Andreas Henig, is 19 from Black Forest, in the Triangle bordering Germany with Switzerland and France.

Henig began cycling in 2000 and was certainly not an entry-level talent when he started this sport. But at age 16, he began specialised training with new German coach, Viktor Rapp and with a lot of ambition he started to improve.

It was the era of Jan Ulrich, the most famous German cyclists in recent years who won the Tour de France and placed second five times behind legendary Lance Armstrong.

“Ulrich was my hero.” I have had many dreams that one day I could be a Jan Ulrich,” Henig commented.

“Before I tried cycling, I played tennis, did some karate and athletics. However, I did not last long in any of these sports. Only cycling excited me. I enjoyed the long hours on the training rides on the roadways, countryside and in the mountains. Although this training was very hard most times, it gave me a lot of satisfaction I did not feel with other sports.”

In 2006, Henig was multiple champion on the road and track of region Württemberg. In the individual time trial at the German Championship, he placed second. This result improved his European and World Championship classification. In many UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) races throughout Europe he had good results. His overall standings always among the Top 10.

During this time, Henig graduated from secondary school with the completion of the Middle Maturity. Then went for two years at the sports boarding school academy in Freiburg. There he majored in the education to technical communications assistants. In 2007, he got his first major contract with a professional cycling team, the Swiss Kontinentalteam Atlas Romers.

A year later, Henig was German champion in the individual time trial of the men Under-23. This nominated him for the European Championship. This Championship was immediately one week later in Lago Maggiore, Italy. He placed sixth and was happy with his performance.

“The Tobago Classic was the complete tour for all of us Germans…tough races on beautiful but challenging courses throughout the Island, but still plenty fun!

“A cycling race by such a landscape and scenery I never had before. I think the last race around the island is the best course I ever rode and my team says the same.

“I had the leader’s jersey going into stage five. We (my team) knew that stage five ‘The Tour of Tobago’ will be the most challenging and the mountain climbers will dominate. During this stage my main concern were Eric Moos of Team Saxony, a great mountain rider, and Emile Abraham, the hometown boy who knows the area and the inclines very well.

“The last stage had a high degree of difficulty with many ups and downs, twist and turns. I suffered badly from the extreme heat and high humidity. Some hills were so steep, I think if I walk with my bike I will go faster.

“Eric attacked on one of the steep inclines which I expected sooner or later and I succeeded in holding on to him. I then got news that Emile, who was not far behind, crash in one of the decent and took some time to get back on his bike. So now my focus was on Eric.

“Although I knew I had some time on Eric, I had a hard time keeping up with him on the mountains, but I worked very hard to stay in close range and make sure that he didn’t get away from me. At the end he pulled away to the win stage five by a few seconds from me. I felt so happy after the race, because I knew then, I was the overall winner of the Tobago Cycling Classic 2007.

“In the beginning, I couldn’t believe that I was the winner. I was the youngest rider in the race at just 18 years old. It has been a fantastic success for me. I could not have done it without my team (Alexander Gut, Philip Patzer, Benjamin Jörges, Nico Schneider) who did everything for me to win this race. All of us had great success. We didn’t just win the overall but also won top sprinter and placed third overall.

“My experience of Tobago was fantastic. I enjoyed everything about the Island. Tobago is unique and different to what I know. The ocean, especially Store Bay where I swam every day, sometimes two times a day was amazing. We even did swims in the night as the ocean was so warm. Some evenings we had team barbecue on the grounds with tuna fish, dolphin and chicken while enjoying the beautiful Store Bay sunset. That was very special. I have never been to the Caribbean, so everything for me here was a new experience. I find everyone super nice and the organisers of the event were so friendly and helpful”.

“One goal for this season is a podium finish at the World Championships in the individual time trial. If I should be world champion, I will come with the Championship Jersey to race in Tobago, and there I plan to be victorious again! If I am not a world champion, I plan to be Tobago Classic Champion in 2008”.

Henig will be defending his title from September 25 to 28 in the ‘sister isle’.

Having been crowned German road time trial champion and world U-23 champion over the past year, Henig will be coming with more credentials than last year.

Once again he will representing Team Atlas Romers, one of three German teams coming for the five-stage event.

Germany heads a large entry of foreign international teams with SVL Sportassekuranz and Sachen Saxony being its other participants.

Canada will be represented by Team Benchmarkgrp with Great Britain being represented by Team Kinesis and the United States by Team Type One.

Also in the line-up will be Team Larspria of Greece, team St Lucia/St Vincent and Team Martinique.

Heading the local charge will be Team Foundation and Team Heatwave.

Confirmed teams

Team SVL Sportassekuranz (Germany)
Team Sachen Saxony (Germany)
Team Atlas Romers (Germany)
Team Benchmarkgrp (Canada)
Team Kinesis (Great Britain)
Team Larspria (Greece)
Team Type 1 (United States)
Team Martinique (Caribbean)
Team St Lucia / St Vincent (Caribbean)
Team Foundation (T&T)
Team Heatwave (T&T)