Bahnrad-EM: Family Teutenberg: Symbiosis of the best (nd-aktuell.de)

Teutenberg? There was something, wasn’t there? The name has had a good reputation in the cycling scene for a long time. Horst Teutenberg, who died in 2021, worked for decades as a youth leader and base trainer in North Rhine-Westphalia and developed and promoted many talents. His three children Lars, Sven and Ina-Yoko also found their way into cycling. Ina-Yoko was one of the fastest women in the peleton for years, had over 200 victories and won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in road racing. Today she works as a sports director for the World Tour team Trek Segafredo. Sven Teutenberg made it to the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta as a professional with the US Postal and Gerolsteiner teams. And Lars Teutenberg became German champion on the track three times and made a name for himself above all as a technology and time trial expert. And his children, 23-year-old Lea Lin and 20-year-old Tim Torn, are the third generation to have caught the cycling bug. And are among the German and international leaders with ever-increasing success.

At the start of the European Railway Championships in Grenchen, Tim Torn Teutenberg stood at the top of the podium and was allowed to put on the European Champion jersey. Minutes earlier, the man from Cologne had won the elimination race in an outstanding manner – and even made defending champion and world champion Elia Viviani from Italy look old. With great coolness and cleverness, the 20-year-old worked his way into the final sprint and didn’t give Rui Oliveira from Portugal a chance and was able to raise his arms jubilantly meters before the finish line. »It was great! Elimination driving suits me quite well – I think I’m not bad at it,” Teutenberg said happily. Sister Lea Lin was one of the first to congratulate her at the Velodrome Suisse – she is also part of the German squad for the European Championships and took a strong fifth place in the elimination race on Thursday.

The gold medal for Tim Torn Teutenberg is the preliminary highlight of a steep development. “We’ve been to a lot of bike races since we were little,” recalls Lea Lin Teutenberg, who, like her brother, made her first forays into racing with her father at an early age. Grandpa Horst was also a regular companion back then, especially on the home track in Büttgen-Kaarst near Düsseldorf. Lars Teutenberg has been writing his children’s training plans since then. “Sometimes it’s a bit difficult with fathers – but we’ve never had that before,” reports Teutenberg junior. The symbiosis quickly led to success. In 2017, Tim Torn became German champion for the first time in his youth. In 2022 – meanwhile elite driver – he collected four titles: in scratch, points race, omnium and of course in elimination race – in the last sprint against “old master” Roger Kluge.

An exciting fight for a ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is currently emerging for Teutenberg with the two-time Madison World Champion from Berlin. Kluge wants to start his career under the sign of the rings for the fifth time in late autumn and, after silver in 2008 in the points race and several top placings in 2012, 2016 and 2021, win a second medal at the end of his career. At the Madison, the now 37-year-old and his partner Theo Reinhardt are still among the best in the world. Both were world champions in 2018 and 2019, both became European champions in Munich in 2022 and will defend their title in two-person driving in Grenchen on Sunday.

However, the complicated regulations hardly allow Kluge and Teutenberg to start together at the Olympic Games. In principle, the qualification, the first station of which is the European Championship, is based on the team pursuit. The ten best nations form a team with four riders, from which the participants for the two other Olympic disciplines Madison and Omnium normally have to come. Only under certain conditions can a maximum of a fifth driver be named for the track who, for example, has qualified on the road. The problem: Kluge and Teutenberg play no role in the four and speculate with position five. So it’s not about the question: experience and merits against youth and perspective, but about how the Federation of German Cyclists assesses their chances of winning a medal. So far, the declared goal was the bronze medal in the team pursuit. From today’s perspective, a medal in the Madison or Omnium is more likely to be won.

“We both want to go to the Olympics. Somehow a solution will be found. I’m not worrying too much at the moment – in the end the best will drive at the Olympics,” says Teutenberg confidently, for whom Kluge is a role model in many respects. The Brandenburger has now successfully managed the balancing act between a career as a road professional and rail expert for more than a decade and a half. »I want to try to become a road pro, but I still like to ride the train. It’s difficult, but possible: Drivers like Elia Viviani, Ethan Hayter and Roger have shown how it’s done – both are possible. And so far it’s been going very well for me, too,” says Teutenberg, who is under contract with the Danish Continental team Leopard Togt pro Cycling for the third year and also represented the German Cyclists’ Association in the U23 class at the Road World Championships in 2021 and 2022 .

Initially, however, the focus is on the train and the Olympic ticket. After the EM, the next opportunity to position yourself in the fight for the ticket to Paris is waiting for you at the Nations Cup in Canada in mid-April. »Tim is definitely a candidate for the Olympic Games and has a realistic chance. This time he also had the strongest legs for the first time, physically he looked really strong,” praised national endurance coach Tim Zühlke from Erfurt after winning gold at the European Championships. The internal struggle is certainly not inconvenient for Zühlke. “For Paris, a lot depends on the constellation,” he says, leaving all options open. “Tim is fun to watch and work with. He may have a great career ahead of him.”