Franziska
Koch

New to the team in 2019, talented young German rider Franziska started racing in the team’s colours from August. Impressed by the professionalism and unfazed by the step up in level, she quickly settled into the racing rhythm where a strong second part of the season saw her pick up a thrilling maiden victory at the Boels Ladies Tour.

“It was unbelievable to take my win at the Boels Ladies Tour. We rode incredibly well as a team that day. Winning is always nice and I’m really happy that I could already take a win for the team.”

Franziska hails from a cycling background and from a young age her dad wanted to teach her about cycling, so she started off on the mountain bike because it was “more stable”, before taking up road cycling once her confidence and technique had grown. As a youngster, Franziska was sport crazy and also did swimming, athletics and gymnastics before deciding that she had the most fun on two wheels.

Ambitious and driven, Franziska is motivated by her big dreams of being one of the best cyclists in the world in the future, where she hopes to take some good results in the classics, with her potential shown at the 2021 Paris-Roubaix Femmes where she claimed an impressive seventh place.

“I want to be one of the best cyclists in the world so I will keep challenging myself until I reach that level; and even if I get there, there will always be aspects that can be improved on.”

Level-headed, Franziska knows that it will take time to reach her goals and she wants to take in as much information from the team as possible; learning from the other riders on the team but also the coaches and experts.

“I want to continue to learn more and get better, becoming more of a later support rider in the finale and help the team to get good results. I’m looking forward to still working hard for the team this year. It feels just as good to help someone else win as it does winning yourself.”