Cyclist
‘A major goal of mine for 2025 is to have fun’: Stefan Küng Q&A
Cyclist: You claimed your first Grand Tour stage victory on the final day’s time-trial at the Vuelta a España in 2024. Did that feel a long time coming?
Stefan Küng: My first Tour de France in 2017 had an opening time-trial in Dusseldorf. I came second behind Geraint Thomas and everybody said, ‘The win will come soon, you will see.’
It hasn’t been that easy. It took me seven more years to finally get it done, which just shows that even though sometimes it looks like a path is written for you, like you’re just going to open your arms and collect these victories, in the end winning Grand Tour stages means you’ve got to beat them all. And the best riders of our sport participate in these Grand Tours. I’ve ended up quite a few times close to the win and to finally get this first stage victory was really cool and also a big relief. Now I want to try and get some more.
How do you manage the frustration when you come so close?
You can look at it two ways: like I missed out once again, or being close once again means I’m at or near the top where I belong. I try to look at it a bit more this way, that I’m performing at this very high level where I can compete with the best.
I think the biggest pressure an athlete feels is the pressure that comes from inside. I realise that it’s a privilege to be at the top and to fight for victory in the biggest races that our sport has to offer. I also want to have fun while doing it. Thinking like that doesn’t mean you’re less ambitious, but you can never forget that you’re living a dream.
Are you still having fun?
Coming into 2024 I had very high expectations of myself because of the Olympic Games and World Championships in Switzerland. These were big goals that I absolutely wanted to achieve.
I overdid it. I felt I had to achieve this goal and that’s not easy. For one reason or another I wasn’t at 100% during the Olympics. I realised I focussed so much on getting to 100% or even more that I didn’t enjoy it anymore, like it’s a burden to go to the Tour or the Olympics because you feel like you have to fulfil certain expectations coming from partners, the team, the media, the public and also the ones you put on yourself.
There is probably less of my career to come than what I have already had, so I want to have fun while doing it. Enjoy it, soak it all up. The Olympic Games was an amazing experience. The World Championships at home in Zurich was incredible. And even though I didn’t have the success I imagined myself having, I still want to keep it as a nice memory. So, a goal for 2025 is for sure winning, but also a major goal of mine is to have fun. When are you having fun? When you’re competing for the win; when you’re at the pointy end of the race.
When you’re obsessed with trying to tick every box possible in preparation, you get in a vicious cycle. You don’t take a step back and say, ‘I’ve ticked the boxes, now it’s the moment to shine,’ where you can show that all this work has been worthwhile.
Did growing up in Switzerland inspire your focus on the time-trial?
I grew up seeing Fabian Cancellara at his prime. We had other riders before who were good, like Alex Zülle, Fabien Jeker. Even if you don’t think it inspired you, it kind of did, and it did inspire me. Then you look for your strengths, and I was naturally gifted so I was always working on it.
It’s a lot of work for not so many races, and only very few riders get the rewards. Remco, Filippo Ganna, the list goes on, and you know all these guys are as dedicated as you. It’s not easy to beat them, but if you do it’s honest work.
Recently, we’ve seen you active at the front of one-day races. Is it an evolution you had mapped out?
I was 25 when the BMC team was about to stop. I challenged myself and said it’s now or never, I’ve got to get this ability back to be a one-day racer and not only a time-triallist. It actually took me a bit of time to get this confidence back in my abilities.
One result where I really made this click was the bronze medal in the Harrogate World Championships [2019], my first really big result in a major one-day race. Since then it’s not even a question if I’m going to be there in the final. Do I worry about what am I going to do in the final? Sure, you have riders like Van der Poel who make it look easy, but he is an exceptional champion. I wouldn’t dare to compare myself to these champions, but I think maybe I have one chance in ten on a day where I can beat them, and I have to be ready when this opportunity presents itself, to grab it.
When you do a time-trial, the only person you can let down is yourself. But if you go for it in a one-day race you have the responsibility of a whole team. Whether the day is good or bad for the team depends on your performance, and you have to live up to expectations because the result sheet doesn’t lie. That’s the only truth that counts in the end.
What brings you the most joy on the bike?
I love being out in nature, surrounded by beautiful landscapes. Wherever you are, you hop on your bike and you see the world that you’re in and that’s amazing. In racing, it’s the ability to pass your own limits. Your body always wants to stop and you’re able to push this limit further and further, and that’s something impressive, to see what the human body is able to do.
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