Former professional rider Jens Voigt has been forced to quit his attempt to run seven marathons in seven days for charity after developing a bacterial infection in his left leg.

The 46-year-old German completed his fourth marathon on Friday in Berlin but was unable to start Saturday's run due to pain and swelling. Under medical advice, he decided to with withdraw from his charity-fundraising attempt.

"I woke up with pulsating pain in my leg and I could barely walk," said Voigt, who during his pro cycling career rode in 17 Tours de France.

"Another visit to the hospital made clear that there will be no more running or cycling in the next two weeks."

He later posted: "It's been an emotional week and still surreal what has happened,"

"I ran 168,8 km in four days which ended in a disaster for my legs. I got a bacterial infection which is called erysipelas. Quitting was the right decision. Health comes first and that's the reason why I'm supporting Tour de Cure Australia.

Voigt posted photos of his swollen leg on social media. He said on his Facebook page that supporters had continued the run in his absence, with Voigt switching to give them support at the roadside.

"I'm still overwhelmed by an epic week. Fans kept running for me and I was their supporter. You guys are awesome and really made a positive difference. Thank you so much."

>>> Jens Voigt to run seven marathons in seven days for charity

Voigt was well known in the professional peloton for being a 'hard man' during his pro career, which spanned 1997 to 2014. His attacking style and time trial ability saw him win two stages of the Tour de France, a stage of the Giro d’Italia and overall wins in the Critérium International, Tour of Poland and Bayern-Rundfahrt.

He ended his pro career in 2014, after riding in his final season for Trek.

Since retiring, Voigt has kept himself busy with various cycling events and charity fund-rasiers, including 'Everesting' a climb in Berlin in January 2017. Voigt rode the ascent 100 times to reach the elevation of Everest and raised €25,000 for cancer charity Tour de Cure.

Jens Voigt is aiming to run seven marathons in seven days over January 2-8 2018 to raise funds for a cancer charity.

The German former professional rider is setting out to raise cash for Australian charity, Tour de Cure, running around his home city of Berlin.

"I like to push my limits to see what my body and mind are capable of," said Voigt. "This is perhaps the biggest challenge I have ever faced.

>>> Jens Voigt: Life lessons from 30+ years of riding

"And for the people who think I'm crazy – I never said that I am not."

In January 2017, Voigt 'Everested' a climb in Berlin, riding up and down it 100 times to gain the altitude of Mount Everest. This meant him riding through the night and in a snowfall, and he raised over €25,000 for Tour de Cure in the process.

During his pro cycling career, which spanned 1997 to 2014, Voigt forged a name for himself as one of cycling's hard men. Not only could be be relied upon by his team-mates to lend them solid support when it was needed, but he was also known for his exciting solo attacks.

And it was just such attacking riding – as well as his time trialling skills – that netted him many significant victories, including two stages of the Tour de France, a stage of the Giro d'Italia and overall wins in the Critérium International, Tour of Poland and Bayern-Rundfahrt, among others.

>>> Jens Voigt turns up to club 10-mile time trial; rides it twice, first on tandem then as two-up

Now 46-years-old, Voigt hung up his wheels at the end of the 2014 season with Trek Factory Racing.

He has maintained a presence in cycling ever since, taking part in challenge rides and appearances for sponsors.

In an interview a couple of weeks ago, Alberto Contador talked about the need to race with style, and how in some ways style was more important than winning.

We have heard this argument before. This is our old friend ‘panache’. Defined as ‘reckless courage’, it has been a one-word get-out-of-jail-free card for at least three decades of French bike riding. So it’s nice to see it cross the Pyrenees.

(I know it’s a cliché to say that panache is a particularly French obsession, but I did once interview a French fan about Romain Bardet, and she said, “He’s the best French rider, yes, one day he’ll win the Tour, yes, but he’s no Tommy Voeckler.”)

It’s a phenomenon unlikely to cross the Channel. Last year a French colleague told me that, “The British have no word for panache. That’s why they keep winning the Tour.”

But it’s essential. In pro cycling, you can only do three things. You can win, or try to. You can help someone else win, or try to. Or you can ride with panache. Occasionally a panache-fuelled rider wins — Jens Voigt, for instance. Generally they don’t, and even when they do it’s obviously an accident.

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Panache can be a safety net as well — it can be offered up as a justification for almost any wildly erratic tactical misadventure. If you’re going to balls up a race, the more comprehensively you balls it up the better.

Eye of the beholder

But what of the rest of us? Of what use to us is panache? My friend Bernard, for example, once resigned himself to not being good enough to win races, and to being too misanthropic to help someone else.

He resolved instead to race with… panache. It didn’t work. I know it didn’t work, because afterwards he had to carefully explain that, “I was racing with panache.” I told him he wasn’t, because panache is clearly in the eye of the beholder, and sitting on the back for 150km while cursing wasn’t it. He told me I could kiss his panache, and we called the discussion a draw.

My own attempt was, if anything, worse. I clipped off the front of a bunch with 60km to go in a desolate race in Norfolk, got about a 20-second lead, vanished round a corner and was immediately forgotten by everyone in the race. It turns out that you cannot panache alone. When a team-mate pointed out that at least I’d “shown the jersey,” I asked to whom I’d shown it. After a little thought, he said, “Some cows.”

That time I managed to salvage a win, but it wasn’t what I wanted, not least of all because the 60km solo break is unbelievably boring. It’s like a very dull training session, except at the end you have enemies you didn’t have when you started. (Although see also, ‘going for a training ride on your anniversary’.)

>>> Dr Hutch: Celebrating the terrible cycling kit of the 1990s

What of broader panache? Sportive panache, for example? This suffers from the basic problem that to the untutored eye, ‘panache’ and ‘really bad pace judgement’ are difficult to tell apart, and to be honest very few sportive rides attract the sort of dedicated punditry that might do so.

Oddly, I suspect it may be easier to ride with panache on Strava — I’ve even come up with the word ‘stranache’ to describe it. Downhill KoMs, KoMs attempted into the prevailing wind, eccentric segments on half-gravel roads in the rain… anything that’s a bit non-conformist probably counts as stranache. And unlike a sportive, Strava attracts exactly the sort of forensic attention you’re looking for.

Whether Alberto would be impressed with your stranache I don’t know. But I do know that he made a related mistake in not coining the word ‘Espanache’ to describe his attitude. But I’m looking forward to seeing it in action.

Former German professional Jens Voigt rode through Berlin's night and snowy conditions, climbing and descending the Teufelsberg in his Everest Challenge to reach over 8848 metres and raise €25,000 for cancer sufferers.

Voigt, who set the Hour Record before retiring in September 2014, began the Everest Challenge on Monday at noon.

He climbed the 90 metres up Teufelsberg in each four-kilometre loop, riding through the night and a light snow, to reach the desired metres. He finished his ride, after stops for food and consumed brake pads, today at 15:00 local time.

Mount Everest peaks at 8848 metres, which Voigt noted before his ride.

His goal was to raise €10,000 for the Tour de Cure charity. He exceeded that amount by more than two-fold with around 800 individual donations.

"Done and dusted!" he wrote. "8845m of climbing - 27h with some small breaks on the bike! Over €25k raised!"

Although Voigt initially said that he had ridden 8845 metres, he later clarified that he had exceeded this target, saying "Of course I did more that 8848 metres today, that was a typo! I actually did approx 9000m!"

Followers knew Voigt as one of cycling's hard men in his career that spanned the last 20 years. Before retiring by setting the Hour Record under the new rules, he won two Tour de France stages and wore the yellow jersey, took five Critérium International titles, and escaped in countless groups.

The perseverance needed to race 17 editions of the Tour served in his ride on the Teufelsberg or 'Devil's Mountain'. The morning of the ride, Voigt awoke to Berlin's first snow. He said, "But hey, its only little snow, right?! Gonna be fun."

Journalists waited at Teufelsberg's base, west of Berlin, while Voigt cycled up and down. He mounted lights on his bike to see through the dark 3°C night with its occasional snow and hail.

Cycling supporters joined alongside Voigt and provided needed company. He stopped for breakfast, warm coffee, dry gloves, and after the grit took its toll, new brake pads.

Before the sun shined its first rays on the 120-metre Teufelsberg, Voigt said, "Counting the hours now! Really tired."

Eight hours later, he completed nearly 100 loops and the needed metres to reach the virtual peak of Everest and raise more money then planned.

We sat down with breakaway hardman Jens Voigt to hear all about his training from over 30 years of cycling.

