GERMAN ‘SCHOOL’. Just like his new team-mate, Juri Hollmann, German Max Kanter cut his teeth on the banking. Several times national champion in the scratch race or the team pursuit as a junior / under-23 competitor, the Cottbus-born, Dresden-based rider completed a great second junior season -half a dozen international wins; a good impression in the Richmond Worlds-, which soon caught the attention of the Giant / Sunweb organisation, which already had him aboard as a trainee in 2016, his first UCI season.

HIGHS AND LOWS. As part of the Iwan Spekenbrink-led development squad, Max would obtain two consecutive German U23 road race titles, in 2017 and 2018, which, together with a plethora of good results within the ‘espoirs’ -a stage of the 2018 Tour de l’Avenir; 7th in the 2017 Bergen Worlds-, would open him the doors of the WorldTour outfit, aged just 21. It wasn’t an easy start in the WorldTour for Kanter, though, as the 2019 was overshadowed by physical problems (he barely rode about 25 racing days) – even if, fortunately, the best was yet to come for this young sprinter: 3rd on two stages of the 2020 La Vuelta; two second spots in the Czech Tour that year; a 2021 Giro d’Italia appearances…

REASONS FOR HOPE. From there, Max built on a strong reputation as one of the Movistar Team’s biggest (positive) surprises in 2022. The German only just missed out on a victory after nearly 30 top-ten results and five podiums, including strong performances in the Belgian late-season classics (3rd at Primus Classic and Gooikse Pijl) which helped the Blues further confirm their WorldTour license. He finished 4th, just behind the top sprinters, at Milano-Torino; took the Points jersey in the Route d’Occitanie; came again close to a victory in Le Tour de Langkawi… Consistency was Kanter’s main feature in 2022; we only can hope those deserved wins will come his way in 2023!