25-year-old Lennart Jasch wins Tour of the Alps after just two years as a cyclist: "Incredible"

Lennart Jasch surprisingly won the queen stage of the Tour of the Alps on Thursday. The 25-year-old German could hardly believe it afterwards, but his career path might be even more surprising. Only two years ago, the stage winner made the switch from the world of speed skating to cycling.

"A lot is going through my mind right now. I was here to help Michael (Storer, ed.) to win the overall classification again, but now here I am and you're already asking me all these questions," said a smiling but astonished Jasch to the race organizer’s interviewer.

The 25-year-old Jasch is riding this season for the development team of Tudor Pro Cycling, after being picked up a year earlier by the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rookies while racing at club level. "It was an incredible day. When I was in the early breakaway, I felt like I might have the best legs of my life. I kept believing from the very first moment and stayed with it all the way to the line. It really was a crazy day."

The German surprise felt good legs during his breakaway attempt but gradually realized he was stronger than his fellow escapees. "During the stage I realized I was the strongest in the breakaway group, so I decided to go on alone. But from then on it was actually incredibly tough."

Speed Skating Background
While cycling talents usually breakthrough at a very young age, that’s not the case with Jasch. The German is already 25 but still rides for a development squad. This all has to do with his background in speed skating.

In 2024, the Bavarian made the transition from winter sports to cycling. As a speed skater, Jasch was national junior champion in 2019, but by his own admission, his sports career would have ended if he hadn’t switched to road cycling two years ago.

On Instagram he shares a video showing his first weeks as a cyclist: