Sports Reporter
acastro@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Most athletes only dream of becoming a pro. They train in hopes of making their love of the game into a career. Five years ago, senior Patric Rostel lived that dream after obtaining a pro cycling contract from a continental team in Europe.
“I got to compete in big races in Germany,” Rostel said. “It was great. I got to travel a lot and meet a lot of great people.”
One of them was German cyclist Jens Voigt, one of Rostel’s idols.
“He grew up in a club team and had an identity with the club team,” Rostel said. “Whenever I saw him, he remembered me. It was crazy.”
After spending a year in the pro circuit racing all over Germany, Rostel’s contract was up, and he decided to step away from the sport entirely, leaving the cycling world behind him.
“Being a pro takes so much dedication,” Rostel said. “You train 40 hours a week, and you have no personal life.”
However, after one of Rostel’s friends started school and began cycling at CMU, Rostel followed suit, leaving his native Germany and choosing to attend school in the U.S.
Rostel has a cycling scholarship and is majoring in Environmental Science. As a foreign exchange student, Rostel has experienced various differences in the education system and university life in general.
“University is a lot harder in Germany,” Rostel said. “You don’t have gen-eds, so you focus on your main classes. You also don’t have any varsity sports. It’s just straight school.”
Despite all the differences, Rostel has loved competing for CMU’s cycling team.
“The team has gone through a lot of changes since I’ve been here,” Rostel said. “I was a student coach before we got Rick.”
The cycling team now has a full-time coach in Rick Crawford, a former pro cyclist who spent eight years coaching at Fort Lewis College. With Crawford taking the helm as head coach, Rostel has been able to focus strictly on cycling.
One of Rostel’s biggest accomplishments since racing at CMU is winning the D2 Men’s Criterium at nationals last year. Rostel is looking to defend his title this year.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Rostel said. “I was taking 21 credit hours and training seven hours a week. Only training seven hours in the week usually doesn’t bring you anything.”
Rostel is making strong strides into getting a championship repeat after placing 11th two weeks ago at Track Nationals in Texas. Rostel placed in the Sprint, Stratch Race, Points Place, Individual Pursuit, Time Trial, and Individual Track Omnium. The event proved to be a boost for the cycling team as a whole after winning second in the Team Track Omnium.
“This year was a great experience since nearly all the other team members were new to the track,” Rostel said. “It was great for me to share my experience on the track with them and give them tips on how to improve themselves. Also, this year was a great outcome as far as students at the event and was a record year for registration, which shows that the sport has grown.”
Rostel has high hopes for this year’s season but no plans to enter into the pro circuit again or coach after graduation. Instead, he plans to further his education by earning a master’s degree, preferably in Forestry.
“I don’t want to spend my whole life in one sport,” Rostel said.
Regardless of whatever his future has in store for him, Rostel wants to stay in the U.S. while both working outside and helping the community.
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