TOUR interview: Antonia Niedermaier on ski mountaineering at the Olympics, big goals at the Giro and her debut at the Tour

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TOUR Antonia, you are now on the Spanish Mediterranean coast in mid-February to compete in your first race of the season at the Tour of Valencia. As a keen ski mountaineer, how much nostalgia do you feel when you have to leave the mountains and snow of your home on the Bavarian-Tyrolean border in winter?

ANTONIA NIEDERMAIER It's always been nice to be at home and in the snow. And I still really enjoy ski mountaineering - but now more for pleasure and as a balance. There's still a bit of a smile and a tear in my eye when I have to leave the snow. But I'm also looking forward to the sun.

The Winter Olympics are currently taking place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Not so long ago, you wanted to be there yourself for the Olympic premiere of ski mountaineering (19 and 21 February). To what extent do you follow what happens at the Games?

I haven't followed the Olympics very closely because I don't have the time now that I'm racing again. But I will definitely watch the ski mountaineering races. Of course I'm interested to see how the Germans and Austrians are doing.

Before the last cycling season, you and your team Canyon-SRAM had plans to take part in the Olympic Games in summer and winter. As a cyclist, you were already there in Paris 2024. Why did you give up the plan to make it to the Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina as a ski mountaineer now that the discipline is making its Olympic debut?

It's just not really compatible. It's extremely difficult to combine two sports at this level. The Olympics are making ski mountaineering more and more professional, there are more and more World Cups and the season is getting longer. And besides, I'm not really a sprinter. The sprint discipline has become Olympic. And at some point you have to make a decision and concentrate on one sport. And I've been able to gain more of a foothold in cycling in the meantime.

You have already gained a very good foothold. You have already won a stage of the Giro d'Italia, finished fifth and sixth overall in the Tour of Italy, fourth in the individual time trial and sixth in the road race. What are your goals for the coming season and the future?

In the spring, the Ardennes classics (Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the second half of April; editor's note) are always a big highlight. We have a strong team at the start. These are races that suit us well as a team. And then it's on to all the tours, so first the Giro (30.5. to 7.6.26) and then most likely the Tour (1. to 9.8.26), but nothing is official yet. That's the rough plan. The World and European Championships are always great goals, of course, because there are time trials there, which unfortunately you don't get that often otherwise.

You want to start the Giro d'Italia as the leader again. What is your goal this year? From the outside looking in, things didn't go quite as well as planned last year. Nevertheless, you finished fifth overall.

At the Giro, the goal is to get to the GC (Overall classification) drives. Last year was mixed. But it was still a good result. It's fair to say that the standard is extremely high and it gets higher every year. Especially in women's cycling, I have the feeling that it gets better every year.

Do you already have a feeling for where you can go in the medium and long term?

It's always a bit difficult to say, especially at the start of a season. In terms of the future, the big goal is to concentrate on the tours, especially the Grand Tours (Vuelta, Giro and Tour; editor's note), in order to finish on the podium or maybe even win something.

First the Giro, then probably the debut at the Tour?

The Giro is clearly your priority this year, the Tour de France Femmes is secondary. Why is that?

The Giro is quite challenging and hopefully suits me quite well. The decision is relatively easy. We'll almost certainly be riding for Kasia in the Tour. And then I'll have more of a helper role. That's completely okay for me. I'm happy to do it. Everyone gets their chance somewhere, and they're happy to give it to me at the Giro.

The key stages of the Giro are a mountain time trial on the Nevegal and the stage over the Colle delle Finestre gravel pass to Sestrie. How do you like the route?

I also like mountain time trials. So, I haven't studied the route in detail yet and looked at where I can best attack.

Last summer, you extended your contract by three years until the end of 2028. What was the deciding factor?

So, Ronny, my boss (Team manager Ronny Lauke; editor's note)has always seen potential in me since I joined the team. We want to build that up in the long term. I get my chances and can learn a lot. I've extended my contract because I feel comfortable, because I've found my place here and have a great team around me. In the end, it was more of a gut decision, it just felt right for me.

Rolf Aldag, most recently with the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team, is new to the team as head of sport. What does that change?

In any case, it's already clear that he brings a great deal of professionalism and that he has a pretty clear idea of what he wants to achieve with the team. It's incredibly good for our team because he brings a breath of fresh air, a different perspective. And he's an incredibly likeable person.

The season starts for you today (12 February) with the start of the Tour of Valencia with four, mostly mountainous, stages. What do you expect from the race?

Valencia is always a good race to get into. It's very open this year, a lot can happen. There's a mountain stage at the end where the GC will be decided. We are also very versatile there. Valencia is always a bit of a test of form. After that we go to the training camp near Calpe.