Velomotion Team

Marcus Degen – Managing Director

Marcus Degen is the managing director of Velomotion GmbH. In 2013 he founded Velomotion.de. Before that, he was editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazines Procycling, World of MTB, Fahrrad News and the official program of the Tour de France for ten years. He sees himself as an ambassador for the Lower Bavaria region and the Bavarian Forest as the perfect cycling region for everyone - whether racing bike, mountain bike or family tour - whether e-bike or classic. He studied physics at the LMU Munich and engineering at the HM Munich. Even as a schoolboy he was active in cycling and later as a triathlete, successfully finishing several Ironman races.

Lorena Weinberger – Team Assistant

Lorena Weinberger has been part of the Velomotion team since 2018. Before that, she worked as an industrial clerk in the human resources department. At Velomotion, she not only keeps a good mood but also ensures that the back office runs smoothly and takes care of the organization and coordination in administration. When Lorena is not on the soccer field in her free time, she likes to ride her e-MTB.

Michael Gaetjens – Head of Sales & Marketing

Michael Gätjens has been responsible for sales and marketing at Velomotion since 2017. During his carpentry training in Hamburg, he founded a trading company in 1997 with a focus on sound recordings. His experience in the trade and international trade led to the expansion of his field of activity into management consulting in 2008. With his extensive expertise, Michael brings valuable perspectives to our team and ensures that Velomotion is always optimally represented on the market.

Christian Ettl – Brand Manager

Christian Ettl is a master bicycle mechanic and media designer. He was editor-in-chief of Fahrrad News. His heart beats for complex technical issues related to bicycles. He prefers to go on day tours on the gravel grinder or enjoy good descents, also in the bike park.

Michael Faiß – Editor-in-Chief Video

After studying English and history, Michael Faiß decided to turn his cycling hobby into a career. First as a translator for the magazine Procycling and the Degen Mediahouse, later as an editor for Velomotion. He has been based here professionally for over ten years now and is mainly dedicated to the field of e-bike drives and e-mountain bikes. He also manages the YouTube channel and is a photographer on the trails, roads and cycle paths all over Europe.

Daniel Greil – Project Manager

As a project manager, Daniel is mainly responsible for organizing the test reports. After completing his master's degree in business administration at the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences, Daniel worked for several years as deputy managing director at an Intersport retailer. In his free time, he loves to ride his e-MTB or gravel bike in the Bavarian Forest. A perfect combination of work and hobby - the licensed tennis teacher and DSV ski instructor brings his broad sports knowledge and enthusiasm for sports and technology to the table every day to provide exciting content for our magazine.

Caspar Gebel – Editor

Caspar Gebel has always loved cycling and was enthusiastic about the technology and aesthetics of racing bikes from an early age. After studying English, he wrote for BikeFitness and Procycling, among others, and published two books. In autumn and winter, he pursues his sporting ambitions on his cross-country bike; for Velomotion, he works on gravel topics and everything to do with e-bikes, everyday bikes and children's bikes.

Florian Nowak – Editor

Florian Nowak is a professional cyclist at the EuropeTour level and has competed in many international races. At the German championship in 2017, he was the best non-WorldTour professional in 7th place and was therefore able to recommend himself for the Tour de L'Avenir and the World Championships. But he doesn't just feel comfortable on the racing bike, he's also always drawn to off-road terrain. In addition to sport, he works on his second mainstay and has completed his business administration studies at the LMU Munich.

Michael Behringer – Editor-in-Chief Cycling

Michael Behringer has been following professional cycling closely since 1996. At the time, he was eight years old and his favorite sport was still facing its biggest scandals. Nevertheless, the Bavarian who has chosen to live in Berlin could not and did not want to turn away from it. On the contrary: he has been reporting on all the major cycling races for Velomotion since 2016. He finds the tactical aspect particularly interesting: "Every race is like a gripping feature film with ups and downs. Since the teams all pursue their own, not always immediately visible strategy, there are constant twists and turns. If the viewer can recognize this, cycling will captivate them."

