Selva di Val Gardena/South Tyrol: He sits in the breakfast room as if he were one of the holidaymakers about to set off on a hike in the surrounding Dolomite massifs. But a storm is raging inside him. For twenty years, Christoph Sauser (39) was one of the best in the sport of cycling. Tomorrow will be his last race. It's the Marathon World Championships. Sauser wants to say goodbye to retirement with a victory. It's just too bad that he broke two ribs in a crash a few days ago.
Wikipedia already lists you as an ex-professional. Tomorrow really is your last race. A strange feeling?
It's hard to say. I don't think I'll really be able to put my feelings into words until next week. At the moment, I'm far too focussed on the World Championship race to dwell on farewell emotions.
Can you remember the moment when you decided to quit?
It was a fluid process. I didn't have an epiphany or anything like that. What I knew one hundred per cent was that I didn't want to water down my career and let it peter out towards the end. My big dream is to finish with a world championship title. All or nothing. That's how my whole career has been. There are no shades of grey for me.
Did you feel the air getting thinner?
Yes, that too. The sport of marathon running has developed incredibly. When I became world champion for the first time in 2007, I didn't have to do much preparation. In the same year, for example, I also won the National Park Marathon - in 5:45 hours and with a seven-minute lead. Two years ago, under the same conditions, I ran 5:30 hours but only had a one-minute lead. To win today, you have to ride a quarter of an hour faster. The level has increased dramatically. I used to win races on the left. That's no longer possible today.
Are you afraid of following behind?
I honestly don't know which is the bigger driver. The fear of losing or the joy of winning. I can't answer that.
Why don't you describe the last hour of a marathon race?
It all depends. If it's about winning, then you can squeeze everything out of yourself. Your legs practically turn on their own. But if you're left behind, then your whole body is at the limit. Then everything hurts. Amateur riders normally divide their energy between them. With us pros, we ride at our maximum right from the start. Ready, steady, go. Either you're gone. Or you're at the front. An hour-long, brutal elimination race.
What's so great about it?
Pain passes. Success is forever.
Are there sometimes phases when you would rather be an office worker?
Oh yes, one hundred per cent! I've often thought that it really annoys me. It happens all the time that I want to be on the bike at 10 o'clock, but I can't do it until the afternoon because I just can't get myself together. Then I vacuum first or something. Just to have an excuse not to have to set off. But in the end, I always go through with the training. As soon as I'm on the bike, everything feels good. Then I go full throttle.
What is the best thing about being a professional mountain biker?
The emotions. There is hardly any other job where you get so much out of it for what you put in.
What are the negative sides?
You're often exhausted. In the evening, I often just want to sit on the couch and watch TV. Just don't move any more. You'd like to do this or that, but in the end you'd rather stay at home.
Doesn't sound very exciting.
On the surface, perhaps. In my 20 years as a professional, I've certainly experienced more than if I'd had a normal job. So many moments that you couldn't buy for any money in the world. Another great thing about bike sport is that a pole vaulter probably doesn't just go to the centre on Saturday after his career ends to do a bit of jumping. You can always do a bike lap. It's a sport that you stay rooted to forever.
You removed the cable stops on your bike to save a few grams. When you started racing in 1993, the World Cups were supposedly still wildly celebrated. Are you particularly dogged, or has the sport really changed so radically?
Twenty years ago, things were just as professional by the standards of the time. Today, there are just many more components that are being fine-tuned. Simply because the variety of technology is greater. The many different tyre rubber compounds alone. Well, there used to be a few wild boys who would smoke a quick weed before their downhill run. But that's long gone.
Do you eat cake when you feel like it?
Yes, but in moderation.
Do you calculate your calories with the help of nutrition apps?
No, I've never done that before. But okay, when it comes to sausage, then it's power to weight. Then I only eat protein and vegetables in the evening. Carbohydrates and dessert are then taboo. I often go training and only eat a bar on the way, as a kind of lunch. Then nothing at all in the evening. But you have to find a balance. There's no point in losing weight and then feeling flabby or perhaps getting ill.
