Exactly one year after her biggest triumph, Olympic champion Lisa Brennauer announced the end of her cycling career.
“I decided to end the active part of my career after the European Championships in Munich. You don’t make a decision like that overnight, it’s part of a longer mental process,” said the 34-year-old.
Brennauer was five times world champion on the road in various disciplines, won four silver medals and two bronze medals. The long-time favorite celebrated the greatest success of her career on August 3, 2021 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, when she raced to gold with Franziska Brauße, Mieke Kröger and Lisa Klein in the team pursuit in a world record time.
Last year, the sports soldier also won two world championship titles on the track in the individual and team pursuit. All in all, Brennauer has won 24 medals at world and European championships in her career so far. Together with her Bahn-Four colleagues, she was also named “Germany’s Team of the Year” last year.
“I feel super comfortable with my decision and have made my peace with it. That’s very important to me,” Brennauer told “SID”: “I’ll definitely stop at the peak. And I’m really passionate about the sport . That was really important to me.”
Brennauer will contest her last competitions as part of the European Championships in Munich (11th to 21st August). In the Bavarian state capital, the woman from the Allgäu has planned both starts on the track and on the road.
“Lisa was always the driving force in the team, whether on the track or on the road. The others copied what she did. Lisa is collegial, always fair, always straight,” said national coach Andre Korff in recognition of the exceptional athlete. Rudolf Scharping, President of the Federation of German Cyclists (BDR), added: “Lisa Brennauer is and will remain a great ambassador for German cycling beyond her active time.”