Michael Wahl – test editor 

Michael works full-time as a development engineer in the automotive industry. In his free time, the Saarland native loves to ride his organic mountain bike on challenging trails. If time is short, he likes to grab an e-bike for maximum downhill fun. In everyday life, he likes to leave the car at home and ride his road bike. Whether it's a bike park or an Alpine cross, he leaves nothing to chance when choosing his equipment. Michael works for us as a test editor at Velomotion.

Lothar Hartmann – System Architect

With over 35 years of experience in banking, insurance, automotive, renewable energies and global IT projects. Expertise in system/network architecture, IT security, software development, quality assurance and virtual reality. Former senior international project manager for large corporations. Developed the global IT infrastructure for ITER at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in collaboration with CERN and NASA and was one of the pioneers of the WWW. Led major IT initiatives at IBM and built supercomputers, cloud and data centers. In his free time, an enthusiastic mountain biker and skier.

Elena Afaneseva – Content Creator

Elena works as a content creator at Velomotion. Her tasks include recording videos and photos and editing them. Her other activities include creating GIF animated banners and illustrations. She enjoys the varied tasks and is always looking forward to new challenges. Elena studied cinema/photo/video art for 5 years at the Institute for Art and Culture. Before Velomotion, she worked independently in photography and videography. She enjoys cycling along the Isar with her Bergamont bike and loves hiking in the Bavarian Forest.

Liza Hliebova – Social Media Manager

Liza works as a content creator and social media manager at Velomotion. Her job is to run our Instagram page, set the order of posts, create stories and shoot reels. She loves shooting and editing videos and choosing music that fits the mood and product. She graduated from a linguistics university and then worked as an English and German teacher. After moving to Germany, she decided to do a second degree at the THD in media technology. In her free time, she enjoys going for walks, spending time with her loved ones and traveling.

Andre Hellermann – Workshop Manager

Andre Hellermann has been a permanent fixture in the Velomotion team for many years. After studying materials science at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, he worked independently in the automotive industry for 16 years. As workshop manager at Velomotion, he takes care of repairs and servicing the test bikes and provides technical support for our photo shoots. With his many years of experience in the Geißkopf and Schladming bike parks, Andre is always up to date with the latest bicycle technology. In his free time, he loves to ride his trail bike in beautiful Schladming.

Sven Unruh – Test workshop

Sven Unruh is our competent workshop employee at Velomotion and is responsible for the provision and service of the test bikes. After studying process-integrated environmental protection at the University of Applied Sciences in Jena and training as a carpenter, he worked at the Geißkopf bike park, where his responsibilities included track construction. As a former shop manager at the Schladming bike park, he has turned his passion into his profession. Sven is fascinated by everything that rolls on wheels and, in addition to enduro and downhill, also enjoys riding gravel bikes.

Matthias Hudler – Test workshop

Matthias Hudler is a jack of all trades and an indispensable part of our team at Velomotion. Born in Munich and now living in the Bavarian Forest, he brings a wide range of experience with him. As a trained retail merchant, he worked as an independent service provider for 14 years and has proven himself to be an all-rounder in the areas of warehousing, logistics and sales. Matthias loves riding gravel bikes and e-MTBs and brings this passion to his work to ensure the best service at all times.

Andreas Waldera – Editor

Andreas has been part of the Velomotion team since 2014. With his roots in BMX and downhill, he can't get enough of rough biking. In addition to Velomotion, Andreas is also an editor for Fraktur magazine, which he has been running since 2000. But his skills go far beyond writing. Among other things, he played a key role in designing the new Hochberg trail in the Eifel community of Pronsfeld. The beautiful Eifel region is a favorite of the Lower Rhine native. After working as a software developer, he moved to the wild and romantic border triangle of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg many years ago.