What percentage of body fat do you have?
Four to five per cent.
Are you happy that you can give up self-control tomorrow?
I like being fit, that's not going to change. Of course I'll treat myself regularly. But I'm definitely not going to put on three or four kilos.
Roel Paulissen will also be at the start tomorrow. At the 2008 Marathon World Championships, he crashed during the dramatic final sprint and was awarded the title, even though he was the first to cross the finish line. He was later found guilty of doping. Do you worry about whether the competition is clean?
So far, I have never once thought that people were riding unfairly. Of course, there are always black sheep. Who can rule that out? But I really have the feeling that the sport has become clean. When I started, in the U23, I had huge doubts: Can I make it to the top of the world, clean? I didn't know. Then I came third in a World Cup race and thought: yes, I can. But at every World Cup there was a Chiotti, a Meirhaeghe, a van Dooren, all those guys. They were flying. Untouchable. We don't have that anymore. I'm so happy that I can tell the boys: You can do it, legally.
If the title had not been revoked, you would have been double world champion in 2008, champion in cross country and in the marathon. Was that the darkest day of your career?
At least one of the darkest moments. Sure, it would be cool to be a five-time world champion. Maybe it will happen tomorrow. I don't think much about the Paulissen crash. But I do from time to time. The Olympics in Athens were worse for me. I fought my way back to the top after a crash. I thought, great, now I can win. And then the chain broke. Then the Olympics in Beijing. Shortly before that, I cut my knee open in a fall, which caused an infection in the joint. I took antibiotics and had a splint on my knee. I felt really bad. But I was still on course for bronze. I really wanted that medal. And then Nino Schurter sprinted past me shortly before the finish. So I actually had three black days in my career.
It is said that you deliberately put yourself under pressure before races in order to be able to call up your full performance. Do you sometimes dream of Alban Lakata or Jaroslav Kulhavy?
No, I don't dream about Alban or Jaroslav. It's enough for me to see their legs at the start. (laughs) I need the pressure to be fully focussed. You know you're in good shape. But nobody can say whether they have those three or five per cent to win the race. Everyone has their daily fluctuations.
The shock must have been all the greater when you broke two ribs a fortnight ago. It was a little carelessness while rolling along a cycle path.
Yes, something like that really sucks. You have a plan. It's one hundred per cent right. And then you lie there and almost throw up from the pain. Because of a second of inattention. I knew my ribs were broken. It cracked disgustingly as soon as I moved. My leg also turned blue, it was full of blood. I was in hospital for 16 hours. I was supposed to stay there. The doctor said that I couldn't do anything for three weeks. That's what I told myself: all or nothing. I wanted to show my ribs. I wanted to prove that I could ride. On the Monday after the crash, I got back on my bike for the first time and everything hurt like hell. I started the Four Peaks on Thursday. There were only nine days left until the World Championships.
Would you say you're crazy?
I would rather say: I'm a tough dog when it comes to pain.
What is your tactic for tomorrow (June 2015)?
I don't have one. The World Championships is the only race in which I ride without a heart rate monitor and bike computer. I'll be going full throttle from the start. Five hours of tunnel vision. There's no other way. If you want to become world champion, you can't take any notice of what's going on around you.
The next day (June 2015): When the front group around Alban Lakata reaches the first pass, things don't look good for Sauser. He has to let go. But he fights back. In the end, he has a spectacular duel with Leonardo Paez for silver. Sauser wins the duel. But Alban Lakata becomes world champion.
INFO Christoph Sauser
He won gold three times at a marathon world championship and also wore the rainbow jersey of the cross-country riders. The Swiss Christoph Sauser is one of the most successful bike pros ever. In future, he wants to work for Specialized.
All news on his website: christophsauser.com
