Antonia Niedermaier: High goals for the Giro and the World Championships in Rwanda

Antonia Niedermaier can see her rapid rise in cycling almost every day at home in Walchsee, Austria - the most important winners' jerseys hang on the wall in her living room: In one of the first cycling races of her life, she won the German championship in the junior individual time trial class in 2021 - followed by her first international appearances, crowned with European Championship silver and World Championship bronze in the battle against the clock.

A year later, the late starter left several experienced professionals in the women's category behind her when the now 21-year-old from Upper Bavaria won the overall classification of the Tour of Ardeche in the south of France wearing the jersey of the Canyon//SRAM Next Generation junior team. A pink jersey commemorates this. And in 2023, she won the world championship title in the U23 individual time trial - the rainbow jersey also hangs on the wall. Last autumn, she defended this World Championship title in Zurich and only narrowly missed out on a medal in the elite women's class in fourth place. You could say that Niedermaier has arrived at the top of the world. "The World Championships were very good. She reached her potential again there. That gave her a boost," emphasises her coach Dan Lorang, who also coaches the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe pros.

Strengths on the mountain and in the fight against the clock

Now the climbing specialist is set to continue her ascent: In the 2025 season, she has two major goals: the Giro d'Italia Women in July and the Road World Championships on an extremely mountainous course in Rwanda in September. For the eight-stage race in Italy, team boss Ronny Lauke has promised her the role of captain - she has already been at the front twice in the race for the pink jersey. Once a crash cost her a top result, last year she had to deal with temperatures of up to 40 degrees in Italy. The goal for the third start: "I want to take responsibility." She does not specify a concrete goal - but a place on the podium is certainly realistic if everything goes right this time. Niedermaier's path as a successful classification rider is mapped out, Lorang also believes: "It's clear from her physiology: she's a climber and tour rider." Her strengths are long mountains and individual time trials - an ideal combination for races such as the Giro or Tour, which regularly involve high mountains.

"It would be nice if there were more time trials," says the young woman, who at 51 kilograms and 1.63 metres tall is not exactly the perfect size for a time trial specialist - but with her small body, she offers less surface area for the wind to attack, and she makes up for her lack of power with strength of mind. Six kilometres of time trials at the last Tour, 15 kilometres at the Giro 2024 - in her opinion, there is room for improvement. For the Tour de France Femmes next season, she will initially only be a substitute rider. Her Canyon//SRAM team will line up there with team-mate Kasia Niewiadoma as defending champions - a leading role would not be on the cards there. Niedermaier wants to spend the summer preparing specifically for the World Championships in the road race and individual time trial, which will be held this year on extremely mountainous routes around the Rwandan capital of Kigali in the mountain air of Central Africa.

>> These are the routes of the World Cycling Championships in Rwanda

Strong - despite many setbacks

Coach Lorang emphasises that the young, ambitious and talented athlete has had to overcome many setbacks in her short career. The schoolgirl only started competing at the age of 15, initially as a successful mountain runner, then made it to the top of the world in ski mountaineering as a two-time junior world champion and discovered her talent for cycling along the way, which had previously only been a form of compensatory training. And took it easy on her battered knee joints. Niedermaier has since undergone surgery on both knees after her kneecap jumped out of its intended position, causing extreme pain. Thanks to surgery, the patella has now been fixed and cartilage has been repaired - according to her own statement, the knees are no longer causing any problems. However, she suffered her next setback in the summer of 2023: she was knocked off her bike by fellow racer Urska Zigart in a feed zone at full speed during the Giro d'Italia - Niedermaier was left bleeding profusely on the course. The day before, she had won the queen stage as a soloist and had advanced to second place overall behind Annemiek van Vleuten in the overall standings of the Tour of Italy. Although her face was badly maltreated on contact with the tarmac, one and a half of her teeth broke out and she first had to come to terms with the accident, a few weeks later she was already in world championship form.

In 2024, she finished the Tour of Italy in sixth place overall, qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris and impressed at the World Championships, particularly in the individual time trial and mixed team time trial as the engine of the women's relay team, when she had to pull her experienced but ailing team-mate Liane Lippert along in the battle for the World Championship title. In the end, silver remained, a blink of an eye of 85 hundredths of a second behind world champion Australia.

Start of the season in the Emirates, debut at Strade Bianche

The strong climber from Bruckmühl is set to make her season debut at the UAE Tour in the United Arab Emirates. This will be followed by appearances at Strade Bianche and Trofeo Binda, then starts at the April classics Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, followed by the Tour of Catalonia. She wants to be in top form for the season highlights at the German Championships and the Giro. Before presumably starting at the Tour de Romandie on her way to the first World Championships in Africa. It is quite possible that Antonia Niedermaier will continue to climb in 2025.