Thomas Litscher is a friendly person. He responds promptly to the text message requesting an interview - from the saddle. He is training, snow is falling from the sky in his home near Lake Constance. You can hardly hear that he is training. For the next half hour, he is still rolling in at a low heart rate before he starts the intensive intervals. "It takes my mind off the weather," he says with a laugh, explaining why he called back straight away despite his training. No wonder he is already looking forward to the Cyprus sun, which he will soon be able to enjoy.

Thomas, the cross-country season is about to start. How are you doing, how has your training gone so far?
I've survived the winter well so far and have trained well. But I'm happy to get started in Cyprus now. That helps you focus better on what it's all about.

You're riding the Afxentia stage race from February 22 to 25. That's two weeks before the first World Cup race in South Africa. That means you have to be in good shape right now.
Sure, the first World Cup is very early this year. Everyone wants to be in shape. But I know from experience that if I'm in shape too early, it won't work out at the end of the season. And then we have the World Championships in Switzerland. It's not so easy to find the right balance. But I think after my stay in Cyprus it will be fine. I've planned to train really hard there and ride races.

That means you will use the four stages of the Afxentia race as training?
Every race means all out for me. We arrive earlier so that we can train well in the heat. I can then push really hard on the stages so that it hurts.

Can't that also be simulated in training?
If you have opponents, then you can do it differently and get even more out of yourself.

If you don't want to push your form to the limit just yet, how do you envisage the World Cup opener in Stellenbosch?
From what I've heard, the course there is technically very demanding. I think that could suit me. The goal is of course to ride up front, but that's what everyone wants. Top-10, top-15 is still a great result in the World Cup, that's what I'll be aiming for.

As a World Cup bronze medal winner, you are expected to...
...Litscher laughs...

Why are you laughing?
Everyone thinks that if you're third in the World Championships, you always have to be up there. But there were a lot of factors at play. Of course, the goal is to repeat that, but you have to work towards it, everything has to fall into place. I have a new bike from Felt, which feels good in training. But racing is something else again.

Hasn't World Championship bronze also changed your expectations?
I would say my self-confidence has increased. It's good to know that a lot is possible if everything goes right. The world championships in my own country, in Lenzerheide, is the highlight of the season, of course. But that's not until September.

Your compatriot Nino Schurter won all the World Cup races in 2017 and became world champion again. Is he still beatable?
Nino is only human. His 2017 season was really great, but now a new season is starting. I think we'll be able to draw some conclusions at the end of May. But I don't feel like Nino's first rival. There's Jaroslav Kulhavy, the French, my Swiss colleagues. I want to keep my standards down to earth.

Back to what comes next. You can already be described as a regular in Cyprus.
Yes, I've been coming to Cyprus since 2009. I feel at home on the island. For me, it's simply an opportunity to train well and ride a challenging race at the Afxentia. Three days plus prologue, I think that's a good attraction.

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