Laura Stigger surprised the biking world when she gained the junior ladies’s street race world title on dwelling soil in Innsbruck, Australia in 2018. Six years later, she has constructed a profitable profession in skilled mountain biking however she is able to return to street racing having signed a brand new take care of one of many largest groups on this planet, SD Worx-Protime, for the 2025 season.
“It was tremendous particular to right away take the world title in my very own area at my first actual introduction to the street. I’m now curious to see what I’m value within the elite class on the street,” Stigger mentioned in a workforce press launch.
“It is good that I can uncover that whereas I can nonetheless proceed my mountain bike profession with the Specialised Manufacturing facility Racing Workforce.”
Stigger had a profitable multi-discipline junior profession the place she additionally gained two world titles in cross-country mountain biking and a gold medal on the European Championships in 2017 and 2018. She went on to win three under-23 mountain bike World Cups and the collection rating in 2019.
Since shifting as much as the elite ranks in 2020, though she was nonetheless beneath 23, she has secured a number of victories and podium finishes within the World Cup collection in cross-country and quick observe racing.
Stigger, 24, at present races with Specialised Manufacturing facility Racing, and she is going to proceed competing in cross-country mountain biking. She will even race choose street races together with the Ardennes Classics, with SD Worx-Protime, additionally sponsored by Specialised.
Laura Stigger wins junior ladies’s street race world title at 2018 Innsbruck World Championships (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
“Laura will mix mountain biking with street biking. We’re happy that she is going to do that with us. With Laura, we’ve got one other good reinforcement for climbing. She is going to do nicely in Ardennes work. Final 12 months she attended a coaching camp with our workforce and it went very nicely. That is why we took the choice to offer her the possibility to get a style of the actual factor on the street,” mentioned workforce supervisor Danny Stam.
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“The mixtures of various disciplines is increasingly a development. Mountain biking and street biking are fairly complementary. Mountain bikers are often fairly sturdy within the mountains and may launch their energy nicely there.”
Stigger believes that her strengths are in punchier street races however that she must construct her expertise. She mentioned that coaching on dwelling roads in Innsbruck meant that she was well-suited to climbing in that space, which was why she positioned a deal with the street Worlds six years in the past.
“That succeeded and I additionally ended up successful the world title in my dwelling metropolis. Completely sudden. An exquisite reminiscence,” Stigger mentioned.
She mentioned she subsequently met Anna van der Breggen, who had gained the elite ladies’s street race in Innsbruck that 12 months, at an altitude camp after which spent a while coaching collectively. She mentioned Van der Breggen, who will come out of retirement and race with SD Worx-Protime in 2025, inspired her to compete on the street.
“The truth that it has lastly occurred a number of years [later] is gorgeous and thrilling on the identical time. I look ahead to now driving alongside her in the identical workforce,” Stigger mentioned.
“I feel my steering abilities from mountain biking will turn out to be useful. I hope to make vital strides in each street biking and mountain biking by combining each disciplines.”
