In the Sign of the Rainbow

For the first time in the history of mountain biking, the world championships of all disciplines are being held (more or less) in one place at (approximately) the same time. The Swiss canton of Valais has been hosting the title competitions for the eight disciplines since August 30 and will continue to do so until September 14.
Instead of many words, we want to let two graphics do the talking here to provide an overview of the race events:

And the start was more than successful from a local perspective: After finishing 6th in the E-Enduro in Bellwald at the foot of the Aletsch Glacier as a "warm-up," Anna Spielmann clinched the first gold for the Alpine Republic in her signature discipline, E-MTB Cross Country, on September 4th! The 27-year-old from Zams won on the circuit in the lower section of the bike park with a riding time of 44:08 minutes, ahead of Swiss rider Kathrin Stirnemann and German Sofia Lena Wiedenroth. The men's title was claimed by the French defending champion Jérôme Gilloux.
In the non-electric Enduro competition, Hanna Hüttenmeyer (25th) and Valentin Frey (71st) achieved the best placements from a local perspective, with victories going to Elly Hoskin (CAN) and Richie Rude (USA).

The next big opportunity presents itself this weekend in two areas: The downhill riders have more than justified hopes, as triple world champion Vali Höll is not only the defending champion and dominator of recent years at the start, but in the junior class, there is also an athlete who is currently following in her footsteps.
Tyrolean Rosa Zierl goes into the race as the current World Cup leader and already has three World Cup victories under her belt in 2025. Vorarlberg's Lina Frener, another World Cup winner, is also competing, and European Championship bronze medalist Emma Bindhammer completes the young, powerful women's team. They will tackle the qualifying runs on Friday and the two final runs on Saturday alongside Paul Schmidinger, Felix Fasl, Diego Zraunig, and Oliver Vogl.

The elite competes in this sequence one day later. In addition to Vali Höll, who has not yet won a World Cup this year but still leads the overall standings thanks to six podium finishes after seven events, Andi Kolb has particularly high ambitions. Last week at the World Cup in Les Gets, the rider from Schladming demonstrated improving form with a 3rd place finish, and as last year's European Championship on this year's World Championship course in Champery showed, the 1.72 km long course suits Höll's teammate very well. “The track is brutally steep, and that’s why you spend a lot of time on the brakes. That suits me very well. I hope the track will be more technical and challenging than last year. Then anything is possible, and I know I have a good shot,” said the 29-year-old confidently before the competitions.
Höll herself was slightly more reserved but nonetheless determined: “I’m looking forward to the race. World Championships are always special. You don’t have to think about points or an overall ranking. You have one shot, and that’s what counts. The rainbow jersey is the best thing you can achieve as a cyclist. The rainbow stripes are forever; you can always wear them around your neck or wrists. Everyone can see it, and everyone knows you’ve won the title once. Winning four times is a big challenge, but I’ll give it my all, as always,” said the 23-year-old YT racer.
And it’s likely that the other team members, namely Kilian Schnöller, Christoph Handl, and Sebastian Weinhandl, will feel the same way.

Also this weekend, more precisely: on Saturday, the championship titles for long-distance racers are on the program. With Mona Mitterwallner and Alban Lakata, two absolute marathon champions lead the Austrian lineup: Both the 23-year-old and the 46-year-old have each won the rainbow jersey in this discipline three times.
Together with Nina Mosser, Evelyn Sulzer, Hermann Pernsteiner, and Manuel Pliem, they will start the race at 6:40 am.
The early start has a good reason: The Grand Raid awaits, one of the toughest marathon challenges in the world. The path to the rainbow jersey involves 5,000 meters of elevation gain and 125 kilometers from Verbier to the mountain village of Grimentz. Along the way, the Pas de Lona, an alpine pass situated at 2,800 meters, must be conquered, with the last part of the ascent being unrideable.
“This is the mountain bike marathon par excellence, and that’s exactly why I’ll compete in a World Championship one last time. I don’t have a specific placement goal. I just want to go home with a good feeling and close a beautiful chapter of my athletic career,” says seven-time medalist Lakata, who officially bids farewell as an MTB professional with this World Championship race.

Defending champion Mona Mitterwallner and the rest of the women face the same workload, with the rider from Silz expecting a ride time of 7.5 hours. "I’ve never ridden such a long race before," admits the Vuelta and Tour de France participant, who has also been active on the road this year, crowned the youngest marathon world champion in history in 2021, and went on to add another title in both 2023 and 2024. The fourth title is her declared goal, but given some signs of wear and tear and stomach problems after the World Cup in Les Gets, she tempers expectations: "I hope I feel good on Saturday, but I can’t really promise anything."

May it be a good omen for the upcoming MTB competitions in Switzerland: With eight medals in four days, the Para-Cycling World Championships 2025 in Ronse (BEL) from August 28 to 31 became one of the most successful major events of all time for the Austrian national team.

The medals at a glance:
3x Gold: Thomas Frühwirth (H4, time trial), Svetlana Moshkovich (WH4, time trial), Franz-Josef Lässer (C5, time trial)
1x Silver: Wolfgang Steinbichler (T2, road race)
4x Bronze: Cornelia Wibmer (WH4, time trial), Wolfgang Steinbichler (T2, time trial), Thomas Frühwirth (H4, road race), Svetlana Moshkovich (WH4, road race)