“The World Championships are a special race, where it’s worth putting everything on the line.” Few sentences sum up the way Valentina Höll approaches the biggest event of the season. Not only because the World Championships are decided over a single run, with no chance to make amends the following week, but because this is precisely the setting in which the Austrian champion feels able to fully unleash her vision of Downhill.
On Saturday, August 29th, at the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole-Trentino, the Austrian star will face the Black Snake, a track she knows well and where she has already won at two different stages of her career: in the 2018 UCI Junior World Cup and again in 2023, this time in the Elite World Cup. This time, however, the stakes will be much higher: the rainbow jersey and the chance to claim a fifth consecutive World Championship title, drawing level with Britain’s Rachel Atherton in second place on the all-time list, behind France’s nine-time World Champion Anne-Caroline Chausson.
“When an aggressive approach pays off, it’s one of the most incredible feelings a rider can experience,” says Vali Höll. For the 24-year-old Austrian, the World Championships require a different approach from the World Cup. “In the World Cup, you have to be a little more cautious and think about the cosinstency and the overall standings.”
“The Black Snake is a technical track, with no artificial sections, forcing you out of your comfort zone. Knowing the track is crucial, especially if the weather changes between practice and race day.”
Rapid changes in weather conditions in Val di Sole often force riders to adapt both their setup and the way they approach the run. Experience can therefore play a key role on the Black Snake. “A lot of us have the speed to win, so there isn’t really one clear favourite. On this track, you can’t overlook the more experienced riders, like Myriam Nicole. It’s going to be a tough battle, but I can’t wait.”
Myriam Nicole is not a name that Höll has picked at random. By highlighting the experienced French rider as one of her toughest rivals, she is naming the last rider to beat her at the World Championships, right here in Val di Sole in 2021. It was Nicole who claimed the rainbow jersey on the Black Snake, before Höll embarked on her four-year reign.
Five years on, the same track could set the stage for another chapter of their rivalry. But there is one crucial difference: this time, Vali Höll will not return to Val di Sole in pursuit of her first World Championship title, but to defend a reign that, in many ways, began with that very defeat.
Tickets for the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole-Trentino are available at www.valdisolebikeland.com
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