Only seven Tour starters - Denk worries about German cycling

Cycling manager Ralph Denk is worried about German cycling. The fact that only seven German professional cyclists, the fewest in 24 years, will be at the start of the 110th Tour de France on Saturday, documents the current level of performance.

For the boss of the German Bora-hansgrohe racing team, the downward trend is "a combination of several things", as he told the German Press Agency. "We have far too few races for children and young riders to develop talent. In Germany, many talents remain unrecognised," said Denk, citing the infrastructure as another reason: "Parents are more likely to send their children to the football pitch or perhaps to mountain biking than to road training alone. We have a poor network of cycle paths in Germany."

According to Denk, the doping past in cycling could also have played a role. "What may also be the reason why we are going through a trough is that it is now the years when things went downhill in terms of doping. That was in the early 2000s. Maybe some people didn't even start back then," says the Bavarian.

However, this has no effect on his team in terms of sponsorship partners. "Fortunately, our sponsors see it from an international perspective. If I hadn't fielded a German, I probably wouldn't even be asked by Bora-hansgrohe. They are trying to generate awareness in the international arena," said Denk, who has nominated two Germans for his Tour squad in Emanuel Buchmann and Nils Politt.

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