This year, the World Cup kicked off with the sprint. The forest was somewhat different from the other competition venues: the race took place on a former military training ground, featuring old trenches and a relatively green forest. Cutting across the terrain was therefore rarely an option, and you had to take care not to get lost on the rather dense network of trails. I had an almost perfect day, lining up at the start with a good plan and the confidence that I was in good physical shape. The course was pretty much exactly as I’d imagined it beforehand. I’d already worked out some route choices during my preparations and simply had to put them into practice. Admittedly, like everyone else, I wasn’t error-free, but I managed to keep the mistakes to a minimum and found the right balance throughout the race between taking enough time for map reading and pushing hard. At the finish, I had a very good feeling and began to hope for a diploma relatively quickly. When, one rider after another, failed to beat my time, I was very surprised. In the end, it was enough for silver, and that was just 25 seconds behind gold. I am absolutely delighted with my first individual World Championship medal in the elite category.

The next day, we moved on to the middle-distance race. Most of this took place on a very dense network of trails, which I sometimes found almost impossible to follow whilst riding. Unfortunately, I made a few mistakes in the opening section, so I allowed the Italian rider who started after me to catch up. After we’d managed to cover a few control points together at full speed, she became uncertain in the tricky final section I mentioned earlier, and I was able to pull away from her again, although I never felt entirely comfortable myself because I had to slow down so often. In the end, I finished in a very solid 13th place.

The mass start was on the programme for the third day. Shortly after the start, we had to follow a very sandy path that kept causing some riders to slip. Unfortunately, this happened to the rider directly in front of me, which meant I had to get off my bike, could barely get going again, and was consequently pushed far back. At control 1, the field was split into three loops, and I was quite surprised that I had to complete my first two loops completely on my own. On the third and final loop, I had competitors around me again. My ‘tram’ (there were four of us) left the final collection point in second place. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to take all the quickest routes afterwards and had to let a few riders overtake me, having to settle for a still respectable 8th place overall (52 seconds behind the silver medallist).

After a much-needed rest day, the long-distance race and the relay were the final events on the World Championships programme.
I got off to a very good start in the long distance race and was on course for a top-10 finish until halfway through. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn at the control point after the overflow and ended up losing over 6 minutes. As a result, I had a few more moments of uncertainty before I was able to put in another top performance in the final 20 minutes, albeit some way off the absolute leaders. Nevertheless, the time lost was, of course, too great. On top of that, due to the short start interval of just 2 minutes, many groups formed that were able to benefit from each other, whilst I was on my own for the entire duration of the race. In the end, I finished in a disappointing 19th place.

I’d been looking forward to the final leg all year and was ready to give it my all at the starting line to defend the medal I’d won last year. I got off to a good start and, despite a longer fork in the course, was able to catch up with the leaders quickly. Unfortunately, however, I then made an administrative error (visiting the control points in the wrong order), which I fortunately realised a little later and was able to correct. But in doing so, I lost at least 1.5 minutes and also lost touch with the leaders. It was a real shame, because it meant Jana started the second leg all on her own, rather than in the leading group. As neither she nor Ursina managed perfect handover transitions either, we had to bury our hopes of a medal and settle for 5th place. We all gave our best and will ensure we’re in contention for podium places again next year.

In conclusion, I can say that, despite a few unnecessary, frustrating mistakes, I am very proud of my World Championships performance and have every right to be. This year, I’ve taken another step towards the world elite. Not only was I physically in top form at exactly the right time, but I’ve also gained stability both technically and mentally. Now I’m looking forward to a few days’ rest before preparations begin for the World Cup finals in Bulgaria, where I aim to defend my top-10 position in the overall World Cup standings.