Our GRAN FONDO national team: how we picked the squad
We’re always up for making things happen together with you, and legendary events like the Rari Racing Club have already given us plenty of practice. So, with the World Championships approaching, there was only one thing for it: we had to select our very own national squad. Every member earned their place with their own particular set of qualities.
Sören, the stylist
Rapha Amani jersey, matching bucket hat and a pair of dazzling Gobik shorts: Sören is living proof that style and speed absolutely belong together. Looking this good practically guarantees you a place in the squad.
Stefan, the exotic dude
Stefan turns up with a Quickpro ER that could easily blend into our current race bike test field on looks alone, while sitting in a completely different price league. The Chinese custom bike even does without paint entirely to save the last few grams. In the pro peloton, you’ll often see unpainted frames underneath team leaders. Is Stefan trying to tell us something?
Joshua, the diesel engine
Joshua is actually a triathlete. Translated into cycling speak, that means a big engine, a massive gear and absolutely no pulling off the front after 20 seconds. On the fast sections, he keeps the pace high and makes sure nobody simply rides away on the flat.
Doro and Dieter, heroes from Donaueschingen
As the only woman in the group, Doro repeatedly shows the rest of us how it’s done. She has also brought backup: Dieter from Donaueschingen, a town that could almost pass for the new capital of German cycling.
Johannes, the musician
Professional musician, climber and owner of a 2015 Cervélo S5. So Johannes doesn’t just blow the race apart on the climbs, he also takes the opportunity to show our current Soloist test bike who its daddy is.
Martin, the rookie who doesn’t want to be one
Martin rides in the group with such relaxed confidence that nobody gives it a second thought. Until, at some point, he casually mentions that this is his first ever proper group ride. Sorry, what?
Arthur, the French mountain goat
A trail runner by trade, but just as difficult to rein in on a bike. Arthur is always happy to set the pace and, as our resident Frenchman, brings the necessary dose of national pride to the public viewing too. When Paul Seixas starts cramping, pretty much the entire room suffers with him.
Christoph, the tactician
If Jens Voigt and Fabian Wegmann were commentating, they’d probably point out Christoph’s experience on the track straight away. Smooth pedalling, a steady line and eyes everywhere: he’s in charge of tactics. Between the Cycle Punk jersey and the Antifa sticker on his frame, Dieter leaves little doubt about where he stands on the notion that sport is apolitical. Needless to say, he’s our go-to man for team statements.
Simon, the motivator
When the legs start getting heavy and the mood threatens to turn into “Remco’s about to start thumping his handlebars”, Simon steps in. Permanent grin, relentlessly good mood and always another joke up his sleeve. He’s our mobile team morale department.
Tobi, the guide
Together with author Bene, Tobi takes on the role of capitaine de route. Not because either of them particularly needs to parade around with a captain’s armband, but because somebody has to keep this lot together. Everyone makes it back together. Job done.
Robin, the team manager
Robin bankrolls the team with passion and is already working on making his reports more successful than Patrick Lefevere’s columns. There’s just one key difference: he’s trying to do it without constantly laying into his own riders.
Henry, our team mascot
And what’s a good team without a mascot? Probably just as successful from a sporting perspective, but only half as cool. Which makes Henry completely indispensable.
Fast bikes, Ferrari, the World Championships? Sorry, but nobody comes close to Henry as the star attraction.
The all-round race bike world champion
While the World Championships are taking place in Canada, we’re running our own search for the best all-round race bike in the world. That gave our guests a little peek behind the scenes. Before the group test was even published, they got to inspect the bikes, get their hands on them and, of course, deliver their verdicts. The application process had already produced a clear favourite: the Specialized Tarmac drew the most interest. Once everyone saw the bikes in person, however, the balance shifted, and the Parapera stole the show.
And it’s hardly surprising: Campagnolo, Lightweight and luxury everywhere you look, all for the lowest price in the test field. Our readers quickly proved themselves to be genuine experts too. Doro is even planning to buy a Parapera in the future, so she’s soaking up every scrap of information. She’s probably waiting even more impatiently for our finished test than we are.
Stefan, meanwhile, remains relaxed. He’s already made up his mind about his own ER: Chinese-made luxury with performance to match, at a fraction of the price. Plenty to debate? Absolutely.
The ride: World Championship pace and gruppo compatto
The original plan was fairly harmless. A little over 120 kilometres through the valleys of the Black Forest, at an average pace of just under 28 km/h – relaxed and conversational, with coffee and cake along the way. A classic social ride, basically. Our national team had other ideas.
Apparently, everyone had taken their selection a little too seriously. Joshua started chewing through the kilometres like a proper rouleur, Arthur and Johannes turned up the pressure on the climbs, and suddenly our “easy spin” had become a remarkably consistent 35 km/h paceline.
The surprising bit? It worked. No frantic attacks, nobody getting dropped, no incidents. Instead, there were smooth turns on the front, good communication and a group that stayed compact even at high speed. Gruppo compatto, just as it should be. Stefan seemed particularly taken with the whole thing. Once he reached the front, he showed absolutely no interest in giving up his turn.
But we wouldn’t be GRAN FONDO if even our fastest rides went without coffee and cake. So, obviously, we stopped. We don’t have scientifically robust evidence to back this up, but the carbs and caffeine might just have had something to do with the pace staying high afterwards.
The only thing better than the harmony in the group was the weather: sunshine, 28 degrees and late-September conditions that felt more like the height of summer.
Good thing Simon had packed enough sun cream for the entire team. Because at the end of September, that’s definitely something absolutely everyone remembers to bring.
Carb loading and public viewing. Recovery doesn’t get much better than this!
Back at HQ, there was no time to waste. Bikes down, TV on. With around 130 kilometres still to go, the World Championship race was already in full swing. The debate had started before we’d even set off: Who’s the favourite? Who’s the outsider? When will the decisive attack come? And, most importantly, how many times will Remco Evenepoel thump his handlebars if the race doesn’t go to plan?
As it happens, we’d picked Brandon McNulty as a dark horse in our pre-race discussion. But with German, Swiss and French guests in the room, every attack immediately became a diplomatic issue anyway.
So when Mauro Schmid makes his move, almost everyone suddenly gets behind him. Swiss, German-speaking: the perfect compromise.
Add pizza, tired legs and twelve people who had been hammering through the Black Forest together just a few hours earlier, now commentating on every attack on screen as though they were sitting in the team car, and you’ve got about as much ciclismo as anyone could ask for.
To top it all off, we even had a genuine UAE team bike on site, just like the one McNulty rode to victory. The World Championships up close, even if we weren’t in Canada.
In the end, our World Championships weekend was never about who was strongest, whose bike cost the most or who cheered loudest at the public viewing. It was about what makes any great group ride: different people, different bikes and different strengths, all arriving at the finish together. And if that’s our national team, we’ll happily make the selections all over again next year.
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Words: Benedikt Ueberholz Photos: Robin Schmitt
