The 2013 and 2014 Transalp winner is currently enjoying his second training camp of the year in Gran Canaria. "In the beginning, ten years ago, it was all just fun. But I always tried to develop myself further. I bought my own bikes, tinkered with them and tuned them. Then I got better, there were free bikes and clothes. At some point I got money and now I can make a good living from it."
What does that mean, living well? Kaufmann doesn't want to give exact figures. He earns "a reasonable five-figure sum", is how he describes it. He would never have expected so much money a few years ago. "Of course you dream, but I've always just focussed on my performance. Money was never the driving force. And I think that's the case for all bikers. You do this sport out of passion and not to get rich," says Kaufmann, picking the last crumbs off his plate. Hourly world record holder Matthias Brändle, who is also sitting at the table, pats Kaufmann on the shoulder with a grin: "There's a lot of money here, in road racing."
Of course, Kaufmann has known this for a long time. Road professionals in the Pro Tour league earn around 50,000 euros a year. The top salaries are sometimes in the seven-figure range. In mountain biking, 50000 euros is already one of the top earners. Nobody needs to think about salaries in the millions there.
Kaufmann doesn't just live from the sport of cycling, he also rides on two tracks. The 33-year-old works for the company Lightweight. "After the successes of the last two years, things suddenly took off. Big teams wanted me. My team boss Richard Dämpfle said: "Now we have to pay for the good 2014 season. But who knows what 2015 will be like? One crash and you're out. I need the security, and the day-to-day work at Lightweight forces me to be disciplined and consistent," he says, pushing himself out of the restaurant chair. Another twenty kilometres to the holiday flat in Maspalomas.
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