īuhring was the only woman to participate in the inaugural Transcontinental Race from London to Istanbul in 2013, finishing in 9th place overall. In December 2012, she set the first Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike, riding over 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) in a total time of 152 days (144 actual days in the saddle). They’ve won people’s hearts by being strong but, above all, by not being the focus of any doubt.Juliana Buhring (born 2 June 1981) is a British-German ultra-endurance cyclist and writer. “Kittel, Greipel, Degenkolb, and Tony Martin are very popular athletes in Germany. “In recent years, German riders have shone on the Tour’s roads,” Mustroph says. The transmission of knowledge was a core principle in all of the clubs within a country that was more inspired by cycling and the famous Peace Race than it was by European football. Greipel was a typical product of East German cycling during a period when young people benefited from the experience of veterans. There he learned his trade from Jens Heppner and Enrico Poitschke, now sport director at Bora-Hansgrohe. The “Rostock Gorilla” began his career with Team Wiesenhof, another team from the East. The oldest of all the current German riders, he will celebrate his 35th birthday on July 16. The best example of East German tradition in the contemporary peloton is Greipel. “His position could have been filled by any one of the dozens of racers who emerged in the East before him.” “With his six consecutive green jerseys won between 1996 to 2001 and his 12 stage victories, Erik Zabel is obviously an example,” Mustroph says. Countless others before him, and even many of his contemporaries, could only dream of doing so. He was only able to turn professional and experience the Tour de France at the end of his career. Olaf Ludwig, for example, was a great sprinter and winner of the green jersey in 1990. Their stories remind us of the excellence of East German riders, who were confined behind a wall, and to an amateur career, for 40 years. Erik Zabel, six times the Tour’s green jersey winner, hails from East Berlin. While Kittel hails from Arnstadt, in what was once East Germany, Degenkolb comes from the neighboring town of Gera and Greipel is from Rostock. “They learn about cycling by racing on the flats and winning sprints, not by climbing hills.” “German cyclists start young in races that are quite easy,” Mustroph says. He won the European under-23 title in 2009 and finished third at the world championship in the same category in 2010. Now 29 and with nine Tour stage wins to his credit, the rider who has become almost unbeatable when he’s on form initially gained renown as a time trialist. That description fits well with the career trajectory of Kittel. “They’ve very much got the build for sprinting, even though most youngsters are brought through to be time trial specialists.” “They could be described as a spontaneous generation,” says Tom Mustroph, a journalist at Neues Deutschland. Today, however, Germany is better known for its sprinting prowess. Traditionally they’ve shone in time trials, as exemplified by four-time world TT champion Tony Martin and previously by Dietrich Thurau and Jan Ullrich. If we add in John Degenkolb, who has yet to win at the Tour but has claimed victory in five major classics, including Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix in 2015, German riders are back to a place at the front of the peloton. Along with Tony Martin (five stage victories) and André Greipel (11 stage victories), Kittel is a symbol of German cycling at its peak. He was proud to see the work of this new generation had been rewarded. When Tour organizer ASO announced that the Tour would be heading to Düsseldorf, Marcel Kittel immediately spoke up. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
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