Professional cyclist Hajek

The life of Konrad’s heir was hanging by a thread

Alexander Hajek was brought into the WorldTour by the Bora-hansgrohe cycling team.(Bild: Team Bora hansgrohe)

His grandfather raced, his father too, so Alexander Hajek almost had no other choice. This year, the 20-year-old from Scharndorf made the leap into the WorldTour, where he is set to follow in the footsteps of Tour stage winner Patrick Konrad as a climbing specialist. Four years ago, his cycling career and even his life were on the line.

Hajek had overlooked a car half parked on the road and the talented cyclist crashed into it. "It was close to the carotid artery, I had a metacarpal fracture on the right," Hajek recalls, "my left index finger was almost beyond saving, I needed a skin graft." The doctors did a great job and the young Lower Austrian was left with no damage.

The best proof: Hajek finished fifth at the 2021 Junior World Championships in Flanders. And after the departure of Patrick Konrad to Lidl-Trek, Bora-hansgrohe brought Alex into the team. "Very solid on the climbs, he has his place in the WorldTour and is certainly a candidate for the future", even Konrad himself sees Hajek as his legitimate successor.

Tour stage winner Patrick Konrad switched from Bora to Lidl-Trek this year.(Bild: Team Lidl-Trek)

The comparison with the Tour stage winner flatters the 20-year-old: "That's nice to hear - after all, Patrick has won a Tour stage." The two training partners have also raced against each other at the Tour of Valencia - Konrad finished twelfth overall there, Hajek twelfth in the young rider classification.

Amstel Gold Race awaits
After a crash including a knee contusion at the Tour of the Algarve, Alex is ready for the next races: Next week's GP Indurain will be his dress rehearsal for the super-classic Amstel Gold Race. "This will be my first WorldTour race. I'm already excited because it's 253 km - I've never ridden such a long race before."