Endurance alone isn’t enough

“In the early days, in East Germany, most of my training was long and slow. I could ride Paris-Moscow at 41.5kph, but when I turned professional I realised that races aren’t decided at that speed; they are decided in the crucial five or 10 minutes of max effort — when I needed to be stronger.”

Train specifically for the hardest parts of the race

“I cut down the volume of training and did more quality, less quantity. I already had endurance; I didn’t need any more. What I needed was to train for the crucial part of the race.

>>> Detraining: The truth about losing fitness

"I did 10 minutes and one kilometre maximal efforts to replicate jumping after a breakaway or trying to create a break. I’d ride five times a four- or five-minute circuit early in the season  — then later 10 times — at close to my maximum effort.”

Training hard isn’t enough — you need a winning edge

“When I started training with Bjarne Riis at CSC, he said, ‘Look, it’s easy to train hard, the tricky part is to train hard in the right way.’ Earlier in my career, when I never thought the [Berlin] Wall would open, I never thought I’d be responsible for my own training — I’d always had coaches in East Germany.

>>> 13 ways to increase your average cycling speed

"In my early days as a pro, it was all about quality and intervals — any hard training was good training. Then I started to work with Bjarne, who said that we need to train hard and smart because everyone has good bikes, good equipment and can train hard — we need to have a winning edge.”

If it feels hard, it is good for you

“The first thing you lose as you get older is that sharp edge, the high heart rate, the punch out of the corners. That little bit of aggressively, fast-twitching muscle fibre... that probably goes first.

"You still have a lot of endurance and stamina, but those maximal things start to go. If you want to keep it, you have to train it. In cycling, whatever is uncomfortable and hard for you is probably good for you. There are not many tricks and techniques. In cycling, you just need a big heart, a big pair of lungs and legs.”

Know your zones

Focus on the intervals, not the in-between

“In the first training camp, you’d do 10-minute medium intervals. Later in the season, you’d do a 20-minute medium warm-up before the proper intervals. Between the intervals, training was just transport from A to B, to the next set of intervals. Training was achieved in the intervals, not in between.

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"Bjarne would say, ‘Go slower, boys, recover, you need to be fresh for the intervals because they’re going to be pretty hard.’”

Sit and stand maintaining the same power

“One thing I hated was sitting-standing. You’d decide on a climb long enough to let you do one minute sitting down and one minute standing, two minutes sitting, two minutes standing, three minutes sitting, three minutes standing, then two minutes and one minute again.

"You’d do that for 30 minutes. And to make it more difficult, you were supposed to hold 85-95rpm uphill, so your heart rate just goes skyrocketing when you are out of the saddle.

"Plus, we had to push constant watts whether sitting or standing. I had to push around 400-420 watts, I think, a little less at the start of the year and a little more after. That was what helped my body keep that freshness, especially when I was getting older.”

Don’t worry too much about data

“Not at all. I only did it because I was told to do it. If you want to talk about training science, I’m the worst person to ask. Chris Boardman or Bobby Julich, they watched it all; they still have all their files from every race… I’m not like that.

"Of course, I have some basic knowledge to get me going, but one reason it was good I retired is because I’m a dinosaur and I’m about to be extinct! I went by instinct for a big part of my career. If the sun was shining and the sky was blue, I’d attack. I didn’t have a plan, I just decided right in the moment.”

Fancy giving 'cross a go?

Go mountain biking with riders who are faster than you

“To keep that maximum punch [as I grew older], to keep my high heart right in time trials and all of that, I needed to train differently. For example, in the last five years of my career, all winter long, I did mountain biking because it’s harder work.

>>> How to resume your training after a break

"OK, in the last years, that didn’t work. At 41 or 42, my body just wouldn’t respond any more the way I desired. But from 36-40, I remember I trained with an ambitious group of weekend warriors, amateurs, juniors who did cyclo-cross. I’d follow them on my mountain bike. When I started with them, they’d be in the middle of their ‘cross season and they kicked my ass. A month later, I could easily stay with them.

"By the spring, I’d be doing two and a half hours with them, then they’d all go back home, and I’d do the same loop the other way around to go home — twice as much as them.”

Do the real work in the winter

“I trained hard in the winter because I remember one of the coaches in East Germany telling me that the real cyclist is made in the winter, which still holds true. The real work is done in the winter.

"If you come out short of form at the end of January, you are pretty much f***ed. You’ll be in shape another two months after the peloton. Fortunately, not everyone listened to that advice or they’d get lazy and have a huge Christmas turkey.

>>> Seven easy steps to avoid winter weight gain

"OK, I had that as well, but I went training. That was my advantage and that’s why I had a lot of early-season results in my best years with Bjarne — because I was ready, I came out of the winter ready to race.”

Make sure your bike is as ready as you are

Make a deal with yourself

“Until the last year of my career, I always had positive feedback from my training or results. I trained hard, I’d come out of the winter, maybe win a stage in Paris-Nice or Tour of the Med, or maybe top five somewhere. I’d say it was worth the work.

>>> Nine ways cycling changes when you’re over 40

"Until the last year, when I found it mentally really hard to go out training… I remember saying, ‘You know, Jens, just be honest: you don’t want to go any more.’ I had a crisis meeting with myself. I said, ‘All we want to do is finish the season in a good manner, honour the contract.’ I looked at myself and said, ‘Let’s keep it together for one more season.’ I squeezed it all out of me.”

Think yourself lucky, and count your blessings

“Until that last year, I loved training. I’m always the guy with the glass half full, looking at the positive side. My office job was being in the fresh air, hearing the birds singing, riding and keeping myself fit. That’s a great job! I was lucky in life. Life was good to me, giving me a chance to discover cycling and make it my life. For 95 per cent of my career, I never had a problem with training and motivation.”

Training for the Hour really hurts

“The Hour Record helped me [maintain motivation]. I knew it was just one month to go. I loved every little bit of the intervals. I thought, ‘This is the last time I have to do this.’ I didn’t have to train with endurance any more — just hard and vicious.

"I remember the hardest one was six times eight minutes at the race speed we planned, plus five per cent, so basically six times eight minutes in the red. We planned for 51km, plus five per cent, so my heart rate was just immediately through the limit after the first one.

"I was basically in the foetal position, saying, ‘Mamma, I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to abandon this project!’ So that was hard.”

Sometimes you just need to rest

“The biggest training mistake I made was not taking enough rest. Sometimes you have to be brave and just give your body a rest. If your body is yelling and screaming at you, sometimes it’s not laziness, it’s just that your body really needs your help.

"Sometimes you have to be brave and say, ‘The work is done, I just need the shape to come.’ Chris Boardman would tell me, ‘You know what, Jens, in the last week before the Tour de France, you can’t improve your shape, but you can very well run yourself into the ground by training too much.’ That’s so true.”

Keep healthy post-retirement

“I still ride because, in my job for Trek, they make me ride. They signed me up for the Ride Across Wisconsin, which is 175 miles — not kilometres, miles! I have to maintain a little bit of fitness because riding my bike is still a big part of my job.

>>> Listen to your body: don’t ignore the warning signs of injury

"Even more important for me as a father of six children, I cannot afford to have a heart attack in two years because I didn’t train… I still ride and run; more running now.”

Following doctor’s orders isn’t always possible

“I asked the team doctor in the Tour last year how much cycling I should do after I retire. He said, ‘The way you have done cycling at the highest level for 33 years, you should do 60 per cent of the quality and quantity of the last year’s training.’

"Suddenly Mikel [Zabala, physiologist] was laughing his head off, saying, ‘You want to stop, but 60 per cent is basically like you are just cutting out the racing from your life and still training as normal.’

"That would mean that I would have had to have ridden 20,000km this year. There was no way in hell I was going to do that.”

Newcomers need to be honest with themselves

“What I see again and again is that you should know your limits, pace yourself. I see it all the time: newcomers or beginners want too much, too soon and then they burn their matches too soon because they become frustrated that they have sore muscles, a sore knee or sore butt. First, be honest to yourself.”

You need to make a plan

“Know where you want to go and what you want to train for. If you want to train for the Masters World Championships in Maastricht, then yes, you’re going to need to train a lot, but if you just want to keep a reasonably fit body, you don’t need to train five hours five times a week. So have a plan and be honest with yourself. Look at where you’ve come from and where you are currently. Have a plan and be realistic with yourself, and pace yourself.”

