Originally a football player, Leon made the switch to cycling at the U15 level after a neighbour introduced him to the sport, asking him to join his local club for a ride. After also trying his hand at many other sports previously such as tennis and athletics, he instantly fell in love with both the adrenaline of racing but also the freedom of the open road when out training on his bike. In fact, it was a poor performance in his first race that spurred him on.
“I wasn’t the best cyclist in the beginning and got lapped in my first criterium, which somehow made me really excited as I just wanted to improve and get better, then race again and not be lapped.”
He did continue to race and after spending four years in the team’s Development program, 2022 saw Leon make the step up to the WorldTour with the Men’s program, something that Leon approached in his reserved and humble manner.
“I think my first season at WorldTour went almost as expected. It’s the same teamwork and way of doing things so that helped a lot, it’s just some different races and different riders but also of course at a higher level.”
With his demeanour it’s no shock that Leon describes himself as “calm” and “not nervous”. However, the “excitable” characteristic can spring a surprise; with Leon suggesting he is a good mix of “calm and considered but able to go full-gas for something I am motivated for.” Those things help him be the person and cyclist he is, as the excitable nature helps him to stay motivated because if you lose that spark then it is tough to rekindle it. Likewise, he says it’s important to stay calm and not be nervous or make any mistakes but of course there is always a flipside where those traits can turn into a negative.
Looking back on his career so far, Leon highlights his German U19 TT title and U23 road race titles as two of his crowning glories on the bike so far, but equally a day at the Baby Giro also stands out too. It was a stage where he pulled to bring back the breakaway on an uphill start to the day and by the time the race crested the summit, they were in a group of 20: “looking around to see not many guys there was a super cool feeling.”
Despite his calm nature, Leon is an incredibly intrinsically motivated person who always wants to push himself, but he approaches his progression in a very philosophical way.
“Making steps is motivating but there is never an end goal. You always try to get better because if you stop at one point, the other riders will get better than you. Always looking for the improvement motivates and excites me too.”
When he’s not riding his bike, Leon likes to hang around with his friends and in the past few years they’ve taken up fishing. They like to make a weekend out of it by going to a lake, have some food, stay overnight, and catch some fish in between – with Leon’s biggest catch being a 17-kilogram carp. If you’re lucky, then you might catch Leon practicing his hidden talent of being able to clap with one hand.
