MTB News / Interview: Bulls team rider Simon Stiebjahn has had an eventful season with many ups and downs. However, the overall conclusion is extremely positive with the fourth Bundesliga title in a row and two medals at the German championship. In the interview he also talks about dealing with setbacks, his career and his training group with Jasha Sütterlin, Johannes Fröhlinger and Simon Geschke.
V: At the beginning, quite spontaneously: What was your big highlight this season?
S: That was clearly the German championship weekend in Bad Salzdetfurth. Gold in the Eliminator Sprint on Friday and then of course the silver medal in Cross Country on Sunday, where I had never won a medal before. The weekend as a whole was the absolute highlight of this year for me.
V: But not the only success – things went really well for you this year.
S: You could say that. Of course, I was also very happy to win the fourth Bundesliga title in a row, especially because this is where success is achieved over the course of the entire season. But victories like at the Bike Festival in Willingen in the mud and dirt are also great.
V: Where there are highs, there are always lows – what was the big disappointment of 2017?
S: That was the Cape Epic right at the beginning of the season. The course and result were simply not satisfactory and, to be honest, it also eroded my self-confidence. If I had known then that it would be such a great season at the end, I might have digested it a little better. But you don't have to beat around the bush, it was very disappointing, also for the whole team. We just couldn't show what we had set out to do and what we are capable of. Of course, you also quarrel a little, because in our case we had bad luck with breakdowns and falls at the absolute wrong time.
V: Sure, the disappointment is huge with how things went, also because you had counted on a lot. Do you still take something positive from the race?
S: We've come even closer together as a team than we already have. Also to ask the question afterwards during the analysis: 'Why didn't it work?' Then everyone brings their personal point of view and you have to draw the right conclusions. I think that helped me to have such a great season afterwards.
V: It wasn’t just for you personally that things went very well at the beginning after the setback – the team also had a great season.
S: Right! Karl won bronze at the Marathon EM and Urs won the incredibly tough MB Race, for example. We were also happy about a double victory at the Bike Festival in Willingen. At the Bike Transalp, both of our teams were able to place in the top 10 and Niklas Schehl finished third in his first U23 season in the Bundesliga. Overall a really good season.
V: That somehow sounds almost too easy. From time to time you're bound to get frustrated too. What's your panacea against that?
S: Sure! If I'm really angry after such an experience, I either get on my bike out of defiance and really step on the gas, or I leave the bike in the corner and do other training. Jogging, swimming, in winter I also like cross-country skiing. The other sports also help me to add some variety to my everyday training.
V: You are also an extremely versatile rider on the bike. Marathon, XC, Sprint, all successfully. Are you thinking about specializing in a discipline and then maybe ending up even further?
S: I've always been on the road in a variety of ways. This year was of course the crowning glory with the various medals. The funny thing is that I was actually fully focused on the marathon in preparation. The fact that things went so well in the sprint, for example, even though I hardly do any intervals in training, blew me away. Maybe it's the serenity, because I don't put any pressure on myself. I just go into the competition totally uninhibited and see what comes out. But experience helps me.
V: You address it yourself. You're only 27, but by now you could almost be counted among the old hands... what does your career look like so far in fast motion?
S: It all started 1999That's where I started with road cycling. In 2003, I switched to mountain biking and steadily improved. When I came from road cycling, I was naturally one of the weakest riders technically, and I always had the incentive to catch up with the best. This ambition has been a constant throughout my career ever since. I always want to try to keep up with the best.
V: Then came the change to Team Bulls 2009 right on cue for you?
S: You could say that. With Karl (Platt) and Stefan (Sahm) there were two people in the team I could look up to. Thomas (Dietsch) and Tim (Böhme) joined in 2009. I always had someone on the team who could give me valuable tips and advice.
2010 and 2011 were two difficult years. It didn't work out for me at all. I was at the crossroads of my career.
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V: How did you turn the corner?
S: I completely changed my attitude towards sports. There was a key experience at the World Cup in Nove Mesto when I was sitting with the coach at the time, Frank Brückner. It got pretty loud and he made it clear to me that I wouldn't have a future with my attitude in professional sports.
