Medical report: A fitness check with XCO rising star Paul Schehl

Paul Schehl (22), who now lives in Freiburg, is regarded as a rising star in the Cross-Country World Cup. Next season, the 2022 Junior World Champion will be competing in his first year in the elite category. Paul rides for the Lexware Mountain Bike Team and was born near Schwäbisch Hall. He has been living in Freiburg since 2022 and trains at the Olympic training centre.

Paul is 1.84 metres tall and weighs 72 kilos.

Next year, Paul will be racing in the elite category, but for now it’s the off-season. “It’s okay to have more than just a beer now and then,” says Paul. When we spoke, he was out and about in Italy with some mates – not to cycle, but to go fishing.

Paul’s goal for next season? To rack up points for the 2028 Olympics.

Interview with Paul Schehl from the Lexware Mountain Bike Team

​You had a fall at the last World Cup event in Lake Placid – what happened?

That was a bit of a blunder. A stone drop near the home straight. I was going too fast; I’d forgotten to slow down and press the front wheel into the landing. A counter-slope, a crash – and in an instant I was thrown over the handlebars onto my side. Nothing’s actually broken, but I felt pretty knackered for a few days afterwards.

I’ve never really broken anything serious. Well, a rib – but that hardly counts, really. And so far, I’ve always come through falls quite unscathed.

Tell me about the rib.

That was in Les Gets. After the course training, we rode down a black downhill run – not a particularly good idea, as it turned out. A thick carpet of roots, far too fast, crash. Immediately afterwards, it was actually still okay. It hurt when I lay down and tensed my abdominal muscles – but it was bearable. Two weeks later, I made a strange movement whilst closing the car door, and there was a crack and a crunch. From that moment on, it was really bad. Pain when breathing, barely able to walk – it was absolutely awful. It lasted a total of six weeks.

And what about the coup in Brazil?

It happened at the first XCO World Cup of the season. Right at the start, I flew off the pedal, somersaulted and landed first on my head, then my back. I had a massive bruise on my bum – it was so swollen that it was pressing on my nerves and I completely lost my range of movement. No cycling for two and a half weeks. That was probably my worst crash to date.

You also have problems with your cervical spine.

Yes, I’ve always been like that. I was quite a scatterbrain as a child. Double somersaults on the trampoline and things like that – and they often went wrong. I often ended up on my head. Ever since then, I’ve been prone to whiplash. My muscles just overreact. If I lie down the wrong way at night – on my stomach, with my head turned 90 degrees – I wake up in the morning and can barely move my head.

What can be done about it?

I’ve basically had to learn how to sleep all over again. I always lie on my side now and tuck the duvet in front of my tummy so I don’t roll forwards. And my parents are both physiotherapists – they’ve shown me some stability exercises. Things are already getting better.

Stretching – do you do it properly?

To be honest: not enough. I should do it more often. But when I do, it’s a mix of yoga exercises – my sister does a lot of yoga and has taught me quite a few things – and traditional stretching. I focus mainly on the front of my thighs, my hip flexors and my glutes. Those are the muscles that tend to tighten up the quickest for me.

Strength training – do you enjoy it?

It depends on the exercise. I live 500 metres from the Freiburg Olympic Training Centre – it’s got a large weights room and is easily accessible. My coach is Tobias Blum; I’ve been working with him since 2021. He also draws up the training plan for my mate Julian Schelb. Strength training twice a week, and my favourite thing to do: deadlifts. It’s just great fun.

And what do you hate?

Squats. Absolutely gruelling. I find them incredibly tough. We used to do 25 reps – that was hell. Now we tend to do four to six reps, but with greater intensity. That suits me much better.

Diet – do you have a plan, or do you just go by feel?

Both. Tobias includes in my training plan how many grams of carbohydrates I need per hour and what I should eat beforehand. Before interval sessions, it’s usually porridge with nuts and fruit. Before long endurance sessions, I prefer wholemeal bread with scrambled eggs – it keeps me feeling full for longer. On the evening before the race, I have rice, usually with a tomato and tinned tuna sauce or curry, sometimes with chicken on the side.

And what about the obligatory pre-race ritual?

Rice with Nutella. Benjamin Krüger introduced this at last year’s World Championships – and it’s been our official pre-race meal ever since. It sounds a bit wild, but it’s surprisingly easy on the stomach. After the race, I go for a sour cherry concentrate – just like the Tour de France riders do.

Are there any guilty pleasures too? Pizza, kebabs. Is there anything you need to watch out for?

Pizza, definitely. Given the amount of training I do – between 18 and 24 hours a week on the bike – my energy expenditure is so high that my main priority is to make sure I’m getting enough in. Having pizza or a kebab once or twice a week isn’t a problem. The main thing is that the basics are right.

As always, what about alcohol during the season?

A beer now and then really doesn’t do any harm – even during the season. But really letting my hair down, getting properly drunk – I don’t do that during the season. Simply because it’s bad for my performance. In the off-season, I allow myself a bit more.