Find a training plan that suits you

Credit: Cycling Active

Cycling training plans: for beginners, intermediates and racers

Get into cycling, get fitter, or ride faster with our cycling training plans

Don’t take on too much

“Whether you are married or not, with or without children, how much time do you have to spare? And what are your goals? Do you want to drop five kilos? Do you want to become lean? Do you want to win the British National Championship?

"Have an idea where you want to go, look at yourself and see if you can. Are you at zero or, if you trained before, do you just need to freshen up? Out of those pieces of the puzzle, you can create a picture that fits for you.

>>> How to get faster as you get older

"It helps to train with groups to get motivation and have support. Be ambitious, but also be honest with yourself. Take a rest too. I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen that having three good days of training and one day off is better than just pushing on and on.”

It’s all down to you — you’re on your own

“In cycling, there are no shortcuts. If you want to achieve something you have to do the hours on the bike. In soccer, if you are tired, you can stand on the field and team-mates can run for you and cover your ass. In cycling, no one will cover your ass. If you’re dropped, you’re dropped. Whatever you want to achieve, you have to do the training for it.”

Eat right, ride right

Jens Voigt: 30 years of hard work and rewards

1971: Born in Grevesmühlen, East Germany.

1985: Joins national sports school.

1994: Wins Peace Race.

1997: Turns pro with ZVVZ-Giant-Australian Institute of Sport.

1998: Joins GAN.

1999: Wins Critérium International

(the first of five times).

2001: Wins Grand Prix des Nations; wears yellow in Tour and wins a stage.

2004: Joins CSC.

2006: Wins second Tour stage.

2008: Wins Giro stage.

2011: Joins Leopard-Trek.

July 2014: Takes part in his 17th Tour de France.

September 2014: Sets new World Hour record, aged 43 (51.110km).

December 2014: Becomes coach with Trek Factory Racing, having retired from pro cycling.

Anyone who follows Jens Voigt on Twitter will know the German former Trek cyclist is a bit eclectic when it comes to what he shares with the fans.

Whether it's live blogging his daughter's horse riding lessons, doing the school run or travelling the world as an ambassador for Trek, the man does it all.

But in a 20-minute streak on Monday lunchtime, the 43-year-old covered a series of topics that would otherwise never be discussed together, including the global economy and women's football.

Of course, he bookended it with a bit of Tour de France analysis, some of which was more relevant than others, including a very interesting question about roundabouts.

1. 12:53pm - Voigt ponders who his 'Domestique of the Day' for stage two was.

2. 12:57pm - After four minutes of pondering, Voigt plumps for Daniele Bennati, who guided Alberto Contador into the front group, despite puncturing himself.

3. 1:03pm - Moving on to Monday's stage, Voigt wonders why Fabian Cancellara had dropped off the back of the peloton...rumour has it the Swiss had a puncture in the neutral zone.

4. 1:06pm - Just three minutes after thinking about the state of Fabian Cancellara, Voigt turns his attentions to the state of the financial crisis in Greece.

5. 1:07pm - And he seamlessly links to the Women's World Cup, where Germany finished fourth.

6. 1:12pm - As if the 20 minutes had never happened, Voigt turns his attentions back to the important subject of the Tour de France road furniture.

Jensie is providing guest commentary on ITV4's coverage of the Tour de France this year, in which, thankfully, he sticks to talking about cycling, and is pretty good at it too.

Watch highlights of stage two of the Tour de France

Former Hour Record holder Jens Voigt has scaled back his summation of Bradley Wiggins’s highly-anticipated attempt next month.

Voigt was the first professional following the UCI rule revision to contest and break the record in September, which he held for six weeks. The title has changed hands three times since with barely enough space between each to profit from commercial promotion.

Wiggins will be the seventh rider and oldest since Voigt to challenge for the record on June 7. The 35-year-old is bullish about beating the new 52.937km benchmark burgeoning compatriot Alex Dowsett set last week.

>>> Alex Dowsett sets new UCI Hour Record

Voigt believes experience will prevail and Olympic time trial champion Wiggins will meet his reported target of 54km, but not surpass it.

“Two months ago I said he’s going to do 54.5km to 55km. Now after seeing what the others did, they gain little by little but it’s not that somebody goes like that now,” said Voigt, gesturing quickly upwards. “Looking at Bradley in Flanders and Roubaix I reduced that. I think he’s going to do 54 exactly.”

Voigt said he rode too conservatively in his own 51.115km attempt that culminated a long road career.

The 43-year-old German said Wiggins’s illustrious record on the track will put him in good stead.

“He has so much background that he has no problem with staying on the ideal black line, he will have no problem finding the right gears for him because he was an Olympic champion and world champion on the track so he knows how to do that,” Voigt said.

“What you want to do is to be not in the green, not in the red level but in the dark orange, so just on your anaerobic threshold, and stay there.

“The body works most efficient if you keep the effort stable so I think that’s what you aim for. It is a time trial so what hurts the body more is the ups and downs. If you go easy for a moment, harder, easy, that becomes intervals and it makes the body work harder than it should. I think he knows about that.”

Voigt purported the benefits of a metronomic approach that Australian Rohan Dennis and Hour Record successor Dowsett both adopted. Wiggins is set to be as rigid in his lead-up and execution.

“I split it up in three 20-minute parts and I was too conservative in the middle,” Voigt said.

“I knew if I had two minutes to my own timetable I had three laps to the old record so I felt safe. I’m 43 years old so I knew I wasn’t going to have the record forever. I just wanted to break it and retire so I eased up in the middle 20 minutes, to play it safe, as I remember how Eddy Merckx said it was the hardest thing he’d ever done and he would never do it again.

“I went back in the lap times to the original plan. Instead of 17.6 seconds I went to 18 seconds, which doesn’t sound much but you feel it. It’s like 20 watts less, 10 heartbeats less, it’s huge. There I lost maybe two laps.

“I think I could have been close to [Matthias] Brändle but I could never beat Rohan Dennis or Alex Dowsett, no. Maybe 10 years ago yes of course but not any more. I think I did well for not being a track specialist and 43.”

Immediate recovery has been a massive point of difference between each attempt. Dennis and Dowsett both lifted their bikes in celebration whereas the defeated Australian Jack Bobridge after his erratic try was almost manic.

>>> The most amazing thing about Dowsett’s Hour? He could have gone faster

“He definitely has far more potential than he could show on that day,” Voigt said. “He should have controlled himself better and his support team should have told him to ease. I don’t think he had the best advice. Now he’s going to be so scared about the pain he’s never going to go back and try that again.

“I couldn’t walk stairs for three days after,” he continued. “Everything hurts; your elbows from the position, your shoulders and your neck from keeping the head down, your legs burn, your lungs are screaming, your heart beats as if it’s going to burst out of your chest. It is hard on the whole body, even your feet burn.

"Contrary to a road time trial there is no downhills, no roundabouts, traffic lights where you could coast a little. It’s a fixed gear you’ve got to keep pedalling so there’s no chance of any sort of recovery. That’s why it is important to have the right gear and right timing for the effort.”

There is faint sentiment that Wiggins, if successful, will hold the record for a longer time than previous winners with no other attempt as yet publicly scheduled after his run in London.

Voigt was in Australia this week for one of several philanthropic projects he has dedicated time to since retiring from the sport.

Twitter: @SophieSmith86

Jens Voigt has described his new coaching role at Trek Factory Racing as his ‘dream job’.

The 43-year-old, who hung up his wheels after breaking the Hour Record in September, will work in a coaching and motivational role and undertake a course to become a directeur sportif, according to the team’s website.

>>> Time for burgers and beer: Jens Voigt looks back on his epic career

While Voigt may have to curb his attacking instincts when he takes control of the team, he hopes to inspire the team’s younger riders to take their chances in races.

“I am really looking forward to continue working with Trek Factory Racing, the team I love!” said Voigt. “Of course, it hurts seeing the boys go out for training in the morning and leaving the “old man” back at the hotel. But I am sure that this is the dream job after my active career on the bike.

“I've always raced with my heart and left all I had on the road. I'm super happy to share my advice and especially help the young riders to race like that in the future. I want to inspire them to take chances and be an active part of a race.”

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at a promotional event for the turbo trainer game Zwift, Voigt revealed his secrets for success: “I don't have one, I have three: self belief beyond reason, no short cuts and it isn't over until you cross the line.”