I then went into myself and questioned a lot. I even spent a week in a monastery in France to find the peace I needed. In a short time I lost 7kg - the weight had been one of my problems - and suddenly it worked.
V: So that was the often-cited decision in your career?
S: Exactly. 2012 was a great year and I became U23 European Champion in the marathon. In 2013 the first medal in the marathon was added, in 2014 a podium finish at the Cape Epic. I am also incredibly grateful to the team for allowing me to go through this learning process and giving me the time to do so. I am still grateful to him for the clear words of my coach. That's exactly what I needed at the time.
V: In the present – what does a typical training day look like for you?
S: I don't really have a typical training day. In addition to professional sport, I do a few things on the side that take up my attention and my time. I'm organizing the MTB national league race in Neustadt with a friend, Markus Bauer. Since this year I've also been working now and then for Sauser Event GmbH, which organizes the Rothaus Riderman, among other things, and I'm also studying at the same time. So although I have a structured daily routine, I just have to remain flexible in order to get everything under one roof.
V: Isn't it exhausting to dance at so many weddings?
S: On the contrary! For example, I was in the German army in 2011 and from the first to the last minute of the day the only thing on the program was sport. I had sport on my mind when I woke up and fell asleep with it in the evening. The year also clearly showed me that this would not be for me in the long run. I like the variety. That's why I started studying international management in 2012.
V: But you're not just studying because you need a little more variety in everyday life, right?
S: (laughs) No, of course not. But even then it was important to me to have something else besides sport that accompanies me. Especially when things aren't going that way. But of course, thoughts of the famous career after the career also play a role. Let's hope not, but one stupid fall and my pro career is over. It's reassuring to be able to make provisions for such eventualities or the time after your professional career and to have something in hand.
V: Speaking of your career – have you never considered going back to the streets? After all, that's where it all started for you.
S: In the past I didn't think about it at all, but in the last few years I've had a few thoughts. But I always come back to the same point: what I find so appealing about mountain biking is the responsibility that everyone bears for themselves. That doesn't mean that I'm not a team player, but I can drive on my own account, but I also have to take responsibility if things don't go well.
V: But you still follow road cycling yourself?
S: Sure! I was also a spectator at the Tour de France this year and I still have a lot of contacts with current professionals. Especially the Freiburg training group with Simon Geschke, Johannes Fröhlinger and Jasha Sütterlin. I was in the army with Jasha and we were roommates. I still love to follow what's going on when I find time.
V: How do you see the development in XC / Marathon in general? The routes are getting shorter and more and more demanding.
S: It's an exciting and really interesting time in which a lot is changing, in the race formats and the routes themselves. That makes it exciting for us athletes too. For example, there are now significantly more stage races than there were a few years ago, which I personally think is great. The courses themselves have also changed, especially in the World Cup. Technically more demanding and much more spectacular, but I think you have to slowly step on the brakes here. On the one hand, I like natural routes and don't need five artificial stone fields per lap. On the other hand, the risk of injury continues to increase. When it comes to race formats, the trend is towards shorter overall lengths, which we also picked up on in our Bundesliga race in Neustadt.
V: What is the concept for your race then?
S: We got together in the organizational team and thought about how we could make the sport more interesting for the spectators. We then subordinated many things to this goal. In the end we had a much shorter race time of under an hour. This makes the outcome more unpredictable and the action more entertaining for the viewers. So we decided not to have a higher UCI ranking. That was really well received by the spectators and the athletes alike.
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V: You are a true Black Forester and you still live there. But that's a tough lot, especially in winter. Doesn't it pull you into the warmth from time to time?
S: The temptation to go to Freiburg, for example, is obvious. That's still not too far away and it's already much warmer in autumn and winter. But for me it was like this my whole life: no matter where I was, no matter how nice the weather was there, I was always happy to be home. I have everything I need here, I've built up a network and an environment that supports me and gives me great training. I have everything on my doorstep. If it doesn't work at all in winter, then I just go cross-country skiing.
V: Then I'll keep my fingers crossed that the Black Forest winter won't be too harsh this year! Thank you for your time!
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