Team SD Worx - Protime sees climbing potential in Steffi Häberlin

Team SD Worx - Protime sees climbing potential in Steffi Häberlin

‘Very much looking forward to making the switch to road cycling’

08/10/2024

Team SD Worx - Protime has signed Swiss Steffi Häberlin for the next two years. The 26-year-old rider impressed the staff and riders at the last edition of the Tour de Suisse. In the final stage won by Demi Vollering, Häberlin finished fifth after a strong race. "This is a new adventure. I have already tasted road cycling several times and it appealed to me immediately. At Team SD Worx-Protime, I will have the space to develop myself and discover which role suits me well."

Sports manager Danny Stam: ‘Steffi comes from mountain biking and has not actually been cycling for very long. At the Tour de Suisse, she immediately caught our eye. Because she hardly has any racing history on the road, we are convinced that she can still make great strides. She now wants to focus completely on the road. I think we have a good match with her in the team. Steffi is a rider who likes to ride offensively which suits our DNA. She is not afraid to get the lid on her nose and races with a lion's heart. Of course, she still needs to gain the necessary racing experience, but it is precisely in this area that she can still grow. There are not many climbers who can keep up with the best on the long cols. She has shown she has that potential. Although I am convinced she is employable in several areas.’

Häberlin: ‘I am excited about this new adventure at Team SD Worx-Protime. I feel I can learn a lot here by being surrounded by top riders. I am super ambitious and want to do everything I can to compete and ride finals in road cycling as well. I started cycling late. I studied medicine at university. During the corona period, we had no more physical classes. So I would occasionally go riding with my friend, who is a professional mountain biker. That's how I came into contact with mountain biking. I developed very quickly and started riding races. In Switzerland, the national coach is the same for mountain biking and road cycling, so I got a chance to try out this discipline.’

'Thus, with a delegation from the national team, I rode the Tour de Suisse twice and the Tour de Romandie once. In it, I quickly discovered that road cycling suits me. Despite my lack of experience, I was soon able to hold my own. In this year's Tour de Suisse, my goal was to be in the decisive breakaway, but in the third stage I missed the right breakaway. I was angry that I was in the peloton all day then. But I never give up. So the next day I tried again and slipped into the breakaway. There I could show myself. I had already decided for myself that I wanted to try it on the road. After the Tour de Suisse, I had an appointment with Danny Stam. Then it went very quickly. It was immediately clear to me that I would choose Team SD Worx-Protime. This is where some of the best cyclists in the world ride. It feels like the right environment where I get both the space to develop myself and the freedom to discover which role suits me best.’

‘I am hugely looking forward to this journey of discovery. I think the hilly races suit me best. Climbs of three to 10-15 minutes, those suit me so far. In mountain biking, my asset is that I am always explosive, so I can keep accelerating time after time. I can also descend well. Longer climbs are still a question mark for me. I will have to train on it and find out whether I can handle it or not. Patience is not my strong suit, so I can't wait to start the road season, ride at the front and compete with my teammates. At Team SD Worx-Protime, I also have the freedom to possibly take in a mountain bike race if they fit within the regular road season. However, the focus will be entirely on the road. The race I absolutely want to do is Strade Bianche. With the national team, we have already done a simulation of this race and I fell in love. If I have to choose one race, it's definitely this one.’

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