There’s much more to Mr Voigt’s career than a smiling face and gutsy breakaways. The five-time winner of the Critérium International and two-time winner of the Tour of Germany was instrumental in Carlos Sastre’s 2008 Tour de France victory, and ‘Jensie’ himself has enjoyed his own share of glory in La Grande Boucle. At this year’s Grand Départ in Yorkshire, millions of fans watched him give it a big trademark “shut-up legs” to scale the Dales ahead of the field. And Voigt evidently enjoyed being presented with the polka-dot jersey by Prince Harry, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

What made you choose cycle racing over other sports when you were young?

JV: Where I come from [Grevesmühlen, in the former East Germany], we had track and field and I liked it. One day we had a long jump training session and I believe I jumped as hard as I could but the coach wouldn’t believe me, so he made me run two penalty laps. I didn’t like it, so I was out of there. Cycling was the other big sport in my little home village. I was 10 years old, and one day the cycle coach said, “Whoever signs up with us this afternoon will get a brand new Diamant bike.” I was very excited to get a free bike. In East Germany, we had only one company producing bikes, Diamant, and Trek bought them after the Berlin Wall came down. I now ride for Trek, which has been kind enough to offer bikes for my kids. So my kids are now riding the same bikes as I did when I was younger.

Who were your cycling idols when you were growing up?    

JV: When I was young, we lived behind the Iron Curtain, so I only knew Eddy Merckx from the other side, and a little bit about Bernard Hinault. But I knew all about the East European cyclists, so they were my heroes: Olaf Ludwig, who turned professional with Panasonic, and then Team Telekom, for instance. I had his pictures on my bedroom wall.

What is the most memorable race of your career?

JV: My victory at the Paris-Bourges in 2003, which was unexpected because I just raced on instincts and guts alone. I had not trained and had been out all night in the bar a couple of nights before. It was not an easy time, as I was about to leave the team and relations with the management were not good.

How did it feel riding up the Champs-Elysées for the last time in July?

JV: Well, the Tour is 21 stages, and in about 20 of the stages, there were moments when I thought, “Yep, good that I’ve finished because this is getting too hard or too dangerous.” But the last day, into Paris, was comparatively easy. I actually felt good and there were a million people on the streets. Then I thought, “Yep, I’m gonna miss this.”

Tell us about your playlist for the World Hour record?

JV: Well, it was my show, so I could play what I wanted! I do like rock music. It kept me going. When I was in CSC-Saxo Bank, Karsten Kroon put on music by DJ Chester. And I said: “Who the hell is DJ Chester?” Karsten said, “Are you insane? He’s the biggest DJ in the world!” The next day I had enough of hearing that music, so I put on Iron Maiden. Then in walks Karsten Kroon, saying “Who the hell is that?” I said: “Are you insane?...” When we had more Swedish and Danish riders, they also liked Iron Maiden, so I had support. But all the old guys who liked that music retired, and I was stuck with the young kids who just played disco and techno music. Well, now I won’t have to listen to that any more!

What else won’t you miss?

JV: I have 17 years of pro cycling behind me, and I have a titanium screw in my left hand, and my right hand will never be 100 per cent straight. I broke my collarbone three times as well. I’m definitely not going to miss the risk of crashing, and the crashes. Another thing I’m not going to miss is the stress of fighting for position. I realised I didn’t like the stress of pushing people with my elbows. You realise you are getting slower and older and you feel the need to be more careful.

On those days when you had to get up the morning after a bad day, what motivated you to get out of bed?

JV: Yes, sometimes I had days where I had burn-out syndrome but there’s nothing I could do about it. I have six kids, who need breakfast, go to school, to kindergarten, so I had to kick myself out of bed and help my wife and my mother-in-law, who lives with us. Sometimes you have bad moments in training.

How would you deal with those?

JV: Sometimes you just need people to cheer you up, so you look for a group to train with. Other times, you try and avoid meeting anyone, just have some time to reflect for yourself. Fortunately, I only felt this in the last few months of my career. During my last winter of training, I had moments where I sighed and thought, “I don’t want to do this any more.” Up until then, I had enjoyed being a racer 99 per cent of the time.

From where do you get your work ethic and generosity?

JV: My dad always told me, “Once you reach the top level and you are up there, you should never forget where you came from, the people who helped you get there and what got you there. So don’t forget your old friends. Don’t forget your roots. And don’t forget that hard work gets you up there.”

What keeps you grounded?

JV: My wife and the kids. I go home and my daughter says, “Daddy, I did my first forward roll today!” They are different priorities, but I really think that having a good family helps you stay grounded and get your priorities right. I mean, sport is great, bike riding is great, but it’s just a sport, and sometimes you’ve got to remind yourself of that.

How are you finding retirement?

JV: It still hasn’t fully sunk in, but I am enjoying all the burgers and beers I want! The children were happy when I told them daddy is retiring and is going to have more time. But I now realise I’m still very busy, even though I’m retired.

How so?

JV: Yesterday I was at a meeting in Hanover doing a motivational speech; today I’m here in Birmingham. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a millionaire! I’ve been well paid, I have a nice house but I have six kids to feed. I live in Germany and pay my taxes there. I’m not living in Monaco or Switzerland, so I will need and also want a job that keeps me busy.

And what will that be?

JV: I will still be working for Trek, and for the rest of this year I will be working on a book with a friend. Next year I will do a bit of everything by trial and error and then after that I will focus

on what I am good at.

Would you go on the German equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing or Big Brother?

JV: I have two words: f*** that! I’d have to be insane to do that. I did 17 years of professional cycling, so I’ve had enough years in the spotlight. I’m not craving for that sort of attention any more, and I think you make yourself smaller by signing up for that. What I should do, which would be a huge success, is something like The Osbornes, to show my family life — my wife and me, six kids, my mother-in-law, two dogs, a cat and six rabbits.

Sounds good to us. Any other ideas for TV shows?

JV: Maybe I could be on an American series like CSI where I get shot and play a dead body. Nobody would hear my accent and think, “Look at that stupid German.” I can just lie there with my tongue hanging out and then they could cut me open and say: “Ah, look at his liver, he must have really liked alcohol during his life!”

How would you sum up your career?

JV: My career was not always a stroll in the park. I had to fight for whatever I got but I am happy and am proud of the way I did it, and if I were at the start line again, I probably wouldn’t change a thing. I want to be remembered as someone who was loyal, indestructible, hard-working, and usually had a smile on his face.

Interview by Maria David 

Jens Voigt already enjoying life on civvy street

Credit: Ulf Schiller

Jens Voigt sets new Hour Record

Jens Voigt closes career with new World Hour Record of 51.115km

Trek Factory Racing set for change in 2015

Trek Factory Racing is preparing itself for a revamp for 2015. Is it really a case out with the old

It may have only been 15 days since Jens Voigt retired after setting a new World Hour Record, but the 43-year-old German has taken no time settling into his new post-peloton life.

After 17 years as a professional cyclist, spending most of his life following a strict diet, training regime and travelling  the world, Voigt has fully embraced the joys that not being a professional athlete brings. And he’s been documenting it all on his popular Twitter page.

The day after the hour record and Voigt is out walking his dog Linda.

On his way to the cycle show and he can drink whatever he wants without worrying about the affect it will have on his form.

His diet is heading downhill, but who can blame him

It's not all booze and poor diet, there's work to be done at home and no excuse to get out of it.

A day out at the zoo

Like every good cyclist, Voigt still has time to reminisce

So in the end, after a career that’s been marked by sheer heroism more often than by conventional glory, Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing) got the retirement party that he had come for. The record books will record that on 18th September 2014, Jens Voigt (GER) recorded 51.115km in Grenchen, Switzerland to set a new record.

Historians who want to add a little detail might note that he was ahead of his schedule the whole way, and beat the 2005 record of Ondrej Sosenka (set on a conventional drop-barred bike under the old ‘Athlete’s’ rules) by 1.315km.

But they won’t capture the heart of Jens Voigt. It wasn’t an easy ride. The first ten minutes was relaxed and controlled, but as former holder Chris Boardman once said, if you pace an hour even close to correctly the first ten minutes has to feel like it’s for free.

After that, it started to get hard. An average speed that had held steady at about 50.8kph since the first few laps started to drift downwards, first to 50.7kph, then a whisper less.

Voigt’s line around the track started to get a little ragged – at the exit of each curve a little weave up the track. After 28 minutes, he got off the tribars to stretch his back, then he got out of the saddle altogether for a few pedal strokes. When he sat back down, it took him a couple of laps to settle back to the task. The speed dropped to just over 50.6kph.

It was a critical moment in the ride. He was 30 seconds up on the record, but that was a margin that could have dribbled away very quickly if he wasn’t able to stay in position and keep pushing the pedals around. The gear of 55x14 was big enough that if he couldn’t stay on top of it, it would get on top of him.

