Interview Alan Hatherly: MTB world champion wants to take off on the road
Andreas Kublik
· 14.03.2025
Alan Hatherly: Point reached to develop further
Alan Hatherly: I felt that I had reached a point in my career where I was looking for new opportunities to develop and learn. Switching to the road was the best opportunity. I've used road racing as pre-season preparation in previous years, but now I'm doing it at a higher level. It's part of a long-term process to improve as an athlete.
When the first wave of mountain bikers spilled over into road cycling around 2000, with Cadel Evans and Miguel Martinez, it was said that there was more money to be made in road cycling and that the media attention was higher. Were these also arguments in favour of switching to road cycling?
No, I was simply given the chance to do something different - and I took it.
Do you only want to develop as a professional road cyclist - or do you also have goals as a mountain biker?
No. The opportunity simply arose for me to ride road races at the highest level, to do something different - and I took it. My long-term goal is to win the gold medal on the mountain bike at the 2028 Olympic Games in LA. Until then, I want to improve as much as possible.
What are the biggest challenges for a mountain biker entering professional road cycling?
Well, there are a few differences. First of all, the length of the races is the biggest challenge - and in the stage races there are several race days in a row, whereas on the mountain bike we only do one race.
The race duration in the MTB World Cup is a maximum of 60 to 80 minutes...
And on the road, it only really starts for me at the end of the stage - and not at the start. And that's almost the opposite of mountain biking. Everything is important from the first second. So the stress is a bit of a contrast. And it's precisely this contrast in training and racing that works well together for me.
Alan Hatherly: I will be concentrating fully on road cycling until May
TOUR: What does your programme for the 2025 road season look like?
Alan Hatherly: I will be riding Coppi e Bartali (stage race in Italy; 25 to 29 March) and the Tour of the Basque Country (7 to 12 April). I want to do a good job there. Of course, it depends on how my preparation goes and what my tasks are in the races. Until May I'll be concentrating entirely on road cycling, then I'll start my preparation for the Mountain Bike World Cup season.
What are your goals in road cycling - specifically?
Everything is still open. I'm looking from race to race. I just want to be good and make the most of the opportunities that present themselves in each race. I don't have any specific goals at the moment, I don't want to set the bar too high. But a few top ten results in the overall rankings and the one-day races that I will be competing in would be nice.
Ex-mountain bikers like Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal were often particularly strong in Grand Tours in road cycling - Giro, Tour and Vuelta: are there any plans for the 2025 season in this regard?
No, no, I'm not planning to start a Grand Tour in my first year. It would be too much for me. We've saved that for the future.
What's next for you on the mountain bike - will you miss the first World Cup races?
I will concentrate on individual World Cups and then, of course, I would like to defend my World Championship title in Crans-Montana (Switzerland; 14 September).
Currently, the most prominent professional cyclist who regularly combines mountain biking and road cycling is Olympic bike champion Tom Pidcock. Right at the start of the AlUla Tour, you only just missed out on a stage win against him in second place. Do you see any chance of achieving something similar to Pidcock on the road, who has already won the Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de France stage to Alpe d'Huez?
It's still a bit early for me to answer this question correctly. But of course I want to develop and become as good as possible as a professional road cyclist. If I could achieve something similar to Tom, that would of course be really good.
"We bikers think in four-year periods, from one Olympic cycle to the next"
TOUR: After the Olympic Games in Paris, an astonishing number of mountain bikers are trying their hand as professionals on the road: Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), the Austrians Laura Stigger (SD Worx - Protime) and Mona Mitterwallner (Human Powered Health) or the Swiss Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx - Protime). Do you see a reason for this?
Alan Hatherly: I think everyone has a similar mindset: get out of your comfort zone, learn and develop. We bikers think in four-year periods, from one Olympic cycle to the next. After the end of the Olympics last season, it was simply good to start with something new, a completely new challenge.
After her Olympic victory in Paris, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has left mountain biking completely behind her. She believes that you can't compete in both disciplines at the highest level at the same time. And she wants to win the Tour de France Femmes in the next three years. How do you see that?
Everyone is different. Not every athlete has the same background, the same history - so it's difficult to say.
Is there already a plan for what will happen from 2026?
We haven't decided that far ahead yet. I'm going to do my road season until May. Then we'll decide about 2026.
To summarise: The biggest goal in your career planning is to win the Olympic Games in LA on the MTB?
Yes, exactly. That's my plan at the moment.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
