This article is part of the second issue of Musette Magazine and was first published in April 2024. Since then, Alex suffered a severe crash at the Giro d'Italia and was diagnosed multiple fractures on the pelvis, seven fractured ribs, a pneumothorax and a fractured shoulder blade. He is now recovering at home in Germany. This new accident adds to Alex' story unfortunately.
Alex Krieger is someone who thinks before he talks. A thoughtful person, whose maturity shines through in talks, that are about much more than just riding a bike. The 32-year-old German knows about both the beauty as well as the cruelty in the sport of cycling.
“As long as the mental and physical health is there, we surely have a very enjoyable job”, he says. “Times in which health is not quite there, are often. And these times in particular, make you struggle both as an athlete and a person.” In his 24 years of racing, the German had a plethora of different injuries. Only in the last ten years, he broke his leg, hip and right arm. As a lead-out specialist, Alex’ role is about navigating the sprinter in the finale so that he can launch his sprint out of a perfect position without having spent too much energy in the lead up to it. In that role he needs to chaperon his sprinter through twist and turns at very high speeds. Fighting for position to stay in front, is part of the game and so are crashes resulting from those maneuvers.
“As long as the mental and physical health is there, we surely have a very enjoyable job”
Crashes in races are one thing. The dangers riders experience in training in open traffic are another constant threat to the riders’ well-being. A training accident also resulted in what was Alex’ biggest injury in his career. In December 2020, Alex collided with a car in an intersection during training at home. The driver was fully responsible for the accident. For Alex the driver’s mistake resulted in a fractured left elbow and multiple fractures in his right upper arm as well as “four or five” bones in his face. “Since then the only bones I broke were two rips.” Talking about those sustained injuries, Alex seems cool, calm and collected, which shows how well riders cope with injuries and what a big part injuries play in their profession.
Dealing with a broken bone is something Alex is more than used to. Dealing with a concussion can be more complex and require a lot of patience. This patience was necessary to deal with the healing process Alex had to go through since a consequential crash in the Tour of Germany in August 2023.
“ The healing process of a concussion can take two days or a month. In my case it took more than six . I really hope that’s it now.”
During this time Alex had to deal with a lot of different symptoms making it difficult to train and impossible to race. Once the headaches disappeared, sight limitations, issues with his balance as well as fatigue was what Krieger had to deal with.
Alex is now finally back racing having made his debut for the team in Murcia but also mentions the worst-case scenario of the concussion not going away at all. “Dealing with this injury was particularly difficult in my current situation. I changed teams this season and arrived injured, not able to perform. I feel like I have to prove myself all over again, which I didn’t have the chance to until now. I didn’t feel any pressure from the team though to be rushed back to racing. I was also really grateful that the Team’s Medical Staff already took care of me back in August when I actually wasn’t officially part of the team.
Injuries make riders think. It takes its toll on a mental level. Getting back to a mental state in which riders are able to fight for positions and push the limits on descents is a process that takes time. “It’s really about finding peace and the fun in racing again.”, Alex says thoughtfully. “Finding a balance within that process is not that easy.”
Knowing the consequences of crashes is what all professional cyclists know and what brings the peloton closer together. “It really makes you think when someone crashes hard in a race, because you know exactly that it also could have been you. We obviously also had the fatal case of Gino Mäder in last year’s Tour de Suisse. This goes to show how dangerous our sport is. This could have happened to every single one of us.” The dangers of the sport are also known to his loved ones. “My parents watch the races but of course are worried as well. My sister really struggles with it and can’t really watch the races. The same goes for some of my friends.”
“If the emotions and motivation weren’t there, I would have retired a long time ago!”
Is it really all worth it? “Yes”, Alex answers. He mentions that lows are probably more frequent than the highs. But the emotional highs are just so much higher. “Especially in my role within the sprint train, a success is always a success of the whole team. And this is exactly what makes it all worthwhile. The victories that I cherish the most are those who were the result of a great team effort. The atmosphere after a win is what it is all about!”. Another motivation Alex mentions is the tireless work of the staff and the people involved in the team. To give back to those people, is very motivating as well and what pushes him both in training and in racing.
More stories can be read in Musette Magazine. The Tudor Pro Cycling magazine gives an insight into the activities of Sette Sports in cycling. Musette is published three times a year and each issue focuses on a specific topic that can be discovered here.