THE TIME: Mr. Lipowitz, as a professional cyclist you have made it to the top of the world in your sport. But you started as a biathlete. How did the switch come about?

Florian Lipowitz: My older brother Philipp and I were enthusiastic biathletes as children. Our parents encouraged this passion. We moved from Laichingen in Swabia to Seefeld in Tyrol so that we could attend the ski high school in Stams. As a student, I even became German biathlon champion in 2018. But when I was 15, a growth plate in my knee became inflamed. I then started cycling to stay fit. The knee was relatively healed after a year, so I tried biathlon again. However, I tore my cruciate ligament while surfing during my summer vacation when I was 17. Then I started thinking about it.