German cyclist Jens Voigt's pet peeve with gen-next: Millennials want to be millionaires in two weeks

Raising six children is no easy task. It’s even tougher when you’re starting at the toughest cycling race — Tour de France — a record 17 times. But for Jens Voigt, former German professional cyclist, there was no other way to live. “Failure is not an option. When you have children, you have to function. You have to make it happen somehow,” he says in an interview during a visit to Mumbai.

That dedication and refusal to quit led Voigt to win the Critérium International a record five times and wear the Tour de France yellow jersey twice. But according to Voigt, he owes his 17-year professional career to his wife, Stephanie, who he calls a pro at organising and balancing. “She is an absolute legend. When we first met, we were both 22. I was just a young little amateur in a one-room apartment,” Voigt says, recalling how he signed his first professional contract for very little money shortly after his first child. While the initial days were hard for the couple, Voigt believes they grew with the challenge. “I had a good year, got a better contract. We had another child and things came step by step so we had time to adapt.”

As Voigt’s career blossomed, so did his family. Today, the Voigt home in Berlin has six children — Marc, Julian, Adriana, Kim Helena, Maya and Helen — as well as three dogs, one cat and seven rabbits. “It’s a full house at home,” he says with a laugh.


Braking early
Asked if becoming a father had changed him, Voigt says he took risks more carefully for fear of going home with a broken arm. “With every child born, I did brake a little earlier. My body still functioned really well but my mind — the willingness to take risks — went down. Some of the younger kids would tell me, ‘Hey Jens, you’re descending like a grandmother’ and I said, ‘Yeah but hey, I got children. I got a happy family. I want to go home to them in one piece’.”

Voigt says children can make you a better human being because of the responsibilities that come with them. “You realise, ‘Okay, that is my purpose now — to teach them to grow up as good human beings’. In Germany, it’s cost-intensive to have children. You’ve got to put food on the table. So yes, I felt a little bit of pressure to make sure my family has a good life and that helped me to focus more on my job.”

Wait your turn
Trusting yourself and accepting momentary defeat as part of the process are two lessons Voigt hopes to pass on to his children. “I hesitated when I was younger to become professional,” he says. “It wasn’t that easy back then. We had fewer teams so less spaces available. I want them [my children] to have more confidence. I want them to get up, dust themselves off and try another route.”

Another lesson that Voigt hopes they learn is dedication and discipline. One of his peeves is that youngsters today expect rewards too soon.

“Millennials or snowflakes, or whatever you want to call them, struggle with the idea of having to work hard to be up there,” he says. “They want to be a millionaire in two weeks. It doesn’t work like that. You have got to be realistic about yourself, work hard and when you get results, you get a reward. You cannot start a career asking for rewards and maybe 10 years later you deliver. That’s the lesson I’m teaching my kids — work hard first and then everything else will come.”

The next generation
Only one of Voigt’s children, son Julian, came close to taking up cycling seriously. But then he switched to other sports.

“He started at the age of 11 and, just like me 30 years before, he won his first race after only a few weeks of training,” Voigt says. “It was absolute magic…almost like the circle of life closing.”

And how did he feel when he gave up the sport? “The cyclist in me was a little sad about it because I saw the potential,” Voigt added. “But the dad in me was okay because cycling is not bowling or table-tennis. It’s a beautiful sport but it is also dangerous.” Voigt has survived some serious scares himself. During the 2009 Tour de France, he had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital after he broke an orbital bone under his eye in a crash.

“They announced on live national TV: ‘The chances for Mr. Voigt to see the next morning are 50-50’ and my kids go, ‘Mum, is Daddy going to die?’” Voigt recalls. “So as a father, I’m okay that Julian is not on the road.”