He steadied things. He stayed in position and held a solid 50.64kph for the next thirty laps, like a metronome, till the 40-minute point. It wasn’t a tidy bit of track riding – he drifted up in the curves, and once or twice slewed down the banking in the straights. But it was effective.

And then, wonderfully, the average started to drift up again. By 44 minutes into the ride, the speed had inched back to 50.7kph. A small margin, but a huge achievement for a rider in the last third of an hour record ride. By 50 minutes it was 50.8kph.

In the last ten minutes, it was clear that he was going to do it. The crowd believed. The atmosphere in the track became a celebration, for everyone except the man on the bike, still alone with just the lines on the track for company. But even with the pain on his face, he knew he was going to do it. He said immediately afterwards that he’d known he’d do it even at the half-hour mark, where he was struggling.

And the last minutes were truly glorious. He opened the taps as far as they’d go, to hoist his average to 50.8kph, then 50.9kph, then, with four minutes to go, and to a huge cheer from the crowd, to 51kph. With 90 seconds of the ride left he blasted past the existing record, with enough time left for another five laps – laps of honour where he set a new record with every pedal stroke.

The final distance was 51.115km, and the last lap the fastest of the entire ride at almost 53kph. It was the best possible way for a man who’d spent the previous 30 years pushing against his own limits again and again to blast into retirement.

Credit: Ulf Schiller

Jens Voigt sets new Hour Record

Jens Voigt closes career with new World Hour Record of 51.115km

It was agonising, and not particularly pretty, but Jens Voigt succeeded in his attempt to break the world Hour record at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen. In his last act as a professional athlete, he rode 51.115 kilometres, breaking Ondrej Sosenka’s previous best by over a kilometre.

Voigt was right on schedule throughout the attempt, even managing to lift himself in the last 10 minutes to bring his average speed up above 51 kilometres per hour, right at the top limit of the target he’d set himself. Despite repeatedly having to raise himself from the saddle to stretch his back and legs and relieve the pain, his momentum never looked like slowing significantly.

As Europe’s The Final Countdown echoed around the track, Voigt passed 199 laps, and broke Sosenka’s record with 90 seconds still to ride. With the crowd on their feet and Voigt’s face locked into that famous grimace for one final time, he managed still to squeeze out more, adding five and a half more laps before the velodrome clock ticked over to one hour. And since the rules of the Hour require the rider to finish their final lap, we were treated to just a few more exquisite seconds of Jens Voigt.

“I couldn’t ask for a better goodbye than this,” said Voigt after his attempt. “It was a very intense event.”

Voigt compared the Hour to being in a breakaway in a road race, a situation he has been in many times before. “There’s no break in the hour. No uphill to get out of the saddle, no coasting or hiding behind a team-mate,” he said. “It was like being in the last 15 kilometres of a break, just trying to make it before getting caught by the peloton. I had to get out of the seat to relax my behind a little. I can hardly walk now.”

Brian Cookson, the UCI president, also paid tribute to Voigt. “It was a great performance by a superb athlete,” he said. “We wanted to bring back the magic of the Hour, and Jens has done a great service to cycling tonight.”

Voigt has now surely opened the floodgates for further attempts. The Trek team now have a wealth of data to put into an attempt by Fabian Cancellara. The Swiss rider had looked at breaking the “Merckx” position record, until the UCI relaxed the technical regulations this year, opening the record up to riders using tri-bars. Now that Voigt has paved the way, Cancellara could realistically expect to add a couple of kilometres to Voigt’s distance. Tony Martin, who has overtaken Cancellara as the world’s best time triallist in the last couple of seasons, could break it, and Bradley Wiggins, who is by far the most experienced track rider among the world’s best time triallists, could make it a target.

During his post-Hour press conference, Voigt said that the challenge now was for Wiggins, Martin and Fabian [Cancellara] to try to set a new distance. “OK, boys, it’s up to you. Give it to me,” he said.

But these attempts, even if they happen, are in the future. The Hour record holder is Jens Voigt, who set a new mark the day after his 43rd birthday, at an age when most professional bike riders have been retired 10 years or more. As a finale to an illustrious career, it could not have been more fitting. Although Voigt’s greatest exploits have all happened on the road, the Hour attempt gave him a definite stopping point, and a memorable one.

“I’m happy, but also a little sad. I will miss the fans, the atmosphere and talking to them,” Voigt said. “It’s also a little frightening. I’ve had 33 years of cycling and it’s all gone now.”

Voigt is one of the most popular riders in cycling – his attacking style, and evocative quotes make him a fans’ favourite. The crowd at the Velodrome Suisse, cowbells, Mexican waves and all, carried him round the track on a surging groundswell of noise. And once the presentations were made, the German national anthem sung and the speeches done, Voigt left the VIPs and bigwigs at the centre of the velodrome, walked across the track, climbed over the barriers and went into the crowd, to shake hands, pose for selfies, and enjoy one last communion with the fans. It was an emotional but happy farewell.

Jens Voigt 's attempt on the Hour Record takes place this evening (Thursday, September 18) and will be broadcast on a variety of media depending on where you live.

In the UK

Viewers in Great Britain can watch The Jensie's attempt via digital broadcaster British Eurosport.

5.30-7.15pm, LIVE coverage, British Eurosport and British Eurosport HD

8.45-9.45pm, highlights, British Eurosport and British Eurosport HD

In the USA

Trek Bicycles will be broadcasting live coverage of Voigt's ride for viewers in the USA via its website.

Everywhere else

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) will show free coverage of the attempt via its YouTube channel. This will be geo-restricted due to TV rights, so you won't be able to watch it in the UK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjjM2tI6THs

On www.cyclingweekly.com

We will be covering Voigt's attempt with reports, photos and coverage via our Twitter feed.

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Jens Voigt holds press conference on eve of his attempt at the Hour Record in Switzerland

Ahead of tonight's Hour Record attempt at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Jens Voigt has revealed some of the tunes he'll be listening to on the big day, and during the ride itself.

Some critics — not Cycling Weekly, obviously — might suggest that getting through the playlist will be a tougher feat of endurance than the 60-minute sprint.

In a Q&A published on the Trek Factory Racing website, Voigt has revealed that the tunes that will get  him in the mood include Bryan Adams' 'Summer Of 69' and Journey's 'Wheel In The Sky'.

When we're all watching Eurosport as Jens blasts off the line, he'll be listening to Republica's 'Ready To Go'.  There's plenty of heavy stuff to come as the playlist includes some AC/DC, Metallica and a bit of Sabbath too.

And for the warm down? Well, why anyone would rewards themselves for such a mammoth effort by listening to 'Zombie' by The Cranberries is just baffling. But Jens is Jens — and everyone knows how much he loves a bit of suffering.

What would be on your 60-minute playlist?

More of Jens' playlist

Warmup:

• REO Speedwagon "Keep On Loving You"
• Bryan Adams "Summer Of 69"
• Journey "Wheel In The Sky"
• Air supply "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All"
• Metallica "Turn The Page"

Hour Record:

• Republica "Ready To Go"
• P.O.D. "Feel So Alive"
• Metallica "One"
• AC/DC "Hells Bells"
• AC/DC "Highway To Hell"
• Farmerboys "Here Comes The Pain"
• Ugly Kid Joe "Goddam Devil"
• AC/DC "Thunderstruck"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
• Metallica “Frayed Ends Of sanity"
• Europe "Final Countdown"

Cooldown:

• Metallica "Nothing Else Matters"
• Cranberries "Zombie"
• Kansas "Dust In The Wind"
• Air Supply "All out of love"
• Lita Ford/ Ozzy Osbourne "Close my eyes forever"

Jens' Playlist on Spotify

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Jens Voigt will attempt to set a new mark for the Hour Record today in Switzerland. Here we run through how he will set about taking on this iconic challenge. And what happens if it goes wrong.

How far is Voigt going to ride?

Further than 49.7 kilometres, is the plan. Voigt and his team seem pretty confident that there will be a fairly comfortable margin for the rider to play with. During his press conference on the eve of the event, Voigt stated that the first 30 minutes would be on a 50.5-kilometre schedule, and that he would then assess whether he could give more. To be fair, he also acknowledged that he might have to dial back his effort if he was already straying too close to the red line.

