How are you feeling now, one day after the showdown in Lenzerheide?

I'm fine. It will certainly feel a little different over the next few days. But I've realized that now is the right moment. I was a bit scared for a long time about the question of retiring. But now I realize that it's the right moment. That makes the situation much easier.

Olympic sport was your dominant theme for 25 years. Doesn't retiring make you feel a little nostalgic?

I've had enough of racing at the moment, so you don't feel nostalgic at this point. It will certainly feel different when I've recovered. And when I watch the races as a spectator. I'm sure I'll feel a bit nostalgic then. But I've already watched the short track race at the World Championships only as a spectator on TV and that felt pretty good. It wasn't always like that.

You've always been the center of attention for 25 years. That will certainly be a lot less now. How will you deal with it?

I'll take it as it comes. Of course, I can imagine that I miss it. It's actually very exciting to be on the big stage, to feel the atmosphere, to experience the tension. But I'm also looking forward to not always being in the spotlight.

You were an important figure in the sport of mountain biking. How will you stay involved in racing?

I'll still be involved, I'll still be riding races, but in other formats and with other ambitions.

Can you even compete without ambitions of winning? But it will be completely different conditions and it will be races that I simply enjoy and have never fitted into the system before. There are so many cool races that I've never had time for. As a top athlete, you don't have time for a lot of things.

Are you happy that you have time for other things? 

Yes. As a racer, you are there seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Everything you do has an impact on your training, to which almost everything is subordinate. I'm looking forward to the new freedom of simply going on a hike without the fear of having heavy legs afterwards. Or bivouacking in the mountains. Or going on a city trip. Things like that are hardly possible as a top athlete.

Changes like retiring are actually very difficult. Do you have someone to support you?

It's a big step with a big change that I don't take lightly. Fortunately, I have a strong family and a great partner behind me who are supporting me. And I have a very good relationship with my manager Guisep Fry and he has already helped numerous other top athletes to retire. I have good and intensive discussions with him on this topic. And a lot of things are also continuing: I am still part of Team Scott Sram and continue to have close collaborations with Scott, Sram, Cornercard, Oakley and Polestar. So there is also consistency within the retirement.

If you look back now: What has racing given you in all these years?

First and foremost, there have been extremely many wonderful moments. Especially last weekend in Lenzerheide or before that at the world championships. This positive spirit is something that the sport has given me back.