Isabella Holmgren is one of the most talented pro cyclists in North America across three disciplines - road, mountain bike and cyclocross. But after winning two under-23 world titles in MTB and the Tour de l'Avenir on the road, the Canadian has decided to step away from cyclocross this year.
"I'm just taking a step back, just for now," Holmgren told Cyclingnews from the Lidl-Trek team camp in Denia, Spain, on Friday. "It's nice to have a bit more of a break and a better build into the road and mountain bike season. So I'll spend Christmas at home with my family. So I'm really excited."
Still just 20 years old, Holmgren already has amassed five world titles on the mountain bike and the junior world championship in cyclocross in 2023. While 'cross remains one of her passions, something had to give as her ambitions in road cycling grow.
"The main focus is road and moves to the mountain bike, and cyclocross will be put to the side," she explained. "I already miss [cyclocross]. Watching the races it makes me really want to be there. But I also understand that it's important to have a really good break sometimes. And I'm happy to support my teammates and cheer for them from inside."
With her record in MTB growing to a dozen World Cup victories as an under-23, and her obvious stage racing talent as witnessed by her three stage wins and overall victory in the Tour de l'Avenir this year, Holmgren is keen to keep combining her remaining two specialties.
"It's definitely a challenge. I really enjoyed mixing the mountain bike in the road. There are very different vibes and dynamics in both disciplines. It is difficult, but it's definitely worth it, in my opinion."
As the sport has seen over the past decade, some of the biggest stars on the road have come from other disciplines like cyclocross (Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert) or MTB (Pauline Ferrand-Prévot).
"The road definitely helps with the fitness on the mountain bike, and then the super hard one-hour [MTB] races are definitely going to help you on the road as well - being punchy and having good skills and things like this," she says.
However, combining both in the season has its drawbacks, especially going from road to MTB, which requires more preparation.
"It's definitely important that you go into a mountain bike race with your skills dialled in a bit, and making sure you ride some trails beforehand, because the girls nowadays are so fit, but they're also really good technically, so you have to make sure that the level is there."
You would expect a rider who has achieved so much so early in her career to be under pressure to perform, but Holmgren is decidedly relaxed about her ambitions and never expected to be so successful.
"I just try to go into a race and focus on my own performance, and the result comes after so, keeping the pressure a little bit lower helps with the expectations. I wouldn't say I'm the most confident person ever, so the expectations aren't always high."
That could explain her signature victory salute - hand-over-mouth in surprise.
Yet even after her victory in the one-day Durango-Durango, the Tour de l'Avenir and a top-10 in the Giro, Lidl-Trek team aren't setting a high bar for Holmgren to perform, since she has a long career ahead.
"I think this team is a very good environment in that sense, and they're not putting pressure on me in the results sense. It's nice that they trusted me, and they're giving me time to develop into the best rider that I can be across many years, and not just for right now," she says.
Her calendar for 2026 is still to be announced, but one major goal outside of Lidl-Trek is for Holmgren to be at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal - just a six-hour drive from her front door.
"That would definitely be a really big goal of mine. It's probably once in a lifetime that you get to do road world championships at home. So I would really love to be there and race in front of friends and family."
On the road, Holmgren is looking to add another Grand Tour to her palmares after finishing seventh at the Giro d'Italia this year.
"I would definitely like to do another Grand Tour. I really enjoyed my time at the Giro this year, so it would definitely be nice to do some more of that in the future. But yeah, like I said, the team is trying to take it slow, trying to get the best for a long career, and not just right now."
