Swiss cross-country specialists have celebrated great success over the past decade. World Cup victories, European and World Championship medals and even Olympic gold - the era of men's national coach Bruno Diethelm has seen it all. Now there are personnel and structural changes in the supreme discipline of MTB sport. Beat Müller, former U19 national coach, later Head of Performance and since the beginning of the year Head of Performance at Swiss Cycling, is taking over responsibility for the elite national squad. The sports scientist's mission is to get the most out of the top athletes with a view to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the 2025 World Championships in Valais and to help the next generation rise to the absolute top of the world. "The high performance density requires attention to all the details, i.e. a perspective that Beat brings with him thanks to his many years of experience in sports science," says Head of Competitive Sports Patrick Müller.

The change in personnel is based on the fact that Bruno Diethelm was no longer able to reach the athletes to the extent required to achieve top performances.
"Bruno Diethelm is and remains an outstanding coach. Recently, we have simply sensed that, after many good years, new impetus is needed to create the conditions for our athletes to perform at 100 percent of their potential at the upcoming major events that are so important for Swiss Cycling," says Patrick Müller. The structural adjustment in the form of the separation of the elite and U23 categories is due to the high number of promising athletes who are confronted with an ever-increasing performance density at the top of the world and an expansion of the World Cup series. In the current constellation, more than one person is needed to meet the completely different needs of 20-year-old talents and established athletes up to 15 years older. It is still unclear who will take on the task of preparing the U23 athletes for the transition to the elite category. The search for a suitable person is underway.Beat Müller will retain the role of performance manager, but will be relieved of this role. Bruno Diethelm, who is in charge of the MTB national team as well as the cyclo-cross national team, will complete the current cyclo-cross season and then leave Swiss Cycling. Swiss Cycling would have liked to keep the 63-year-old from the Bernese Oberland region on board as national cyclo-cross coach and in other functions because of his extraordinary commitment and great expertise, and made him an offer to do so. Diethelm declined, however, as he would like to change direction. Swiss Cycling would like to thank Bruno Diethelm for his tireless, successful commitment to the sport of mountain biking and wishes him all the best for the future.

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