Cycling
No pain no gain in professional road cycling for Anton Palzer
On the release of Anton Palzer: Breaking the Cycle, a film that charts his switch from ski mountaineering to road cycling, the German explains what it takes to become a success in a new sport.
Professional road cycling is a tough gig. The job description could read something like this: must be able to race for weeks on end at peak levels of performance, take on gruelling rides through rain, hail showers and burning heat, sometimes all on the same day, and ignore the discomfort of peeled skin, aching muscles and countless other side effects.
Most pro cyclists get used to such hardships through long years of apprenticeship at junior levels – but that’s not the case for Anton Palzer, who came to the sport through a much less conventional route.
In early 2021, the German athlete left a successful career as a professional ski-mountaineer and world-record-breaking trail runner for a hard-earned place in the German World Tour Team, BORA - hansgrohe. He joined the peloton being a runner-up world champion in ski-mountaineering, with his name in the record books for crossing the Watzmann in less than three hours.
A new documentary – Anton Palzer: Breaking the Cycle – which you can watch below, charts that journey in full, from his first meetings with BORA – hansgrohe as a novice to road cycling to making his debut on a three-week Grand Tour in the Vuelta a España in the August of 2021. Something thought impossible for many pro-cyclists, never mind someone new to the sport.
46 min
Anton Palzer: Breaking the Cycle
Anton Palzer believes he has what it takes to change sports from ski mountaineering to road cycling.
The new challenge that Palzer sets himself, to become a successful pro-cyclist, is not easy and has its ups and downs, as you'll see in the documentary. We caught up with Palzer earlier this year while he was training in Gran Canaria, Spain, for races later on in the season – get up to speed with his progress below.
My guiding principle is that if you work hard in life, you can do anything you put your mind to
Finishing a Grand Tour
It’s fair to say Palzer’s early experiences in the pro-cycling world were a real trial – but the results are already encouraging, and the 29-year-old has no regrets about the decision to follow his passion. Palzer debuted at the Tour of the Alps in April 2021 and went on to finish one of the three big Grand Tours – the Vuelta a España – after only five months of training.
“At the Vuelta, I was completely thrown in at the deep end,” he says with a grin. “I think the team wanted to see if I was really up for this journey. In ski-mountaineering, there are also races that last up to four days, but when you cycle a Grand Tour, you’re racing for 21 days straight. Twenty-one days is a long time. You race 100 hours, 3800 kilometres in three weeks. Some people don’t spend that much time cycling in their whole life.”
He pushed through to finish the race, but he didn’t get out completely unscathed. “Physically and mentally, I was at my limit,” he says. “I was so done afterwards.
"When I got hurt ski-mountaineering, I just had a break. But when you’re in a bike race that lasts for several days, you go on even if there’s no skin left on your thighs and butt."
Keeping hydrated is important
© Bettini Photo
Why did Palzer, a former ski-mountaineer champion, decide to switch paths then? Why push through a three-week-long race when he realistically has no chance of winning – when he already had a highly successful career in another sport?
What motivates Toni?
"I realised that ski-mountaineering had come to feel like a job, a profession to me, which it actually had been for eight years," he says. "But I believe that most of all, you need passion to be really successful long-term in professional sports.
“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. In the Algarve tour, I ranked 24th after five days. After a ski-mo race, I would come home with a victory – you can’t compare that,” he explains. “Now, I have to have faith in the process and believe in myself and that I can make it so that one day, other cyclists will be my ‘helpers.’"
"My guiding principle is that if you work hard in life, you can do anything you put your mind to."
Toni Palzer has big goals
© Mario Stiehl
That’s the mindset that secured his big wins in the world of ski-mountaineering and trail-running. But how does he transfer that mentality to weeks-long bike races? Races that – in terms of scale and effort – are on a whole new level.
The importance of pain endurance
He turns serious. “The worst thing you can do is think that one day is going to be easier or more relaxed than the other because if you do, it will escalate, and you’ll feel like it’s the worst day of your life. It’s extremely important that you tell yourself that every day is going to be extremely hard, and you need to be able to handle the pain.”
He smiles. “I know it sounds a little perverted, but to a certain degree, you have to enjoy the pain. Physically, all professional cyclists are equally strong – what makes the difference is pain tolerance and endurance.”
Only now as a professional cyclist do I realise how much my body can take and do
Toni Palzer pushing his limits on the 2nd stage of the Volta ao Algarve
© Sprint Cycling Agency
Is that the secret to success then? Is it really about how much pain you can handle?
What makes a pro?
“The pain is a reward. We’re all looking forward to the races. We like racing – it’s what we train for. We put in so much effort to bring our performance up to maximum level. You work hard, you make sacrifices in order to be really good on race day, and then the feeling of happiness hits you.”
Perhaps the key to pro cycling success doesn’t only lie in how much pain you can take, but in the ability to harness it, to channel it into something that generates a true feeling of satisfaction.
"The human body is extremely resilient," he says. "Only now, as a professional cyclist, do I realise how much my body can take and do. You do three races in one week, and on Sunday, you're totally done with your life. You think you've reached your limit, and then you go on to do a three-weeks-long Grand Tour. And that's why we do this: because of the feeling you get when pushing the limits."
The life of a professional athlete is like a roller coaster ride
Toni Palzer: keeping the pace against the wind
© Sprint Cycling Agency
Palzer kicked off the 2022 road cycling season with a 25th-place finish in general classification at the Volta ao Algarve in February and went on to do the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the Tour of the Alps in the following two months. He finished 51st in the Tour de Romandie general classification and raced the Tour de Suisse in June, followed by the Ethias-Tour de Wallonie and the Sazka Tour in the Czech Republic in the past two months.
Next up for Palzer is racing on home roads in the Dutchland Tour in late August. He continues to impress, and we’re curious what to expect from him as he continues his journey as a pro-cyclist.
"There's a lot to learn, and it takes time. Last year was extremely hard for me, so I took my time processing and reflecting on it," he says. "This year, after 10 race days, I noticed that I've made huge progress. The life of a professional athlete is like a roller coaster ride: it goes up and down. I'm not someone who rests on his laurels – I am striving for success. I've enjoyed being successful in my previous career, and I want to get there again."
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