A Giro d'Italia stage winner and, at 23, with a whole heap of potential ahead of him, EF Education-EasyPost rider Georg Steinhauser was at a loss. Training on the bike had become like riding through treacle and, now, he had spent three full days sitting in his apartment feeling down, seeing no one and "without even opening a single window". Something had to change.
To a casual onlooker, it might have appeared that Steinhauser was suffering from a depressive episode. But, as he found out after a series of tests, his low mood was actually a symptom of Lyme disease and caused by a tick bite.
The illness only shows up in a small percentage of those bitten by ticks, and is characterised by a variety of symptoms that can include fever, fatigue, brain fog and depressive episodes. In most cases it can be treated with antibiotics.
"I was having mental problems, I was really down," Steinhauser told the German Press Agency (DPA), as reported by kicker.de. "Actually, I was bordering on depression. That was my conclusion."
Steinhauser was also experiencing difficulties on the bike. "Two hours of training felt like four," he said. His appetite for riding and racing had plummeted and he had lost weight too, falling from 70-71kg to 67kg.
"I simply lacked power during training, I had no energy," he said. "Once, I even cut a training session short and took the train home. The whole situation was really tough on me mentally."
Only a year previously, Steinhauser had taken his first pro win in the most illustrious way imaginable – taking a solo mountains victory in his first ever Grand Tour, finishing 1.24 ahead of runner-up Tadej Pogačar on stage 17 of the Giro. Now he was struggling to ride, let alone win.
The team doctors at EF Education-EasyPost conducted a battery of tests without managing to pinpoint the issue, Steinhauser revealed: "Nobody really knew what was wrong," he said. "I had everything checked: blood test, stool sample. But nothing showed up."
In the end it was his family doctor who ordered a test for Lyme disease and, finally, the problem revealed itself. "That's how we found out. Of course, it was helpful for me that we at least had a reason," Steinhauser said.
The German is far from the first bike rider to have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. Early last year Belgium's Arnaud De Lie was diagnosed after having to pull out of the Spring Classics.
Now 24 and having completed a training camp in November, the German is back on track. "At the moment I feel good, mentally as well," he says.
With another year on his contract, and ambitions of becoming a GC contender, perhaps 'Steini' will be able to return to the Grand Tours in 2026 and even repeat his Giro feat.
