PEOPLE | RIDERS WE LIKE
course triathletes have
moved on to dominate
IRONMAN in recent years?
It’s sure easier and will be more
common in future that the
XCO racers rule the marathon
scene than the other way
around. I would not say that
I’m a unique rider that way. What advice would you give
young riders who want to be
like you. When should they
start racing longer versus
shorter races?
The only advice I can give is to
love what you are doing and
have fun riding. The rest will
evolve itself. When did the mountain
biking bug bite? Were you
a natural or did you receive
coaching from a young age?
I started racing at the age of
seven and immediately started
to win. I was born a natural,
talented rider and did not at
first need coaching to win.
Why did you not race
marathon worlds a week
after XCO. Was there too
little time for recovery?
If I focus on something big
then I give it 100%. It’s not the
recovery of the body that’s the
problem, it’s the fact that you
can’t focus on two big goals
within one week. In my opinion,
the date of the marathon
worlds is not ideal. We saw you looking really
strong racing XCO skiing.
Were you born a natural
endurance athlete or has
it been a slow process of
building to it since you were
a child?
I have always been an active
person who loves being out in
nature. The fact that I’m a good
endurance athlete I discovered
over time. How do you juggle your
career and your family,
especially with travelling so
much? Do they join you?
On very few occasions I can
have my family with me. But
in general I’m with my family
when I’m home and I’m by
myself when I’m doing my
job at the races. This is not
always easy but it’s a clean cut
between career and family.
Clockwise from top: Nino
and his teammate Matthias
Stirnemann celebrate their
overall victory at the 2017
Absa Cape Epic; selfies in the
snow; tandem life with his
wife and daughter; post-race
elation and exhaustion at the
XCO World Cup in Nové Město
in 2018.
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