“It’s fantastic for me to be able to benefit from the knowledge of experienced pros” - Emil Herzog on establishing himself as a WorldTour rider

Having been part of the Auto Eder development team for two years as a junior rider, Emil Herzog was promoted to the BORA-hansgrohe WorldTour team at the start of this season after a year with the Hagens Berman Axeon team in 2023.

At just 19 years old, despite having a very good junior season in 2022 the step up to the top level of professional cycling could have been too much for him, as he struggled to pick up any major results in the U23 ranks.

However, after a solid early season block in Mallorca and Oman, the young German has formed a key part of the BORA-hansgrohe Spring Classics team, as he has ridden almost all of the major races for the team, including the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. He also picked up a standout result of seventh place at Milano-Torino in his best finish of the season so far.

Ahead of his next race at the Tour of the Alps, Herzog said in an interview with his team that “I’ve just entered the WorldTour and have relatively little experience. That’s why it’s fantastic for me to be able to benefit from the knowledge of experienced pros”.

When asked about what the step up to the WorldTour has been like, Herzog replied “it’s the little details, like how to position oneself in the peloton or how to manage energy across stages, these are aspects that operate very differently among the pros compared to the junior levels”.

On his upcoming race in Italy, he went on to say “the Tour of the Alps is a tough race, with many climbs and technically challenging descents. It’s quite different from the Spring Classics”.

Also speaking to the team ahead of the race, Herzog’s teammate Cesare Benedetti commented on the progress that the youngster has made this season, as he said “Emil is a great talent. He got off to a good start in the WorldTour. If he has recovered from the classics, he will demonstrate his abilities at the Tour of the Alps as well”.

On what it is like to have such a young rider in the team, the Italian-born Polish rider said “I still feel quite young. But during a team training camp, I rode with Emil, and it hit me how quickly time has passed. He could almost be my son”.