"I dream of winning a stage because it would mean everything to me" - Phil Bauhaus wants Tour de France victory in 2024

29-year-old German sprinter Phil Bauhaus has taken a number of big results over the last few years. A Grand Tour win is still missing however, and that is something the Bahrain - Victorious star is keen to change in 2024, especially at the Tour de France.

In 2023, Bauhaus had to settle for a number of close calls. “It wasn’t an outstanding year and I’m a sprinter, so if you judge me just by wins then I just have one WorldTour win. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to win WorldTour races but I was second and third a lot. It wasn’t an amazing year but it was solid,” Bauhaus told GCN. “In the condition that I had at the Tour, I had enough speed to win a stage. I was second one day and Alpecin had a fantastic lead-out with Mathieu van der Poel as the last rider for Jasper Philipsen. If van der Poel does your lead-out, and you’re on the opposite team, it’s really hard to do something or wait for the final 150m."

Nevertheless, “To win a Tour de France stage is still my dream,” he insists. “I’ve been cycling since I was seven years old. Back then there was a lot of hype in Germany with riders like Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel. I was always watching the Tour and I dreamed of being there. Now I dream of winning a stage because it would mean everything to me and it’s the biggest bike race that you can do. If I can win one stage, no matter what happens next in my career, I can retire happy.”

With Jonathan Milan's departure to Lidl-Trek, Bauhaus is now the standout sprint star of the team. "Of course, what Jonathan did for the team this year was amazing, and reduced the pressure a bit on the rest of the team but I want to pay my teammates back in all the sprints, and that’s the pressure for me. All the time I want to do the best possible result,” he concludes. "I’ll have good support in the sprints and the aim is to have more than one win."