BIKE: I now know your mailbox text by heart. Busy?
Jürgen Sprich: a, I've only been in the office for five minutes. I only got back home last night. I was in Hamburg on business. Now I'm dog-tired.
Professionally, you have remained true to cycling.
Yes, after I retired I founded my own sales company for Schwinn together with my former team colleague Jürgen Eckmann. We sold it to Pearl Izumi at the end of 2003. Since that year, we've both been on their payroll. Jürgen is going to America at the end of the year as Vice President for Pearl Izumi. I manage the European region.
Do you benefit from your experience as a professional in your job?
Definitely! I know professional sport and the industry. I've always done things that allowed me to think outside the box. For example, working for BIKE. I remember Uli Stanciu talking about his idea of a BIKE magazine at a race in Kaprun. We were at the first conference, when the magazine basically didn't even exist yet. We thought about how to set up good tests, loaded 20 bikes into the van and drove to Lake Garda. Back then, Uli had the vision that Lake Garda would one day become the Mecca of mountain biking. It was crazy, I couldn't have imagined it back then.
When you rode your first race in 1986, the sport was still in its infancy.
Yes, I even borrowed the bike from a club colleague. The World Cup races used to be a combination of cross country and downhill. I rode the first one with a rigid fork. The second with a Marzocchi fork. I wore ski goggles because every time I dived in, the oil splashed into my face. I actually didn't want to ride downhill at all, but at the age of 22 I developed hay fever. As a result, cross-country became too much of a strain on my lungs in summer.
How has the MTB scene changed in your eyes?
Back then, it was the pioneering era. And I'm happy that I was able to experience that time and that I'm not racing today. The best thing was the get-together parties after the World Cup races. We sat together at a table, chatted and had a drink. You didn't just see each other on the track. It was just a bit more relaxed back then. In the last season that I raced, you could tell that the courses had changed. There were a lot of jumps and heavy crashes. Together with my hay fever, that was a clear sign and confirmed my decision to call it a day.
Jürgen Eckmann and you were an inseparable team. You were like a member of the Eckmann family.
Well, he's married to my sister and I'm married to his niece. If time permits, we also cycle together.
Do you also run marathons?
No, I cycle regularly with friends. I got into running through Pearl Izumi and ran a marathon for the first time this year. I had just two weeks to prepare and couldn't move for two to three days afterwards.
