It's hard to imagine Lennart Jasch's 2026 season getting any better. The Tudor Pro Cycling rider spent a decade as a speed skater before injury led him to sign up with a regional cycling team in 2024, joined a development team in 2025 and then went on to prove – in spectacular fashion – just why he should quickly be switched to the pro ranks partway through 2026.
That breakthrough moment of 2026 for the 25-year-old German came at the Tour of the Alps, when he took off solo from the break on the fourth stage and held off the charge of a group of GC contenders to claim victory.
Then, in his first race after being ushered up to the Pro Team from the development squad, Jasch delivered a strong WorldTour debut at the Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, coming 16th overall. Though that was not where the story of season successes ended, with Jasch less than two weeks ago claiming a stage at Il Giro d'Abruzzo and finishing fifth overall.
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"I think the stage win last week took all the rest of the pressure I put myself under away because if you win one time, you for sure want to win again," Jasch told Cyclingnews.
"So now I know 'OK, this wasn't a one-time thing' for myself. I mean, nobody expected this, but for yourself as an athlete, you always have quite high expectations."
Even if sometimes you try to temper them.
"When I started the season, I thought, 'OK the last two years I made pretty big steps, so at some point the learning curve needs to level off', so I was already a bit thinking that probably this season the steps will get smaller," said Jasch.
"But then I kept improving with the same big steps. I would say, it's for sure unexpected on the one hand, but on the other hand it's also just continuing the work I did over the past years."
Given what that work has already led to, it is hard not to wonder what's next and if the eight-stage Le Tour de Langkawi could perhaps lead to a third victory for the year, or maybe even something else as he steps into the race with the backing of the team to test in a new role.
"The main goal is with Lennart in the GC," Marcel Sieberg, Tudor Pro Cycling sports director told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 1. "I think he has showed that he's good but he's also new in the sport of cycling, so it will be the first time he is trying to go for the GC and, in the end, we will see what the outcome is."
Even though it is a new step, Jasch is approaching it with a calm, almost nothing to lose attitude.
"I can be pretty relaxed for this week and see how everything goes, and, if everything goes well, for sure to win something or to at least finish on the podium somewhere would be super nice. But there's absolutely no pressure; it's time to enjoy racing."
The pressure may not be there, but that doesn't mean it can't be a telling moment, with the race delivering three summit finishes, two of them brutally long HC efforts.
"I hope that he can finish in the top five, more would be good but I think it's hard climbing," said Sieberg of the ascents – and competition on them – which will carve out the GC shape quickly at the race, given the first summit finish comes on stage 2.
Jasch at Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, his longest tour so far, has already displayed hints of a GC future in the longer stage races, though now with a "no pressure" opportunity, but also no reason to doubt what's possible, the Malaysian race from September 27 to October 4 could be a telling chapter. There is potential to see another big step toward a position as an overall contender in the longer tours.
"We will try now to see how I do in GC here," said Jasch at the team hotel in Shah Alam, on the day before racing got underway. "Then we will have a first answer on how I can do on GCs… we will see."
*Cyclingnews attended Le Tour de Langkawi on an invitation/media package from the race that included travel and accommodation. In line with our editorial standards, our coverage is independent and was not subject to review, approval or influence by the organiser or any sponsor; no favourable coverage was promised or given in return.
