Kerschbaumer: “I don’t want to sink into mediocrity”

On Sunday your appearance at the Mountain Bike World Championships ended with 31st place. A day later you announced on Facebook: “I won’t be racing any more in the near future.” That sounds a bit like a knee-jerk reaction… You can't say that, I thought the decision through carefully and made it in consultation with my team. This year, taking part in the Olympic Games was one of my big goals. When qualifying for Rio didn't work out, I had another big event at the World Championships where I could prove myself. Since I only ended up outside the top 30 there, I decided to draw a line. I don't want to keep up, my goal is and remains the best in the world. I can't be satisfied with results in the no man's land of the classification, so I will stay away from the World Cup for the time being. Immediately before the World Championship race, you fell in training and slightly injured your arm. Did the injury perhaps have a greater impact on the race than expected? I rode with pain, but I don't want to blame my result on the injury. Even without the damaged arm, I wouldn't have landed much further forward. That's why the decision came to take a break now. I don't want to sink into mediocrity! Now I try to clear my head a bit and then attack again. The desire for sport is still huge. The next World Cup race after Lenzerheide (this weekend, editor's note) will not take place in Canada until August. Will we see you there again in the saddle? No, I will also forego the competition in Mont-Sainte-Anne. I haven't used my bike since the World Cup and I won't be training until the middle of next week. I will return to the World Cup at the beginning of September, when the World Cup stage in Andorra is scheduled. The track there suits me, I can play to my strengths there. Until then, I'll do a few more races to get back into the rhythm. Your contract with the Bianchi i.idro DRAIN team expires in December. As is well known, good results would be ideal for a new working paper... That's correct. As of now, I don't have a contract for the coming season. There have been some discussions, but there is nothing concrete to report yet. But in the coming weeks I'm not concentrating on that. I have to look at myself and deliver results, then we'll see. Other athletes are focusing on the Olympics - but you are not there in Brazil. An old friend, racing bike professional Peter Sagan, is taking part in the cross-country race. What do you think your former rival can do at the Rio Games? Sagan is an exceptional talent. He has the class and the technique to be at the forefront of the mountain bike competition. However, due to the strong competition, I don't think it will be enough for a medal. But a place in the top ten is definitely possible for him. As Sagan moves from racing to mountain biking, the voices of those who want to see you racing on the road grow louder. Could this idea soon become a reality? It's entirely possible that I'll switch to a racing bike sooner or later. However, that won't be the case in the near future, because before then I want to build on my previous achievements in mountain biking. I still owe myself a lot. All of this needs to be caught up on.

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Kerschbaumer: “I don’t want to sink into mediocrity”

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