Tour of France
Late bloomer and tour debut: This is how the Bauhaus sprint hope ticks
Phil Bauhaus (r) had to admit defeat in the sprint. photo
© Daniel Cole/AP/dpa
After Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, the German fans have been waiting for a top sprinter on the Tour for a long time. Phil Bauhaus is now slipping into this role – and he’s been there for a long time.
Had to for his first Tour de France Phil Bauhaus will be 28 years old. But in his first sprint at the world’s most important cycling race, the fast man from North Rhine-Westphalia achieved a remarkable result with second place. “I’m not that well known in Germany,” Bauhaus said afterwards. Not yet, one might reply.
Greipel’s tracks
Bauhaus shares a friendship with Marcel Sieberg. André Greipel, who has been driving up Germany’s most successful sprinter for years, did this job for Bauhaus at Team Bahrain. “I owe you a lot. You believed in me every second. I have these three years for the rest of my life,” Bauhaus wrote when Sieberg ended his career in 2021.
Completely private
Bauhaus was born in Bocholt on the Dutch border. Because his fiancée Josefine was studying medicine in Cologne and he wasn’t tied to a specific location as a professional cyclist, the couple lived in the Rhine metropolis for seven years. Both are now back in Bocholt, Josefine works in the hospital there.
career
Bauhaus got into cycling through his dad, who was traveling as a hobby. The senior got his son an old steel bike that was actually much too big. At first they were only on the road for half an hour, then it got longer. At some point he joined the RC 77 Bocholt. Through Team Stölting and the then second-rate Bora team, he got promoted to the WorldTour in 2017 and celebrated his first major victory in the Sunweb jersey at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
victories
Little Phil rode his first bike race when he was just nine years old, and licensed races followed two years later. As a professional he has 20 wins so far. For a sprinter at his age, this is not a particularly high value, despite successes at the Dauphiné and Tirreno-Adriatico.
wheel and speed
Bauhaus rides a Merida Reacto, a streamlined aero road bike. A normal Otto consumer has to spend around 12,000 euros for this. It’s worth it for a professional. Bauhaus reaches speeds of up to 70 km/h in flat sprint finals. With the right wind direction, this speed could be reached on Tuesday in the finale on the Nogara racetrack.