From World Cup domination to GC ambitions – Why this multiple World Champion could be the next mountain biker to make her mark on the Tour de France Femmes

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot drew the lion's share of attention at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes as she emerged victorious so soon after moving away mountain biking and back to the road, but she was not the only fat-tyre expert in the peloton making her debut at the French Grand Tour.

Human Powered Health's Mona Mitterwallner was another mountain biker lining up for the first time, but she was flying under the radar, for now, as she took her first step toward hopes of one day reaching the same lofty heights as the French winner.

Mitterwallner wasn't enjoying, or expecting, a Ferrand-Prévot-esque precision launch or even a replication of a Puck Pieterse debut – the current mountain bike world champion won a stage and the white jersey on her first attempt at the race.

Still, even though the 23-year-old's results weren't stellar, it was still an important first step toward the young Austrian's ultimate goal: becoming the best cyclist in the world.

"I heard it's hard, and that's definitely true," Mitterwallner told Cyclingnews after the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes. "Yeah, it was super hard. I felt very good in the beginning, but I was part of one crash, and since then, everything went downwards.

"I would not say it's the crash, but, like, my body locked up and I just had zero energy for the big climbing days, which I'm quite sad about, because I looked forward to the big mountains because this is normally where I shine, but not this time, which is okay. I learned a lot. I gained a lot of experience."

At the start of her career, Mitterwallner was a rider who made winning look like it came easy, blitzing the mountain bike field in 2021 as she launched into the U23 Mountain Bike World Series . The then 19-year-old claimed victory in every single World Cup in the 2021 season, as well as her second U23 XCO World Championships title and first of three elite marathon rainbow jerseys, before stepping up into the elite category early.

There have been plenty of successes since, but also plenty of challenges, and during her first season of taking on a substantial road programme alongside mountain biking, they have kept coming.

The considerable stomach problems and then COVID that stymied her 2024 run was then followed by an early-season injury and surgery in 2025, some more illness but also a second place in one of her early road races at Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry before a nasty crash in her first Grand Tour, the Vuelta Femenina, left her with facial and shoulder injuries.

She bounced back, however, with an inspiring win at the Nové Město World Cup – her first World Series win since 2023 – as well as a strong showing on the road at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées where she took top ten finishes through every stage.

Bolstered by the rebuild, her next race on the road was the Tour de France Femmes, but after crashing it was a debut with 65th overall and a best stage result of 31st on the opening day of racing. Mitterwallner didn't beat around the bush after the race, she was disappointed with the outcome, but her road team had a different perspective.

Flashes of potential

"Mona’s first Tour de France Femmes was an important milestone," Human Powered Health general manager Ro De Jonckere told Cyclingnews.

"It is the most demanding race on the calendar and Mona only had 17 days of racing on the road under her belt when she took the start in Bretagne, I don’t think there is any other rider out there that has tackled this race with only that much road racing experience.

"She showed real resilience and flashes of her potential. Obviously, her climbing ability and determination are huge strengths, while dealing with the intensity of competing over multiple days at the highest level will have been the biggest learning experience."

This may be a goal that isn't coming easy for the mountain bike phenom, but the determination to achieve it isn't diminished. The experience has just painted a clearer picture of how many steps are required along the way to becoming the best.

"For sure, I have to get stronger, also in general that's always a goal of mine," said Mitterwallner, spent after the final brutal climb after nine days of racing but still seemingly buoyed by the experience as she radiated enthusiasm at the team bus at the end of the final stage.

"But then also I have to really have to work on moving in the peloton. This is something I have to figure out how to learn, because I want to learn it quick and it will only come from experience."

Winner Ferrand-Prévot, after all, may have been making her Tour de France Femmes debut but road experience is certainly not something she was lacking and she also carried the respect that comes with being a 12 time elite World Champion – including a road race title won in 2014.

Both practice and respect are something Mitterwallner clearly sees she will need to help her on her way, with the rider describing moving through the peloton as like trying to break through a wall at times, meaning that she lost a lot of energy riding too far back.

"I want to race at the beginning of the year already on road next year, and get some results in, like, let's say 1.Pro races or something similar as I would like to gain experience and respect of other riders there," said Mitterwallner, recognising that while she had her preparation for mountain biking well under control, road required more work.

"I could then come to the Grand Tours with a bit more self-confidence, that would be the goal."

Mitterwallner said she would like to still focus on the World Cups and World Championships in mountain biking around the road racing, where she once again hoped to line up for multiple Grand Tours in 2026.

She will go into next season with perhaps a little bit more certainty given that she will have had both a year of experience and a year of settling into her new equipment and teams, Human Powered Health on the road and Mondraker on the mountain bike.

For now, however, Mitterwallner is in the midst of the Mountain Bike World Championships in Valais, Switzerland. There the challenging season has continued so far, with a stomach bug at the Les Gets World Cup round providing a less-than-ideal run-in to the demanding Marathon Mountain Bike World Championships last weekend. The defending champion nevertheless salvaged a spot on the podium with third and there are still the cross country events to come.

Between that World Championship's medal despite a rough lead-in and the win at the Nové Město World Cup it appears that her time on the road is doing nothing to harm her mountain biking prowess. Her road team is confident that combination will also prove to work well the other way round, with a little patience.

"We believe in her potential as a world-class GC rider," De Jonckere told Cyclingnews. "Mona has already proven that she can compete at the top level in mountain biking and those qualities translate well on the road.

"At the same time, we know development is a process. She will need to continue to build endurance, we will need to work on her time trial skills and get her more experienced in racing and positioning in the peloton. We need to learn how her body can adapt and recover well day after day, and she will need to gain confidence as a leader in high-pressure situations.

"There is still a lot to learn for her but she is very eager to learn and that mentality will for sure help to speed up her development as a GC rider."