Swiss mountain bikers come away empty-handed in the most important races in 2024. At the World Cup final in Canada, Sina Frei and Alessandra Keller ensure a conciliatory finish.
Alessandra Keller: the second double
As in 2022, the 28-year-old from Nidwalden was the most consistent rider among the women. Although Keller, like all Swiss elite riders, remained without an Olympic or World Championship medal, she collected more points in the World Cup than anyone else. She finished in the top 10 in each of the eight cross-country races and finished on the podium three times. She also took two wins, a 2nd and a 3rd place in the short track, which earned her the double of overall World Cup and short track, just like in 2022.
"I'm proud of myself and my consistency over the season. Bringing home the overall World Cup and the discipline win in short track is also a reward for my team, who supported me perfectly throughout the year. The overall World Cup is my top priority this season," said Keller after finishing 5th in Mont-Sainte-Anne. She highlighted the home World Championships in Valais as her main focus for the coming year. "The whole season will be geared towards this goal."
Sina Frei: Four podium places for a late hallelujah
Until her trip to North America, Sina Frei had a season to forget. In May, she injured her hand, and after six World Cups, her best result in cross-country was 9th place. At the Olympic Games, where she had to rely on Jolanda Neff's withdrawal to take part, and at the World Championships, she missed out on the top 15. The 27-year-old Zurich native and former two-time U23 world champion's wait for her breakthrough at elite level seemed to be delayed for another year.
Then came the races overseas - and in these Frei made the most of the absence of Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and last year's overall World Cup winner Puck Pieterse. In Lake Placid and Mont-Sainte-Anne, she achieved her first podium places in cross-country as second and third, and also won both short tracks. "After I was 'tricked' at the start of the season, this is a great happy ending for me. Now I can relax going into the off-season and build on it in peace," Frei noted.
Jolanda Neff: Breathing problems and Olympic forfeit
Jolanda Neff is an Olympic champion (2021), world champion (2017) and three-time overall World Cup winner (2014, 2015, 2018). No further successes in 2024. The year of the 31-year-old from St. Gallen was characterized by the struggle for air. At the beginning of June, Neff was diagnosed with EILO, a constriction of the larynx caused by exertion. Top results took a back seat. "I have to relearn how to breathe," said Neff at the time. She missed three World Cup races and also had to cancel her Olympic start. She missed out on the top 30 at the World Championships.
From Canada, where she pulled out of the race after a crash, Neff said that although she is currently "missing her legs", she has got her breathing problems under control and is in a positive mood.
Colombo/Schurter/Flückiger: New number 1 and an open future
Third overall, Filippo Colombo was the best Swiss rider in the World Cup for the first time in 2024. However, the 26-year-old Ticino native's season, in which he twice finished on the World Cup podium, was also accompanied by dissent over his non-selection for the Olympic Games, where veterans Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger were given preference. In 2025, Colombo could become the undisputed Swiss number 1 for the first time in a long time without injury. Nino Schurter is 39 years old, Mathias Flückiger 36.
Schurter had brought himself back into top form before the Olympic Games. With his 36th World Cup victory in Val di Sole, he gave Swiss Cycling its only win of the season in cross-country, and he also finished second in Nove Mesto. A fourth Olympic medal and his eleventh World Championship title subsequently came to nothing. Towards the end of the season, his form dropped off and his tenth overall World Cup victory also slipped away. "For the first time in my career, I had to admit that I had overdone it," the record-breaking man had to concede. In June, it seemed clear that Schurter would continue his glorious career. Now there are quiet question marks again. The Grisons rider has so far left his future open.
Mathias Flückiger started the season poorly and finished it with mixed results. In between, the Bernese rider, who was temporarily thrown off track by an alleged doping affair, came close to his best level again and finished second twice in the World Cup. However, he also remained without an Olympic (5th place) and World Championship (8th) medal.
Nicole Koller, Marcel Guerrini and co.: getting closer
Thanks to good early form and a 3rd place in Nove Mesto, Marcel Guerrini was also flirting with an Olympic call-up. In the end, the 30-year-old from St. Gallen finished 13th in the overall World Cup, practically on a par with Lars Forster (14th), well behind the Swiss top trio of Colombo/Schurter/Flückiger.
Nicole Koller approached the top in the shadow of Alessandra Keller and Sina Frei. The 27-year-old from Zurich finished in the top 10 three times and ended the season in eleventh place in the overall World Cup ahead of Linda Indergand (14th), the 2021 Olympic bronze medallist, and Neff (30th). 26-year-old Steffi Häberlin from eastern Switzerland ended the season with her first two top 10 finishes.
