Interview Tully Schweitzer

Last year, she was one of the best Australian junior riders. This year, she'll immediatly debut in the Tour Down Under among the World Tour pros. Tully Schweitzer's career has been one of big adventure already. Last season, she delivered strong results in Europe & at the Worldchampionships. Now, she'll set her first footsteps among the pros. In this interview she tells you about every topic. About her personal development & experiences, but also about how complex the cycling world is for riders who grow up Down Under. Get to know one of the new faces in the first World Tour race of the year already now.

After bad luck in the final kilometers, you still managed to finish near the top 10 of the Worlds, last year. How do you look back at that experience?

In the moment of course I was gutted as I really thought at the base of the cobbled climb that I had the legs to podium. But now looking beckon the experience I can be proud of how I raced and the outcome based on the circumstances. I think it definitely enhanced my perspective on how to look for positives in situations. My dad and my sister flew over to watch the race and I wanted to race for my family and the people back home in my corner so I knew I had to give it everything. After the pause on the cobbles, I wrestled my bike and fought back because even when the chips are down you never give up.

You have raced abroad for the first time too, how did it feel to race so far from home?

In 2025 I had the amazing chance to race abroad and travel to many new and eye opening countries. Of course like anything in life, it had its ups and downs but showed me a side of racing that is quite different to Australian racing. I experienced bigger bunches, a higher level of talent and the crazy courses. Cycling is the culture in Europe so it was great to amuse myself in that.

What do you expect of your first full season among the pros?

To be honest, I don’t really have any expectations on myself other then it will be a steep learning curve and to even keep up you need to bring your all. I feel very lucky to have the chance to ride amongst professionals as to grow as rider and person you need to be surrounded by people who are better then you, when that happens they lift you up too. I think just being in a peloton with them and being able to watch them race, will teach me invaluable lessons.

What are your ambitions in the sport?

I mean I’m like any kid out there with a dream, to one day make this my full time career, to make my family proud and to travel the world doing what I love most. I love the training, the hard sessions, the patience, the lessons I have learnt like having confidence in myself. - I just have fallen in love with everything about cycling. I never want to look back and feel the pain of regret because I didn’t go after my craziest wildest dreams so I want to become everything I dream of. Bring a professional cyclist though, means more then just racing and training day in and day out, I would like to inspire people to chase their dreams, to live a healthy lifestyle, to life live to its fullest and stay true to their vision.

Most of the big races are in Europe. What is the physical & mental impact of that on you as an Australian rider?

Being an Australian, means we have to sacrifice leaving home and our family to race over in Europe for 6/9months of the season. The travel is tiring and trying to fit into a new and different culture/lifestyle brings its challenges. I miss home and my family when I am away but thankfully the family bond never breaks and being surrounded by the right people really helps. I am lucky enough to have been apart of such loving u19 junior team - Vermarc - when first living aboard, where being with the team felt like home. But honestly being able to travel, race, meet new people, make memories and try new things makes the hard times so worth while. I feel very grateful to live this life.

How could the cycling world support Australian (junior) riders better?

Ultimately coming from down under, it is very hard to be noticed unless you spend long months away racing and create a name for yourself. Moving from U19 to U23, has shown a massive gap in the cycling world, where there are limited u23 or development teams. This means cyclist of u23 age are forced to stay in Australia as they are unable to get a European team or jump the gap straight to world tour. This also affects the juniors as they cannot see a clear pathway to the world tour, leaving a lot of unknown and stress around this aspect of the sport.

You'll take part in the Tour Down Under soon. What does this race mean to you?

Being selected to race in the Tour Down Under was honestly surreal. I did not imagine 1 year and half into my cycling career I would get the privilege to compete in this iconic race. It feels extra special as South Australia is where my mum grew up and where I competed in my first mini tour part of the provelo super league series. Going into the race, I just want to soak up the experience, give it my all and play my part in hopefully some Aussie success. Putting on the Australian colours is special always and racing on home soil with all my family and friends on the side lines will give me some extra kick when the going gets tough !

How will your overall program look like, this year?

This year I am fortunate enough to be racing the Australian Summer with Redcat cycling team, my first team where this dream all began. I love the staff, the girls and the overall kindness in the team so to compete with them in the provelo super league series and wear the colours at Nationals is something I look forward to. Unfortunately this year, I have had to pull out of the TT for nationals as I am managing some injury and health problems but am still hoping to race with my team in the road race and support my teammates as best as possible! After some Spanish exchange, I am so grateful to ride with an u23/elite team, Enicat, and base myself in Spain for roughly 7 months. Over there I hope to learn some more Spanish, make new friends and race in some very very cool races ! I have received my race calendar and being a climber, I was jumping for joy ! I cant wait to give my all and race for both very special teams, I feel very fortune to have such an amazing group of people in my corner who support me day in and day out, I couldn’t do this journey without you.