Voigt also admitted that anything above 51 kilometres per hour would be very pleasing, and he and his team have had the luxury of extensive testing and training over the last three weeks to zero in on a level of effort they know is sustainable. The team seem confident that 50.5-kilometres to 51 kilometres is the most likely outcome, but possibly more, if Voigt is able to lift himself in the second half of his attempt.

There are some more in-depth details. The weather in Grenchen today is cloudy, indicating low air pressure, which will help the attempt. The velodrome is not considered as fast as Manchester, for example, but it’s at 450 metres’ altitude, which will nudge the distance up slightly. On the other hand, Voigt’s had to make compromises between getting as aero as possible without sacrificing power and efficiency. He’s worked on keeping to the black line (where distance will be measured) – his normal riding style involves considerable weaving and movement.

Basically, he should break the record, but just because he’s popular with fans and seen as one of the sport’s supreme fighters, doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for him. He’ll hurt, and he’ll break the record, but he won’t put it on the shelf.

What are the technical details of his bike?

Voigt’s hour record bike is a modified Trek Speed Concept 9, which is the company’s road time trial bike. The spacing at the rear has been modified for the track, but the geometry is the same as the road bike – Trek’s technical director Jordan Roessingh admitted that if they’d had more time, they’d have liked to design a bike specifically for the attempt. To make it more aerodynamic, normal additions like the cable housing have been filled in.

Voigt will ride 55x14 gearing, with 177.5mm cranks. He felt that 53x14 and 54x14 would have him spinning his legs too fast. He also said that he’d be riding at “360 to 370” watts for the attempt.

What happens if Voigt suffers a mechanical?

It depends. There’s a good option and a bad option, depending on how early in the attempt this happens.

Voigt has actually rehearsed the scenario of a puncture. During a 30-minute effort two days before the attempt, he slowed and stopped, as if he had a puncture, rolled round to where a helper had a spare wheel, changed it, and accelerated. The time lost was considerable, although with a smooth changeover, it wouldn’t affect the prospect of success.

An early mechanical wouldn’t be as disastrous as a late one. Voigt said, “It depends when it happens. If it happens in the first five minutes, we’ll stop, take an hour to recover and go again. If it happens in the last five minutes, well, I don’t know. To be honest, we don’t have a Plan B.”

Is Cancellara going to go for the record next?

Although he claims to have lost interest in the record after May’s rule changes (he’d been looking at going for the hour record using the “Merckx” position), Fabian Cancellara will watch Voigt’s attempt with interest. The Swiss rider would easily beat Voigt’s distance if he spent the appropriate time training in a velodrome, and he has the advantage that Trek will have a large body of data and research from Voigt’s attempt to give them a head start.

My colleague Michael Hutchinson has pointed out that there’s an SRM unit behind the saddle of Voigt’s bike. Why would he need the information, seeing as he is retiring? Watch carefully when he finishes the attempt, too. Before any handshakes or victory (we presume) salutes, his support team are going to take a blood lactate sample. If Cancellara doesn’t announce an attempt in the next year or so, we’d be very surprised.

How is Voigt dealing with the pressure?

So well that it’s hard to believe that there actually is any pressure.

Although Voigt’s first choice was to try to break the record at his home velodrome of Berlin, Grenchen has turned out to be the ideal place. The velodrome includes a small hotel, so he’s been able to base himself there away from the media and other distractions, and he’s already “retired” from road racing, so there are no scheduling problems.

The sense is that most other hour record attempts are career-defining for the athletes involved. Graeme Obree went so far to describe his hour record as an existential challenge. For Voigt, it looks like a bit of fun (albeit very painful) to mark the end of his career in a more noteworthy way than just hanging up his wheels after a road race, and there appears to be none of the stress that have marked other attempts.

Jens Voigt prepared to suffer for Hour Record

"I do know it’s going to be pretty hard on my body" says Jens Voigt on evening before Hour attempt

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Jens Voigt holds press conference on eve of his attempt at the Hour Record in Switzerland

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On the eve of his Hour ride, Jens Voigt admitted that he knew exactly how tough the event can be. Three-time Hour Record breaker Chris Boardman was his first roommate as a young pro in the Credit Agricole team in 1997, and Voigt was there for the final Boardman Hour in 2000:

“I was lucky to be friends with Chris, and to be there at his last hour record in Manchester,” Voigt said. “I remember we had breakfast together the next day, with his family and mine, and he could hardly walk. So I do know it’s going to be pretty hard on my body.”

Boardman isn’t the only record holder Voigt has been in touch with:

“My coach here, Daniel Gisiger, the Swiss national track coach, held the amateur record once himself. So he has explained me a few things to me, like how to ride, how to approach it mentally. I also had a brief meeting with Tony Rominger [who broke the record in 1994] this morning, he was here at the track and we exchanged a few words and experiences.”

For his part, Chris Boardman said he was interested to see how his old roommate fared. “It’s going to be a bit messy, I suspect. Just how you ride the track can add up to hundreds of metres over an hour. How he’ll do is real guesswork, there are so many variables. But sticking my thumb in the air… maybe 51km, or something thereabouts.”

Voigt has worked hard on his trackcraft, though. “I’m not a typical track rider,” he said. “So it’s hard to stay on the black line in the corners, not to drift up. The further up you go, the longer you make the lap. So I had to work hard on that. And it’s also hard to keep the position – the shoulders in, the head down to make the air flow smoothly. You can get super-aero, but it’s difficult to hold that position for an hour and be able to pedal and to breathe: maybe if you squeeze your shoulders together a little bit more, you are a bit more aero but you can’t breathe. We have found a good compromise.

“Our DS Adriano Baffi came to see me, and said, ‘Wow, you are looking pretty good.’ Heiko Salzwedel [former Australian, British and Danish track coach] came by, he is now working for the Swiss federation, and he said it was a good position for somebody who has just come from the road. I think for me and my shape and for what I want to do, we have an ideal position.”

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Jens Voigt is confident that he will break the World Hour Record on Thursday evening at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen.

At a press conference on the eve of his attempt, which will mark his retirement as a professional cyclist, the German announced his schedule and equipment choices, revealing that he would ride a conservative and controlled first thirty minutes, then “see how much is left”. He needs to ride further than 49.700 kilometres to beat Ondrej Sosenka’s record, and believes he has a safe margin to set a new mark.

“If it turns out to be 51 kilometres in the end, I’ll be very happy,” he said. “But we have a conservative approach to it.”

“I’m an emotional person, so one of the biggest challenges will be not to start too fast,” he continued. “If you aim at 50 or 51 kilometres, it feels easy for the first 10 minutes, but you’ve got to ride for another 50 minutes. The challenge will be not to get too excited.

“I’m going to do the first 30 minutes at a controlled speed, let’s say 50.5 or 50.4 kilometres per hour, and then we can see how much I can give to finish it off. If I’m already in the red by then, I’m really going to suffer and struggle in the second half. But I’m still planning on being ahead of the old record by a comfortable margin at the halfway point.”

Voigt has been based at the Velodrome Suisse for three weeks. He’d initially pencilled in riding the Tour of Austria, then attacking the record the weekend after the Tour de France, but selection for the Tour team meant that he had to put the attempt back to September. Twice-daily training sessions at the velodrome, which is 450 metres above sea-level, and extensive equipment testing, have given Voigt the confidence that he can beat the mark.

In his last major training session last Friday, he underwent a dress rehearsal for his attempt, using the bike, wheels, helmet and skinsuit that he will use on Thursday, riding a 30-minute effort at race pace from a standing start. Following a six-minute break, he then did a 40-minute effort. “It was one hour and 10 minutes in total, with a six-minute break, so I think we were really close to real conditions.”

Following the record attempt, retirement beckons for Voigt after 17 seasons as a top-level professional. The German admitted that while he was looking forward it, he was also nervous about the imminent change in his life.

“This is the thing I’ve been doing longest in my life,” he said. “I’ve been married 11 years, I went to school for 12 years, but I’ve been cycling 36 years. It’s frightening. I’m happy and relieved that there’s no more suffering, no more training, no more pressure to perform, or fight for a position on a downhill or in a sprint. It will be a huge challenge to stop, but I’ve known this would happen since the start of the year, so I’ve had time to get myself ready for it.”

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When Jens Voigt made his professional debut for the Australian team ZZVZ-Giant-AIS in 1997, it would have been difficult for him, or indeed anyone associated with cycling at the time, to imagine the impact he would have on the sport.

He was clearly a talented rider, having won the Peace Race as an amateur in 1994, along with other notable races at the time. Yet his legacy would be defined not only by his palmarès but by his iconic status within sport’s cultural fabric, where he has become synonymous with cyclists' masochistic desire for pain and suffering.

