Mountain Bike Magazine Summer 2024/25 | Page 25

WORLD CHAMP | ALAN HATHERLY

Saffa superstar Alan Hatherly won an Olympic medal for South Africa , dominated at the UCI World Cup to take the overall XCO title – and pulled on the rainbow jersey at World Champs to make a dream come true , both for himself and the rainbow nation . Mountain Bike mag caught up with our talented champ for a recap on his superlative season .

ALAN , YOUR 2024 SEASON MUST have exceeded your childhood dreams . UCI Mountain Bike XCO World Champion , World Cup Series XCO Champion , and bronze at the

Olympics . Wow ! You ’ ve proved yourself one of the world ’ s best XCO racers

– and made South Africa beyond proud . It ’ s the first time ever in cross-country oun racing that we ’ ve had a Saffa pull on the elite rainbow jersey , and hold up the overall champion ’ s trophy at a

World

Cup ( apart from when you yourself won the XCC overall in 2022 ). You must pinch yourself every time you wake up .

Did you ever dream as a young rider from South Africa , racing BMX as a youngster and DH as a junior , that this could be possible ? Funnily enough , my wife and I were talking about how my dream back in high school was to just be able to ride at the front of a cross-country race and keep up with the likes of Nino and Absalon , and now I ’ m not just riding with the front guys but I ’ m also in the fight for the podium each weekend . It ’ s very surreal . I ’ ve always had very high standards for myself , and I approach everything with full commitment , so I ’ ve always known that , as long as I feel I have more to give , anything is possible . Sure , there have been days where I ’ ve wondered where I could be going wrong or what am I missing to be able to achieve that top step , but this is where having a really strong support system and team comes into play to help you over those hurdles .

Let ’ s talk through your season , starting with the Paris Olympics in late July . As an eight-time South African champ , we had high hopes that you ’ d achieve a top result . But that bronze in a seriously talent-stacked , frothing field was a sensational outcome ! Talk us through what went down in one of the most exciting Olympic races ever , and how it felt to step onto that Olympic podium . It ’ s the same crowd that we race against at each World Cup so I know each guy ’ s riding style and their strengths and weaknesses . With that being said , the level and pace were so much higher than any World Cup race and a lot of the guys had targeted Olympics this season and were willing to take big risks for a podium spot , so I knew I needed to ride smart and stay at the front to stay out of trouble . It was extremely hot , dry and dusty and like all races in France , the atmosphere from the crowd was loud and buzzing . Both Tom Pidcock and Victor Koretzky were flat out and I rode my own race and worked to shorten that distance , but to put it simply – they were both better than me that day . I was and still am elated to have secured a medal !

The podium ceremony happened really fast , I was still sweating from the race while putting on my ceremony tracksuit ! It was extremely special to have my wife Jade , mechanic JP Jacobs , coach Phil Dixon and physio Max Leferve – my core support group – there with me to share the success that we have all dedicated a lot of time and energy into achieving .

Next up is that thrilling World Championships race in Andorra on 1 September . You put on a riveting display of skill , determination and tactical brilliance after an early attack during the fourth lap . And then surged ahead of Victor Koretzky in the final lap to take a commanding lead . Talk us through your strategy for this allimportant race , and how your bold moves set you up for an unforgettable victory . What do you think made the key difference to you swapping spots with Tom Pidcock between the Olympics and the World Champs . Again , with each race we learn more and more from each rider – their strengths and weaknesses and their signature attack moves . I knew that if Tom managed to get back to us at the front that it would be a lot more difficult to secure the win , so I kept pushing the pace to keep that gap from closing . My team relayed a lot of feedback to me during the race so I used this intel to determine when was best for me to lay the hammer down . I didn ’ t want to go too early and potentially blow the doors off and then struggle to stay at the front , but I didn ’ t want to wait too long either because Tom was creeping closer and Victor was already suffering , so I just had to grit my teeth and go all out on that final climb to pass Victor and then keep that pace through to the finish line .

Tom and Victor are phenomenal riders and I have a lot of respect for them both . It ’ s always an honour to share the stage with them . check out this guy | MTB | 25