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Mountain Bike<\/a><\/p>\n After a year spent juggling road racing, World Cups, crashes, and recovery, the up-and-coming Austrian has a clearer sense of where she wants to take her career.\u00a0<\/p>\n Piper Albrecht, Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Kristof Ramon<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a rider who embodied the word busy in 2025, it was Mona Mitterwallner. Between a near-full XC World Cup calendar and road appearances for Human Powered Health<\/a> at the Vuelta Espa\u00f1a Femenina, Tour de France Femmes, and Milan-San Remo Donne<\/a>, she barely stopped \u2013 more than doubling her race days from 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n The monster season taught her a lot about balance, energy investment, and prioritisation. \u201cWhen you\u2019re young, you believe you can handle it all,\u201d she told Escape Collective in a recent interview. \u201cBut I learned that it doesn\u2019t always work like that.\u201d However, in the depths of a European autumn, Mitterwallner still can\u2019t resist the bike. Instead of embracing a well-earned rest, she\u2019s riding through Austria\u2019s \u2018golden autumn,\u2019 chasing colour before the cold. It was a rare moment to enjoy the calm in a season marked by ankle surgery, crashes, illness, and the physical and mental challenges of balancing a World Cup season with her debut on the road, as well as a well-deserved World Cup XCO win at Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto, Czechia, her first since 2023.<\/p>\n Mitterwallner occupies a rare paradox of youth and experience. At 23 years old, she is still a developing athlete, navigating the upper echelons of her sport whilst also pulling on a wealth of experience from four years racing in the elite field. Her early rise from U23 at the age of 20 came after she won all of the races in the World Cup season in 2021.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n UCI XC World Cup 2025 season review: A change of the guard?<\/p>\n From Nino Schurter\u2019s farewell to Samara Maxwell\u2019s rise, 2025 was the year mountain bike racing\u2019s power centers changed hands.<\/p>\n Mitterwallner may be wiser and more considered in her approach to racing after this season, but the young rider’s hunger on the bike burns with a ferocity belied by her calm persona. In our conversation, we discussed her move to Mondraker, what brought about the dual-discipline programme that added a busy road schedule to an already-full XC season, as well as her honest thoughts on where XC is heading under Warner Bros Discovery\u2019s ownership.\u00a0<\/p>\n A new start: Joining Mondraker<\/p>\n For Mitterwallner, 2025 was always going to be a year of change. After several seasons with Cannondale Factory Racing, she made the leap to Mondraker Factory Racing \u2013 a move that, on paper, came with all the usual challenges of new equipment, teammates, and routines. Yet for Mitterwallner, the transition felt surprisingly natural.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a really easy change,\u201d she said. \u201cThe team structure is super open.\u201d The move didn\u2019t just mean a new jersey; it meant adapting to a different bike design philosophy. Mondraker\u2019s suspension layout and subtle changes in fit gave her a fresh platform to explore her riding style, with the bike sporting the brand’s Forward Geometry that lengthens the top tube of the bike and compensates with a shorter stem, something that aligned with Mitterwallner’s riding style.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe suspension and set-up are really good for me,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt climbs well, which has always been my strength.\u201d For a rider confident on descents but strongest on climbs, Mondraker\u2019s F-Podium offered a change. \u201cI can sit a bit more on the front,\u201d she said \u2013 her preferred position on steep, technical climbs that define World Cup XC racing. That shift helped pay off with success at the highest level at the Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto World Cup round in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n The move to Mondraker also brought a sense of adventure; its bold, progressive identity matched the energy of a rider stepping into the next phase of her career.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a real Spanish spirit in the team,\u201d Mitterwallner said with a laugh. \u201cThey\u2019re passionate, everyone is excited about what we can build together. It\u2019s a new project, and you feel that.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond technical performance, Mondraker offered her a new kind of freedom, a welcome openness after a difficult off-season recovering from ankle surgery. The change hasn\u2019t dulled her trademark intensity; it has simply channelled it more constructively. Where once minor issues might have felt like a setback, she now approaches the process with curiosity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n World Champion Jenny Rissveds knows how to win without losing yourself<\/p>\n The Swedish mountain biker tells us about how perspective on what really matters helped her climb back to the top of the sport.<\/p>\n In a sport where marginal gains often come at the cost of individuality, Mitterwallner has found something more valuable: the space to grow, both as a rider and as a person.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753163589_155_Alex-Hunt-150x150.png\")
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Mitterwallner was initially cautious about adapting to the new Mondraker bike, but a win at May’s Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto World Cup round showed it was ideally suited for her riding style.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jenny-Rissveds-XCO-Worlds-2025-2.jpg\")
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