Switzerland's dominance in mountain biking is over – but the country won't give up the number one spot that easily

The Tokyo Olympic Games produced an extremely rare sight: an Olympic podium featuring only Swiss women. In 2021, Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei, and Linda Indergand won all the mountain bike medals. The crowning achievement for a nation that dominated the Olympic cross-country discipline for years.

The triple victory in Tokyo, however, was not the pinnacle of this dominance. Rather, it was another fortunate, perhaps even fortunate, outlier. The Swiss dominance had already dwindled. Gone are the days when Switzerland produced a string of winners in this young sport, especially among the men.

There were many reasons for Switzerland's success in mountain biking. Pioneers like Thomas Frischknecht shaped the sport from the very beginning and made it famous. The Swisspower Cup racing series brought young and elite riders together as early as the 1990s, fostering talent right on their doorstep. The Swiss were also a step ahead of other nations early on, for example, by experimenting with equipment. And finally, there were exceptional talents like Nino Schurter and Jolanda Neff, who outshone many others.

Now Schurter is retiring at the end of the season at the age of 39, and the 32-year-old Neff, after setbacks since her Olympic victory, is currently not among the world's elite. The 2024 season marked a low point: no medal for Switzerland – neither at the Olympic Games nor at the World Championships, neither in the women's nor the men's categories. That's unprecedented.

Was that it?

As for dominance: Yes, it was. Not only because gems like Schurter aren't easily replaced. But also because the rest of the world has caught up. This has been the case for some time among the men; now the level of performance among the women has also increased enormously.

This means that, similar to road cycling, riders have to plan their highlights carefully; serial winners are rare these days. In the seven World Cup races of the 2025 season, eleven different women and thirteen men made the podium, including three Swiss riders each.

For a long time, international federations and teams focused on road cycling, where more money is at stake. The Swiss took a pioneering role in their important mountain biking niche, comparing wheel sizes early on, testing tires, and publishing the results. They also benefited from training at altitude before important competitions; today, the scientific standards of training have long since reached mountain biking and are widely adopted by everyone.

So how is Swiss Cycling trying to stay competitive in cross-country, which has so reliably delivered medals? "Innovation, innovation, innovation," says Managing Director Thomas Peter . "We have to understand the resistance and know how to get the most out of the physical system. This way, we can compensate for the fact that we aren't blessed with the absolute top athletes when it comes to oxygen uptake." Optimization and research are being conducted at various levels: in technical training, nutritional science, sports psychology, and in topics such as rolling resistance and heat adaptation.

Nino Schurter says: "You can't leave anything out these days. It's become so crowded at the top that it's no longer enough if you don't utilize one area to 100 percent."

However, with the flood of trends in areas such as nutrition or equipment, it's easy to get lost. Men's national team coach Beat Müller says: "We try to triage things and not lose sight of the bigger picture. So that we invest energy, time, and money wisely."

It's no coincidence that Müller is also a sports scientist at the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) and also Head of Performance at Swiss Cycling. This was a conscious decision, says head of competitive sports Patrick Müller – after it became clear that Switzerland was running out of exceptional talent and needed to train the next generation of top athletes as quickly as possible. As a long-time youth coach, Beat Müller is excellent at conveying the scientific aspects to young riders in a simple manner. Since they receive varying degrees of support within their teams, everyone has access to the relevant information.

The tires are a prime example of the enormous effort Swiss Cycling will make to gain minimal advantages. Before the current home World Championships, four experts from Baspo, Swiss Cycling, and Schurter's Team Scott spent two weeks testing tires. On terrain above Magglingen, similar to the World Championship course in Crans-Montana, they determined the tires with the lowest rolling resistance. The more measurements and corresponding data, the more meaningful the results. This serves as the basis for tire selection, combined with the athletes' riding style and their sensitivity for grip and comfort.

To ensure such a significant investment in a single component is affordable, Swiss Cycling regularly collaborates with sports science students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport in Magglingen . In their bachelor's or master's theses, they work on topics that also advance Swiss Cycling. "A win-win situation," says Beat Müller.

And now to the athletes who are implementing these findings. After years of success, the current record may seem modest, but across the board, Swiss Cycling remains strong. Ten men's riders met the selection criteria for the World Championships, and seven are eligible to compete. Four women's riders are in the top 11 of the world rankings. The most consistent performer is Alessandra Keller: She won the overall World Cup in 2022 and 2024 and took gold in short track at the World Championship opening on Tuesday. On Saturday, she also aims to finally win the coveted World Championship medal in the elite cross-country category.

Behind them, talents like Ronja Blöchlinger, who won big in her U23 years, are standing out. After years in which Schurter and Neff took center stage, a new generation is now pushing for the top. Or emerging late: The surprise of the year is 28-year-old Nicole Koller, who has finished on the podium in both the World Cup and the European Championships this season. Her counterpart in the men's category is Fabio Püntener, 25, currently ranked number 5 in the world and the best Swiss of the year. All of this is enough to ensure that Switzerland still finishes number 1 in most years, both for men and women.