Having completed the USA Pro Challenge, his final race as a professional, Voigt can reflect on a career that has seen a cycling club named in his honour, a line of clothing and merchandise emblazoned with his famous ‘Shut up legs!’ catchphrase, and nearly 200,000 followers on Twitter — where, in imitable style, he relays long-winded tales over a series of tweets.

Face of suffering

Now, at the age of 42 and after 17 years as a professional, Voigt built a reputation for relentlessly attacks.

A breakaway mainstay, Voigt won three stages of the Tour de France and worn the yellow jersey on two occasions, having started every edition since 1998, equalling the record number of Tours ridden (17) held jointly by George Hincapie and Stuart O’Grady. Over that time, he has ridden for nine different teams, most often in the service of other riders, such as Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso and the Schleck brothers.

Even in his swansong year he was characteristically prominent at the front of races, most notably on stage one of this year’s Tour de France from Leeds to Harrogate. In a stage earmarked for the sprinters, his three-man breakaway was never going to stick, but he did go on to claim the polka-dot jersey and the stage’s combativity award.

In a sport where the poker face of the overall contenders masks the reality of the pain they are experiencing, Voigt’s open-mouthed grimace, etched across his face as he churns out a fast pace, is equalled only by the facial contortions of Thomas Voeckler.

Watching Voigt turn the screw, be it in a breakaway, time trial or at the head of the bunch, is to watch a man wrestling with his bike and his body.

He is the antithesis of souplesse. On a bike, his 6ft 3in frame is always striking, with its ungainly style, the bike moving from side-to-side in a manner that makes you wonder what Voigt could have achieved had he been able to tame his significant yet wild physical attributes. In post-race interviews, his friendly, affable nature is barely identifiable as the monster who was foaming at the mouth as he poured on the power just 15 minutes earlier.

Voigt’s open acknowledgment of pain as a state of mind to be combated, repressed and ultimately overcome is perhaps part of the reason he is revered by cycling fans as the

hardman of the peloton. He is relatable, and in his suffering fans recognise a reflection of their own difficult days on the bike — and are inspired to tough it out when the rest of the body is screaming to stop.

Voigt’s perspective on hard work and effort, expressed most famously in his view on breakaways — “If you go, you can either win or not win. If you don’t go for it, you definitely won’t win” — resonates with fans of the ‘better to have tried and lost than never to have tried at all’ philosophy.

With six children (and a dog named Linda), Voigt must have been tempted to sit back and allow family to take over. Instead, he's taking on the Hour Record — and cyclists all over the world are wishing him well.

Especially those who, for the first time in 17 years, can relax from having to reel him in.

Jensies' greatest hits

Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 2005

Having had a successful, yet ultimately winless Classics campaign, Voigt attacked with over 50 kilometres remaining of La Doyenne on the Côte de La Vecquée. The only rider to identify the move as dangerous was T-Mobile’s Alexandre Vinokourov, who moved swiftly on to the German’s wheel. As the race favourites looked around the pair quickly carved out a gap that hovered around a minute. When the chase finally found some cohesion behind them, Voigt’s huge turns on the front had generated enough of a time gap to make sure they would stay away. Despite a characteristically heroic ride, Voigt would ultimately pay for his efforts when Vinokourov jumped with 200 metres remaining to claim the win.

Tour de France, Stage 13, 2006

At 231 kilometres, from Béziers to Montélimar, stage 13 was the longest of the 2006 Tour and tailor made for a breakaway. After just 21 kilometres, Voigt was allowed to get away as part of a six-man group. Despite containing other rouleurs such as Sylvain Chavanel, Manuel Quinziato and Oscar Pereiro, the break had not been identified as a real threat to the overall and the gap grew to over 20 minutes. Attacking with four kilometres remaining, Voigt succeeded in dropping all but Pereiro and when the two contested the sprint the German had just enough to claim the second Tour stage win of his career. The main bunch eventually came in a staggering 29 minutes and 58 seconds behind.

Critérium International, 2009

The Critérium International was the one race that Voigt really made his own. In 2009 he was returning as defending champion and going for a record-equalling fifth overall success. Voigt had claimed the leader’s jersey on the second stage after escaping with Daniel Navarro and Jérôme Coppel, barely hanging on to win from a fast-chasing Danny Pate. On the back of this effort his directeur sportif, Kim Andersen, did not believe that his seven-second lead would be enough for Voigt to claim the title ahead of the final stage time trial. However, Voigt turned in yet another huge performance to finish fifth in the TT and claim his fifth title by just two seconds.

 Tour de France, Stage 16, 2010

When Voigt’s front tyre exploded on the descent of the Col de Peyresourde at the 2010 Tour, without a team car in sight, Voigt was faced with the prospect of abandoning the race. His bike was totalled, but determined to make it to Paris, he borrowed a child’s bike from one of the special events cars. Bruised and bleeding, Jens rode the 15km descent on a yellow number before picking up a bike at the foot of the descent. He went on to finish inside the time limit.

More on Voigt's Hour attempt

Jens Voigt will break the hour record, say Bradley Wiggins and Chris Boardman

Tour de France winner and former record holder back the veteran German to set the new "Unified" benchmark on Thursday.

Jens Voigt to tackle the Hour Record on September 18

"We believe that I have a fair chance," the German says of his chances.

“Jens Voigt can beat the one hour record in under 60 minutes,” reads the print along the top tube of his specially designed Hour Record bike. That’s the plan, anyway. Early Thursday evening, Voigt and his bike will be lapping the Velodrome Suisse at Grenchen, Switzerland, at around 50 kilometres per hour, perhaps more, and at some point before his 60 minutes are up, when he passes Ondrej Sosenka’s mark of 49.700 kilometres, he will become the new Hour Record Holder. How much further he’ll ride in the allotted time, we don’t know yet, but if all goes to plan, we’ll be celebrating the end of an illustrious career, and, perhaps a rebirth in interest in an illustrious cycling record.

Voigt has made a career out of defying time – his career as a professional stretches back 17 seasons to 1998 (and he was a comparatively late bloomer, turning pro at 26). It’s fitting that his last act as a professional athlete will be one final race against time, and against himself. He has also made a career out of ostentatiously visible suffering – either Voigt actually enjoys the agony of racing bikes or he’s simply good at conquering pain.

Thursday’s Hour attempt has captured the imagination of the cycling world. Voigt and his sponsors, Trek, have reignited interest in a record which was rendered dormant by a combination of bureaucratic interference and the fact that during the 1990s, a succession of riders took the record to such heights that to try to match them would be impossible.

The Hour is the blue riband record of the sport. Although technology has always made the playing field a little uneven, the record holds a special place in the history of the sport because it is a comparison across the ages. It’s the only arena where Jens Voigt can race Eddy Merckx, or Miguel Indurain can race Fausto Coppi.

Its modern history has been a story of brief flurries of activity, then periods of inactivity as riders take it as far as they think they can go, before the whole process is repeated. Eddy Merckx set what many considered to be an unbeatable 49.431 kilometres in 1972. But then Francesco Moser took advantage of modern training methods and aerodynamic equipment (and, he later admitted, blood doping) and raised the record to 51.151 kilometres in 1984.

Again, the record was seen as unbeatable, before two British riders, Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman, took turns in breaking the record in the early 1990s, leading to a period of unprecedented interest in the record. Miguel Indurain, then Tony Rominger raised the record to 53, then 55 kilometres. Then Chris Boardman, using the now-banned “Superman” position (invented by Obree) rode a scarcely believable 56.375 kilometres in 1996.

In a cack-handed attempt to keep the record relevant, the UCI decided to split the record into two: the “athletes’” hour (reset to Merckx’s distance, then beaten by Boardman and finally Sosenka), and Boardman’s “absolute” hour. The bureaucratic manoeuvring and regulation involved in setting the rules for the “athletes’” hour was so convoluted that it effectively killed the record until recently, when the rules were finally relaxed to allow modern UCI-approved equipment. Voigt is the first athlete to attempt the Hour under the new regulations.

The Hour Record is as simple as it is brutal. The cyclist rides round the velodrome for one hour, and that is it. But it’s an extremely physically arduous thing to do. It’s not an even effort – the forces exerted on the riders round each bend mean that the level of effort is constantly and painfully changing. Every lap, the rider accelerates into the bends, and accelerates out, twice. This is where Voigt may have trouble – he’s not an experienced track rider, and his riding style is visibly inefficient. The distance for the Hour is measured on the black line, and Voigt’s wheels usually deviate significantly from the straight line when he is riding hard.

