Team Saxo Bank’s youngest rider did not get it from strangers. The father ruled the Danish premier cycling division during the eighties. This was before Danes got a real chance to make it to a foreign professional team. The young André Steensen was out watching his dad race which has made an impact on him:

“From birth I was dragged out to see him race and he had to actively hold me back from starting racing prematurely. In 1999, I was finally allowed to participate riding for Odder CK. I crashed in my very first race and I won the next”.

With 70 victories and two unprecedented years as a junior rider where he won the road race and time trial national championship along with the team time trial riding for Vejle CK and a finishing position as number one in the junior world rankings the future looked bright for the now 22-year-old Team Saxo Bank rider.

“After the fantastic years as a junior during which I won quite a few races in Italy, where the terrain suits me I got a difficult start in my senior career because of repeated long-term injuries respectively in my heel and shoulder. The heel injury is now healed but at times I still feel the shoulder aching. Mentally, it still has great influence on me.

There is no doubt that the young Dane is a special talent. Cyclists are, by definition, often described as loners but even under this definition there are different ways of being a loner. History shows that most cyclists have a craftsman’s background. However, André has a more intellectual approach to life:

“I read a lot. Both books about training, which makes training registration a whole lot more interesting and easier to understand, but also language has my big interest. I know English, German, some Italian and French, while I understand most Spanish. Now I have sunk my teeth in the Portuguese language, which doesn’t sound like any of the other Mediterranean languages. Had I not been on my bike, I would undoubtedly have studied Italian, French, history or sports at university.

Fortunately for Team Saxo Bank, the young Dane is on his bike, however, where he in the 2009 season has played a, for the public not so visible but important, role on the team as a hardworking and self destroying helper during several stage races:

“My greatest experience last year was Tour de Wallonie where I came close to victory. But the Tour de Poitou was special because I was helping my teammate, Gustav Larsson to the overall victory by holding the field in a tight leash by maintaining a furious speed at the front. During the Tour of Poland, I was surprised by the excellent infrastructure, solid arrangement and the sublime enthusiasm among spectators during the race”.

On the threshold of the 2010 season, André Steensen is training alternatively after consultation with his advisor, sports director Dan Frost. Training now consists of running, yoga, pilates and strengthening of the whole body. He has his address in Luxembourg, but often visits his parents in Skanderborg, Denmark. Here, he also gets a chance to train with his former club mates in Vejle, Thomas Guldhammer and Kasper Schjønnemann.

2010 offers new opportunities for the Team Saxo Bank-rider:

“Fewer riders on the team gives me the opportunity to step up in the internal hierarchy. It is my philosophy that if you have the ability, you also have the responsibility to use it appropriately. Hopefully, there will be fewer races where I am used as an engine in the wind so I get more chances of pursuing my own results. Altogether, there is a fresh atmosphere within the team and the new acquisition of riders is a fresh and optimistic blow of fresh air in an already well-functioning social cohesion without cliques and where everybody gets along with one another”.

The training camp on Fuerteventura in early December has had a visible effect on the social environment.

“The training camp creates a memorable reference for all of us in everyday life. We are challenged in new ways and the adaptability can be used before, during and after each race. When we get to know each other and we are able to put a face on the people we only talk to over the phone or email with, it makes us all more tolerant to minor errors or mistakes. Furthermore, we learn to know each other’s patterns of response in stressful situations and we will in this way become more closely linked and are more aware of when we need each other’s help and support “.

2010 is here and Andre Steensen is ready for the new challenges:

“I am, among others going to be riding Ruta del Sol, Volta a Catalunya, Tour de Romandie, Tour of California and the Dauphiné Libéré. I am very excited and think I’ve got a really interesting race program with several stage races where I can show my worth in the mountains as well as on the time trials”.

Certainly, it is going to be exciting to follow the only 22-year-old Team Saxo Bank-rider in the new season.