - in the summer of 2021 and impressed his team with his rapid progression.

Any normal professional cyclist plans a five-year preparation period for the likes of the star-studded Vuelta, Tour de France and Giro d'Italia races, however Palzer shrunk that down to mere months.

The highlight of the documentary is the Vuelta over 21 stages and 3,417km when he triumphs over the heat and bad luck from Burgos in the first week all the way to Santiago de Compostela at the end.

He explained: "It was the 21 hardest days of my life. When you get through this tour, it takes you to another level athletically. The motivation was higher than the pain, maybe also the own health."

Team manager Ralph Denk added: "Toni is perhaps the only ski mountaineer who has moved into the World Tour without any detours. It was a certain risk for us, but in the end our joint success proves us right. As an absolute beginner as far as cycling is concerned, from the first race to the Vuelta in just five months, that's actually hard to put into words."

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Anton Palzer: Breaking the Cycle

Anton Palzer to star in a feature-long documentary following his journey from ski mountaineering to Grand Tour cyclist. Anton Palzer to star in a feature-long documentary following his journey from ski mountaineering to Grand Tour cyclist. Anton Palzer to star in a feature-long documentary following his journey from ski mountaineering to Grand Tour cyclist.

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• August 15, 2022 (United Kingdom)
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'Tears in my eyes' - Anton Palzer on new Warner Bros. Discovery Sports documentary 'Breaking the Cycle'

Updated 12/08/2022 at 10:42 GMT

Anton Palzer, a former ski mountaineer-turned-professional road cyclist with BORA-hansgrohe, spent some time talking with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports about the new documentary, “Breaking the Cycle”. Breaking The Cycle, produced in partnership with Red Bull Media House, is available to watch on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, including Eurosport and discovery+, from 20:00 on Monday 18 August.

Anton Palzer of BORA-hansgrohe

Image credit: Eurosport

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Did you notice the cameras when they were following you?

Was it like your first day at school when you met your team-mates for the first time, from the documentary it looked like the team were very, very welcoming. is that correct, how much have you enjoyed being part of the bora team, what do you enjoy the most about being a professional road cyclist, it sounds more like a family than a team, what has been your highlight so far since you transitioned to professional road cycling, were the team right to say that you would be a better rider after riding at la vuelta, if called upon, do you feel ready for la vuelta, what do you think the team can achieve at la vuelta this year, what are your future ambitions as a professional road cyclist what are your personal ambitions, is there anyone – past or present – who you have particularly looked up to in cycling, have you had any regrets at all since transitioning to road cycling and would you have done anything differently, do you miss a ski mountaineering, vingegaard storms to stage 5 victory at tirreno-adriatico, froome withdraws.

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Anton Palzer: "I didn't think it would be that difficult"

Filed Under: cycling news , road cycling Tagged With: Anton Palzer , Germany tour , Interview , News , Velomotion Interview

August 26, 2022 by Michael Behringer Leave a Comment

Cycling: In recent years, some career changers have come to road cycling. A very exciting one of them is Anton Palzer. The ski mountaineer is now in his second season for Bora – hansgrohe and is taking part in the Deutschland Tour for the first time. We were allowed to interview him before the start of the first stage.

[translated from Bavarian]

  Check out this post on Instagram   A post shared by Anton Palzer (@antonpalzer)

Toni, you can speak Bavarian because I'm from Bavaria too.

Anton Palzer: Yes Perfect. Then it's okay.

You are now driving your first tour of Germany. You wouldn't have expected that a few years ago?

Yes, it's really cool. I think being a German racer in a German team at Germany's biggest cycling race is very special. I am now looking forward to the next few days. Sure, that's not my home now, because I'm from Bavaria. But it's really cool. You could already tell at the prologue in Weimar yesterday that the mood here is really good.

How satisfied are you with your prologue?

Ah, yeah ... well, I haven't really made any plans there either. A bit of three kilometers flat … that's not what I'm really good at. I think the most important thing is that you just got through well. I think my time comes on the third day with the mountain finish at Schauinsland. In any case, we can be very satisfied with Nils Politt's third place.

Uphill was more your profession before your cycling career. How difficult was this career change for you in the end?

There were some difficulties. To be honest, I didn't think it would be that difficult. Ski mountaineering or running is something completely different from cycling. I really did my first bike race at the Tour of the Alps. Then I saw what it actually means to move in such a field of riders and that there is little point in driving up the mountain quickly if you drive into the mountain far behind. There were a lot of things I had to learn. And I'm definitely still in the learning phase. But step by step. It can't happen overnight.

Which of the two sports is more strenuous?

There won't be much of a difference. Ski mountaineering and running is definitely harder because you just have a shorter distance. That's why you run more intensively right from the start. Cycling becomes so exhausting because of all the trappings. It starts with the stage races, where you have to perform every day. We sit there on the saddle for five to six hours. And the transfers are often forgotten. The days are extremely long, but you get used to it over time.

  Check out this post on Instagram   A post shared by Red Bull Germany (@redbullgermany)

Were you initially trained differently than your teammates because you came into cycling with a different foundation?

No, it was actually the same training and I also think that was very important. I noticed after the Vuelta last year that I was pretty much on the limit. Physically I was just completely through. But in hindsight it was probably the right decision of the coaches to throw me in at the deep end. You have to imagine: Normally I cycled 6.000 to 7.000 kilometers a year because I had so many commitments while running. I've now clocked up over 20.000 kilometers. So the jump from my old limit to my current one is enormous, but that's what I achieved. This is the highest league and you simply have to invest a lot to find a connection.

What personal goals do you still have in cycling?

My big goal is to be able to ride the Giro one day. That would be important to me. Of course I want to get back on track. It's a situation that I don't think many people understand. It's not easy for me at all. I've been racing in races for years that I win. And I was a very successful athlete for many years. Now I'm an apprentice again. I started from scratch again. You have to deal with this situation first. Going to a race and not winning, but being at the service of your teammates. Of course, my goal is to be able to build on my successes again and achieve good results. I don't know if that will work. But that's what motivates me to get through this. So I can continue to work on my dream of cycling.

About Michael Behringer

Cycling with all its tactics, stage analyses, placements and forecasts are Michael Behringer's great passion. In 1996 he tracked his first Tour de France. Since then he has observed almost every race. His passion for cycling has been with him for over two decades. There is no end in sight.

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A change is as good as a rest? Not if you're super athlete Toni Palzer

Part of this story

Anton Palzer

A champion in ski mountaineering and mountain running, germany's anton 'toni' palzer has embraced a new challenge as a professional road cyclist..

Palzer enjoys the Alps however he gets up them

© Christopher Kelemen/Red Bull Content Pool

Toni Palzer runs into record books after sub 3-hour …

Is suffering fun ask the teams at red bull …, biking captured in the moment: red bull illume shots …, palzer took up cycling initially as a training aid.

If you don't leave your comfort zone, you can't move forward Anton Palzer

Time to get serious

Role at bora.

Palzer (right) with BORA-hansgrohe general manager, Ralph Denk

© BORA-hansgrohe

Anton Palzer training with with the BORA-hansgrohe team in Italy

© Christof Kreutzer

Power broker: Justin Williams

Meet the new generation of riders freshening up the …, debuting at the tour of the alps, success was to finish.

Palzer rides alongside his BORA-hansgrohe teammates at the Tour of the Alps

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