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January 26, 2012

The Indestructible Jens Voight

There's a profile of Jens Voight over on the Mens' Health site. He talks about what it means to be a domestique and pro cyclist for 16 years:

Obviously, this sport is a very hard sport. If you only do it for the money you're not going to last very long. It's too hard to be a mercenary. You have to have passion inside of you. Passion in me feels like a high, full burning flame--it's not a tiny spark in the dark. It's still burning and I still love it. I'm not winning races like when I was on top, but I believe I'm still able to do my job, be among the best and be a valuable teammate. Every year you get a contract, you know that people still think you're worth it. And it's cool to hang out with all of your boys, get a shiny new bike every year and all of this equipment. You get paid to stay healthy and fit. When I'm riding a quiet little country road, I heard birds tweeting and think, I'm in my office now. How cool is that?

Favorite Jens saying? "Shut up, legs!"