After 14 years, Christian Schrot, the Sports Director of the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe U19 team GRENKE - Auto Eder, is stepping down. We took this opportunity to sit down with him, look back on his time with us, and discuss the broader development of junior cycling.
Christian, you led our U19 team, GRENKE - Auto Eder, for 14 years. How did your responsibilities and the team evolve during that time?
Christian Schrot: I joined in the fall of 2010, back when the team was still called Auto Eder Bayern. At that time, we were purely a regional team, focussing on supporting the best cyclists from Bavaria. Over time, though, we’ve grown significantly. Today, we are firmly established in international cycling. My tasks haven’t really changed all that much: I’ve been responsible for team management, race planning, and rider coordination. As a sports scientist, I was also in charge of the athletes’ training. Another key aspect was acting as a mentor for the athletes, especially regarding their career paths and personal development. This is crucial in U19 cycling.
How has junior cycling changed compared to when you first started? What would you say are the most significant changes?
Christian Schrot: U19 cycling has undergone significant changes in recent years. When I started, the sport was still largely driven by club teams. Even in smaller UCI races, it was mostly clubs lining up. With the increasing professionalization, particularly with the growing involvement of WorldTeams, that’s no longer the case. Today, almost every major pro team has some sort of partnership with a U19 development structure. This has also raised the level of competition—not just in terms of speed, but also tactics. We now see U19 races where team strategies from the professional world already come into play.
Christian Schrot with Austrian U19 rider Anatol Friedl (Photo: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool)
How does working with U19 athletes differ from working with adult professional riders?
Christian Schrot: The biggest difference is that U19 riders are still teenagers who have to juggle many aspects of their lives. They are students and face the challenge of balancing sports and school. On top of that, they are still going through personal growth. The role of a professional U19 team is not only to support them athletically but also to help them find their way personally. Another key focus is to mold them into a team, which includes learning to be happy for the success of others and putting their own egos aside when necessary. This can be challenging at such a young age, but it’s one of our team’s strengths that we’ve consistently managed to achieve.
GRENKE - Auto Eder is now considered the most successful U19 team in the world. What achievements or moments with the U19 team will you remember the most?
Christian Schrot: The standout moments are, of course, the four world championship titles—Manuel Porzner’s title in the Scratch race on the track, Luis-Joe Lührs’ team pursuit title, and the two road world championships by Emil Herzog and Lorenzo Finn. Besides the individual successes, we’ve also been able to consistently reproduce such results. This consistency is what defines our team. Over the last three years, at the pinnacle of the season, the Road World Championships, we’ve built an incredible record: Emil Herzog’s world title in 2022, Paul Fietzke’s runner-up finish in 2023, and Lorenzo Finn’s world title in 2024.
Lorenzo Finn’s world title was like the perfect ending to your journey. What will you miss the most about working with the U19 team?
Christian Schrot: Yes, the world title with Lorenzo was definitely a crowning moment. It has always been a passion project for me to guide and develop this team over so many years. Together, we built something great—starting as a regional and growing into an internationally successful squad. Today, GRENKE - Auto Eder is an international top team. What I will miss the most is definitely the daily work with the riders, seeing their development, and reaching goals together. But I’ll continue to follow the team and am excited to see how it evolves.
Christian, thank you for the conversation and all the best for the future!
Photo: Flavio Moretti Fotografie