I coached myself from 1997 until 2012 – the major part of my career. I was twenty years old when I decided to become my own coach. At first, I was met with a lot of resistance and scepticism by sports officials. However, I stood my ground, did a good job and became one of the most successful German athletes of my time. I was never afraid to ask for advice, but it was important to me to always be able to think for myself and to assume full responsibility for my performance. It takes more than talent, courage and hard training to become a world-class athlete: you need to gain and maintain a thorough understanding of how your body and mind works and how you can positively manipulate them. With this in mind, my approach to coaching is that it must lead to empowerment, and not dependency.

After I retired from racing in 2012, I took a break from cycling. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Cultural Studies from Macquarie University, and I gave birth to our two beautiful children who are now 4 and 2 years old. In 2019, I started to become involved with Wheel Women as a ride leader. I love Wheel Women’s vision of getting women into cycling by offering the environment and skills necessary for them to feel comfortable and confident, and to have fun – regardless of their level of riding. With my background, I feel that I have something unique to offer to promote this empowering vision: I can make you faster. And faster is fun! Be it to be able to ride with a particular group or to prepare for a cycling event (perhaps even a race!); be it to conquer a certain climb or to get to work (or home!) faster; be it to ride 50 …or 100 …or even 200 kilometres! Whatever your ‘performance goal’ might be – I have the expertise, motivation and perspective necessary to help you achieve it.