With Stephan Katt, a true racer is leaving the track racing scene

Stephan Katts hadn’t exactly expected his still-large fanbase to react this way. When he took the microphone after the heats and announced his decision to retire from competitive track cycling, many of them had a lump in their throats. “I’ve been involved in track cycling for 34 years now, I’ve won many titles and have always been supported by a brilliant team. It’s been a wonderful time, but I also have to listen to my body – I’m saying goodbye,” said the Schleswig-Holstein native, his voice slightly trembling as he addressed the vast crowd at the Reiterwaldstadion three days before his 47th birthday.

Stephan Katt’s long and successful career

Will Stephan Katt no longer feature in the line-ups on grass and sand? That’s something track cycling fans will have to come to terms with. The Kiel-born rider can look back on a long and successful career with pride. He was crowned long-track team world champion seven times, European grass track champion three times and German champion four times, most recently in 2025 in Schwarme.

Things didn’t always go smoothly. In 2022, following a horrific crash in Scheeßel – in which Katt suffered, amongst other injuries, a comminuted fracture of his right foot – it seemed as though his career might be coming to an end, but he fought his way back onto the track with his characteristic optimism and discipline. In 2024, he suffered another setback. In a crash in Berghaupten, he once again fractured his right foot.

Yet just one season later, Katt became German long-track champion once more in Schwarme, Lower Saxony, where he has been a member of MSC Schwarme for many years. And why? Because he enjoys the sport so much – or, as one must now say, used to enjoy it.

That was his thing: enjoying the race

The joy of racing on grass and sand – that was always his motivation for the sport, rather than a thirst for titles and trophies. At every pre-season preview, he told the author of these lines that he simply wanted to have fun and a brilliant time at the races, and to give his best to achieve that. And he was a rider who seemed to be on the starting grid at almost every German long-track race. Whilst some might grumble that the track was too bad, too hard, too soft or whatever, Katt didn’t care. He was there.

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That’s exactly how you’d find Katt at the track: genuine, open, empathetic, usually in good spirits, but also disciplined, focused and always turning up with top-quality kit. And the man with start number 42 was always fair on the track. There was never any unsportsmanlike behaviour from him. He knew his capabilities and limitations, and always recognised the strengths of his rivals.

It’s a shame that Stephan Katt is retiring from active sport. However, he will certainly still be seen as a spectator at one race or another in the future.