Mountain bike star

World champion Höll reinvents herself

Valentina Höll starts the new mountain bike season this weekend. What she changed during the winter and how she feels about the cycling association.

The Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup kicks off this weekend with a race in Fort William, Great Britain. The reigning overall World Cup winner and world champion Valentina Höll will also be taking part. The 22-year-old will be the rider to beat. "It's liberating that I've won all the titles and no longer have to chase after anyone," says the Saalbach native before the start.

It wasn't always like that. In her career, her nerves have often played tricks on her, especially at her home race in Leogang. Last year, however, she was finally able to win it. The reason for her new-found strength of nerve?

"I believe that I can now concentrate more on the essentials. I trust myself and know what is possible."

Perhaps precisely because Höll can already call all the trophies she has won her own, the Salzburg native has reinvented herself after her dream season in 2023. "Vali" switched from "RockShox" back to her youth team "YT Industries" and left no stone unturned in her preparation to set new standards. "We spent two weeks in California and three in New Zealand in the winter. I've never spent so much time on the bike before. My focus was on lots of runs so that I could get used to the new equipment as quickly as possible," she explains.

She kept quiet on the subject of the Olympics, where she would like to compete one day. "I know there are rumors. Let's see how things go in the summer," she grinned.

Improved relationship
Höll became more specific when it came to her relationship with the cycling association, which she once heavily criticized. "Things are moving. It's still not the way I would like it to be, but the direction is right."