I HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS TO HOPEFULLY WIN SOME SOME RACES
know her well. From the first second, I liked her so much, it was so fun. We always trained and practised together. She was so good at the technical stuff and I helped her to get over the jumps. It was still serious, because we wanted to do well, but having fun was the priority.
This year I have started to work more closely with her, coming back from an injury. After breaking her leg and coming back, she knows how it is. My injury is nothing compared to hers, but she knows how it feels to go back and jump again. She’s also a really good coach, so she’s helping me out with all the specific on-the-bike training.
V: For sure. I think nobody expected my racing would kick off like it did. Maybe others did, but I was the last person who thought my elite career would happen like that, winning Crankworx and doing well in Leogang on such a gnarly track. It’s going to be hard to replicate that. Maybe it was also luck involved as it is my home track. I don’t know. The track was just brutal but I think I did everything I could this off-season to kind of get back in shape, but this is going to be my first proper elite season this year, so I still have to learn a lot. I have a few more years in front of me to hopefully win some races.
everyone else. Leogang was the first time I didn’t check out my rivals, and maybe it was a mistake. I didn’t know that I was the only one jumping (the big step-down). I felt so comfortable, and for me all the track above was way more gnarly than the jump itself. For me, the track was over when I got to the jump.
It was weird because I didn’t feel sorry for myself; I wasn’t really in a bad mood, I was just bored because I was at home. I actually enjoyed watching the races from home and seeing the other girls doing really really well – they all stepped up their game. Maybe it’s because I’m still young and still cheering for the others – it was more like being a proper fan watching the other girls race, but then at the same time I would be thinking, wow, maybe I could have been in the mix there too.