Isabella Holmgren’s summer ended with a flurry of success. The Oro-Medonte, Ont. rider won on the road and in the mountains, defending two world championships titles, and landing another top 10 at worlds, plus a stage race win. All in less than a months time.
To say the Canadian is busy would be a gross understatement. Between winning races in different countries, on different bikes and contesting races on several different continents in just over few weeks, we caught up with Holmgren in Rwanda. She and her twin sister, Ava, are in the African country as part of Team Canada for road worlds. Holmgren described through patchy internet connection how she balances disciplines, travel, expectations and what racing the Rwandan worlds event was like.
“So far, it’s really been an amazing experience,” Holmgren says of being part of the first African world championships. “There’s already tons of people lined up on the streets just to watch the pre ride and cheering for us. So it’s been really cool. And it’s been cool to experience a new part of the world, somewhere I’ve never really experienced before. So yeah, I’m lucky to be here, and I’m excited to race tomorrow.
Isabella Holmgren fights to 6th place at 2025 UCI road worlds
The course itself is staggeringly difficult, setting records for elevation gain even against historic world championships courses.
“You’re basically going up or down the whole time, and lots of corners,” Holmgren confirms. “So I have a strong feeling, feeling it’s just gonna be an elimination race. It’s gonna be super tough, but I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully I can suffer hard tomorrow.”
Hard courses suit the Canadian, it seems. She finished sixth in a fiercely competitive under-23 women’s race, just 17 seconds off the winning time.
Relentless climbs and technical descents could also describe a mountain bike course, another venue where Holmgren’s found success. At numerous world championships and World Cups the Canadian has distanced her competition on the climb, and kept them away on challenging descents.
That balanced skillset makes Holmgren very hard to beat. Her two most recent world championships titles (she has four total) came in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in short track (XCC) and Olympic (XCO) cross country. Those were repeats of her double-rainbow XCC/XCO performance in 2024 but, after a season on the road, Holmgren said nothing was guaranteed.
“I didn’t really know what to expect worlds week because it was a super technical course,” The Canadian said of the Crans Montana venue. “But I think for me, if it’s a race, the goal is always to win. So of course, I wanted to defend the titles. But it was a it was an interesting week, and the conditions were changing all the time, so it’s hard to have expectations.”
That week included making the switch from the road bike to two different mountain bikes. Holmgren earned her first gold on Trek’s Supercalibre. The second came aboard an unreleased version of the brand’s Top Fuel with a prototype set of wheels, too. That is a lot of change, with just under two weeks to adjust.
“I actually raced the same bike, the top fuel in Les Gets the week before, and then I kept one with me for the two weeks before worlds, so I had some time to get used to the bike,” Holmgren said. “I didn’t even have a road bike with me those weeks, so I really got to get used to the mountain bike for a little bit.”
For anyone but Holmgren, describing two weeks on a bike as a long time would be surprising. But it’s also unusual that a world champion has a schedule where riding mountain bikes is unusual. The Canadian continues to split her time between on the road, where she and her sister race with Lidl-Trek, and Trek Factory Racing off-road. And to find success with each.
Holmgren racing at Tour de l’Avenir
Before worlds, Holmgren raced and won Tour de l’Avenir, a road stage race considered by many to be an indicator of future success at the Tour de France. Holmgren claimed the overall win, the mountain jersey, youth classification and several stage wins. Just two days after that remarkable showing, she was back on a mountain bike and back on the podium at the Les Gets World Cup in France. That transition has proved difficult for many, including iconic racers like, say, Mathieu van der Poel.
“For me mentally it’s super easy, because I just really enjoy doing the mix of everything. But technique wise, technique wise, for the mountain bike, it’s definitely a bit more difficult,” Holmgren says of making the switch back to dirt.”Just getting used to the technical features and not being too scared and like actually riding them, is definitely a bit more challenging when you haven’t been on the mountain bike as much. But the whole week, Oscar, the skills coach for the factory team helped me to make sure I was comfortable on the course. And the mechanics made sure the bike was perfect, so it was really an easy transition to the mountain bike.”
While a good support team can make sure everything runs smoothly, it’s all up to Holmgren once she’s on course. With such a busy schedule, and constant travel, that means careful planning, being willing to accept trade-offs. Much of her training is done on the road bike, with rest days used to develop mountain bike skills. Holmgren races less on the road than most, but also knows she races less mountain bikes than her competition there. It also means knowing when to ease off the gas a little.
“I think the main thing is to just try your best to stay healthy, so always being super hygienic in airports, especially in washing hands and sanitising and everything,” Holmgren says of staying in top form for back-to-back-to-back worlds events. “But also just making sure that I’m still having good rest days and recovering properly. You can’t be pushing too hard and training all the time when you’re traveling so much, I don’t think.”
With polymath stars like Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Mathieu van der Poel being forced to focus on a single discipline to find their desired level of success or, in the latter’s case, struggling to do so, I was curious how the Canadian feels about maintaining such a varied schedule, and how long she wants to keep doing so.
“I think I’d like to do it for as long as possible. I really enjoyed the combination of both of the disciplines,” Holmgren says adding, in explanation “I think they’re very different, but it’s a bit refreshing to jump from one to the other because they’re so different. The most difficult part is really just the skills, but with the technical coach on the factory team, he makes that part really easy. Of course it’s hard, but as long as you devote some time to making sure that you can practice your skills, and make sure you have good rest, I don’t think it’s too bad.”
After Rwanda, Holmgren has one more race on the road before switching gears back to dirt. She’ll return to Canada for the World Cup finale at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
“And then,” says Holmgren, “it’s time for off season at home.”
Well earned, after a globe-trotting season full of so much success.