Having to hold the aerodynamic position, with no possibility of freewheeling or coasting, no descents just to take the edge off the effort, means the body starts to break down. Peter Keen, Boardman’s coach, described the “cascade of pain” which descends down through the body. Voigt’s appetite for pain will be tested to the limit on Thursday.

Given that Sosenka’s 49.700 kilometres is seen as a relatively soft target, it’s likely that Voigt will become the latest holder of cycling’s blue riband record, by a healthy, but not massive distance (he’ll probably ride between 50.700 and 51 kilometres). It’s also likely that others will soon follow. Voigt’s team-mate Fabian Cancellara has ummed and aahed about attacking the Hour, but data from the German’s record will be invaluable if Cancellara does go for it.

Cancellara doesn’t have the track pedigree to ride a smooth hour, but his time trialling class could see him bring the record back above 52 kilometres. Tony Martin, currently the best time triallist in the world, should consider it. Also, Bradley Wiggins and perhaps Taylor Phinney have the track racing background and experience to break the record.

But it’s Voigt who has executed a coup in putting down first dibs on the revitalised Hour record. He’s been a professional rider for approximately 147,000 hours. His final hour, on Thursday evening in Switzerland, shouldn’t define his career, but we suspect it will be a fitting way to go out.

Edward Pickering is the author of The Race Against Time, which chronicles the Hour Record rivalry between Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman during the 1990s.

Twitter: @EdwardPickering

Jens Voigt will break the hour record, say Bradley Wiggins and Chris Boardman

Tour de France winner and former record holder back the veteran German to set the new "Unified" benchmark on Thursday.

Jens Voigt to tackle the Hour Record on September 18

"We believe that I have a fair chance," the German says of his chances.

Jens Voigt retires: a career in pictures

As ever-popular German Jens Voigt draws his 17-year career to a close, we collect some memorable images of the man

Fan-favourite Jens Voigt has not retired just yet: after seemingly bowing out of the sport at the recent US Pro Challenge race in Colorado, the 42-year-old German today announced he will attempt to break the Hour Record later this month.

Voigt announced the news of his attempt today. He will seek to beat the 49.7-kilometres that Ondřej Sosenka rode in 2005, at the Velodrome Swiss in Grenchen, Switzerland. Voigt's former Credit Agricole team-mate Chris Boardman held the record for five years prior to Sosenka's ride.

In a statement, Voigt said:

It’s a huge challenge for me, both physical and mental. This is a huge project and probably it’s going to come as a surprise for many people. We have been doing some discrete tests in the velodrome in Roubaix prior to the Dauphiné and we believe that I have a fair chance.

It’s a fascinating event: it’s super hard, but it’s a great discipline. Man and machine against the clock. A lot of logistics comes in play: when, where, how, etc. But I didn’t have to convince anybody: both Trek and our GM Luca Guercilena were all exited when I told them about my idea. They gave me a lot of support.

Voigt's former Trek Factory Racing team-mate Fabian Cancellara had previously spoken about his plans to attempt the record, but put his plans on hold in May.

"Luckily we could use some of the blueprints that were being drawn for Fabian, so we kind of hit the ground running," Voigt added.

Explaining his decision to take on the record, the German said:

Why I do this? Why not! Everyone saw the memo from the UCI. It’s been four months and I honestly find it quite strange that nobody has given it a try so far. We have 18 WorldTour teams, plus more than a 1000 pro continental riders and an immense group of amateurs that also can have a go. I’m not to blame that I take the chances that life - or in this case the UCI - gives me. I’m the first one that’s brave enough to do it. Everybody had the same time frame to be ready for it.

The hour record is one of the oldest events in our sport. I want to put a little bit of light and focus on this.

Recent National 10 champion Matt Bottrill had earmarked September 14 as a possible date for his proposed Hour Record attempt, but this was foiled by the UCI because he does not have a biological passport.

Tickets for Voigt's Hour Record are available online via the Velodrome Suisse website.

Monday, August 25 2014: The world of professional cycling is in a slightly poorer place after Jens Voigt drew his long career to a close at the age of 42 on Sunday.

Voigt chose the USA Pro Challenge as his final race and Jens being Jens, was part of the day's escape group surviving the clutches of the peloton until the final kilometre.

“Now there’s no more suffering, no more stress, no more risk of crashing – that was a high priority for me today to keep the rubber side down," Voigt said after his final race on Sunday. "[Today was] one more time to show myself, one more time to give it all I have, and now I have a one big, large, long holiday ahead of me."

Though he may have closed the final season of his career without a win, the German's palmares are full of victories, including two stages of the Tour de France and one at the Giro d'Italia. Voigt matched the record of 17 Tour de France participations this year.

He also excelled at shorter stage races, particularly those with a time trial, with wins in the Tour of Poland, Bayern-Rundfahrt, Tour of Germany, Tour Méditerranéen and no less than five wins in the Criterium International.

Voigt's first significant win was the Peace Race in 1994, but turned professional much later in 1997 for the Giant-Australian Institute of Sport squad. Then followed a spell at Gan/Credit Agricole from 1998 to 2003, before switching to CSC, later Saxo Bank, from 2004-2010. His home from 2011 has been Leopard-Trek, now known as Trek Factory Racing.

As well as wins in his own right, Voigt will be remembered for his tireless work for team-mates, easy smile and the catchphrase 'shut up legs', uttered to himself when his limbs were screaming with lactic acid as he weaved his bike up mountains with his trademark riding style.

Voigt will no doubt enjoy an active retirement with his wife Stephanie and six children, Marc, Julian, Adriana, Kim, Maya and Helen.

“All these years of straight forward hard work that people appreciate. Every single win I earned because I worked hard for it, no tricky wins, and no lucky wins. I had many, many failures in my career, many times that I got caught, like this week twice, and I just don’t give up," said Voigt.

"I think that is what the people appreciate. You are allowed to fall down, but you have to get up, dust yourself off, and go again. I have had terrible crashes, great triumphs; my career is full of special moments. Who can say that he did 20 kilometres in the Tour de France on a children’s bike? Who can say he was flown off by helicopter [after a bad crash] and came back 12 weeks later for the next race? Who has six children and is still a world-class athlete? There are a whole lot of these moments in my career that have inspired people.

"What’s next? Well if I can freely choose I will go straight to my book shop, a real quiet and slow job where there is no pain involved. Or I would sign up with Discovery Channel and do commentary about lions and sharks."

Jens Voigt to match Tour de France participation record

Jens Voigt set to match record of 17 Tour de France starts, held by George Hincapie and Stuart O'Grady

Jens Voigt extends with Trek for one final year

Jens Voigt will ride for Trek in 2014 along with Cancellara and the Schleck brothers

Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) successfully defended his USA Pro Challenge title on Sunday, finishing in sixth place on the final stage in Denver to secure the overall victory.

The American completed the seven-stage, UCI 2.HC-ranked race with a one minute and 32 second advantage over Garmin-Sharp's Tom Danielson. Romanian Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly) completed the podium in third.

Top-placed British rider was Richard Handley (Rapha Condor JLT) in 43rd place, with team-mate Hugh Carthy one place further back in 44th.

Alex Howes (Garmin-Sharp) took the final stage victory, book-ended the race with success after also winning the opening stage.

The race will be remembered as much for one other factor: it was veteran German Jens Voigt final race as a professional cyclist before retirement. The ever-popular Voigt was, of course, part of the day's escape group and netted the race's prize for most aggressive rider.

USA Pro Challenge 2014
Final overall classification
1. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing in 20-05-42

2. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 1-32

3. Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) Jelly Belly at 1-45

4. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo at 1-49

5. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing at 3-11

6. Joseph Rosskopf (USA) Hincapie Sportswear Development at 3-31

7. Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Netapp-Endura at 3-35

8. Carter Jones (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies at 3-43

9. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing at 3-44

10. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo at 5-35

With Trek Factory Racing's Tour de France team selection announced yesterday, Jens Voigt is set to match the Tour  participation record.

Voigt will match the record of 17 Tour starts held by George Hincapie and Stuart O'Grady when he starts in Leeds next Saturday, July 5.

The 42-year-old from former East Germany, the oldest rider in the first division, has raced in the Tour every year since 1998 and won two stages.

Jens Voigt extends with Trek for one final year

Jens Voigt will ride for Trek in 2014 along with Cancellara and the Schleck brothers