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You've been in the warm south for a while now, don't you miss the Swiss winters?

My sponsor Trek called me, so I went south for three weeks. Trek Factory Racing organized a photo and film shoot in Alicante Spain and on the Portuguese island of Madeira. I really like winter at home, ski touring is my favorite hobby. The first week of March I'm leading a ski touring week but right after that it's on to the bike.

You are already back in training camp for the 2015 season: Is the EWS the big goal? In other words, will you get your first win this year?

The enduro season starts at the end of March in Chile. That's pretty early for a Swiss rider who also likes winter, but the training camps are important to be ready for the races early. The final race isn't until October, so a lot can happen between now and then. I'm trying to achieve as good results as possible, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself.

How do you see the development in enduro racing? Some racing series have been canceled. In Switzerland, which is practically the perfect country for enduro racing, there are almost no more, at least no major series?

Three reasons: In Switzerland, it's just difficult to get the permits for a race like this. We Swiss keep the trails to ourselves and don't sacrifice them for a race. So we are against mass immigration. I once heard from the EWS that it was too expensive for the teams to hold a race in Switzerland.
There are a lot of races across Europe, so there are a lot of riders. From my point of view, it would be a good market for the tourist resorts in Switzerland to attract such customers to the mountains, but it doesn't necessarily need races.

Have you made any changes to your bike set-up for next season?

Luckily it stayed more or less with the same partners, Red Bull, Trek, Dakine, Giro, IXS and Flumserberg. Shimano and Fox complete the bike.
The setup on the bike is an eternal construction site and I'm always coming up with new ideas. I always like to try out new material. A major innovation will hopefully be ready for use at the end of July.

You are one of the oldest riders on the EWS. Do you have to train all the harder or does the experience give you so many advantages?

What I've noticed is that injuries take longer to heal. I always try to train as hard as possible, which is a balancing act but necessary to keep up with the increasing level of the EWS. Unfortunately, I just injured my ankle yesterday, so all my experience is useless if things go wrong.

How much longer do you think you can keep up all this hard work, or are there already plans for life after racing? You've already set up some interesting projects: Wildis Foxes, Perspactives etc., is the path heading in that direction at best?

Riding races is a bit stressful, but I like it. The motivation is high. The most annoying thing is any injuries. I'm always thinking about what to do next. I also have lots of ideas. However, you need the right time to be able to tackle these ideas. Training as a coach would certainly be something appealing for me.

MTBHeroes Season 2 - Rene Wildhaber "Trailer"

Further episodes of the MTBHeroes:
http://mtbheroes.com/season-2/