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This woman knows exactly what she wants. “I am my own coach, I am a self-determined athlete. I like to be in control,” says Alessandra Keller (27). Her determination took the Nidwaldner to the top on her mountain bike. Keller starts the new season as number 1 of And you can see that on Friday in the cycling paradise “Swiss Bike Park” in Oberried BE, home of two-wheel manufacturer Thömus and the racing team of Keller.
Keller is bursting with confidence: “I’m proud to be the prey this season.” Keller thrives on team presentation on stage, where some of her teammates’ knees tend to shake. After the official part, she openly approaches sponsor representatives and team guests.
Keller likes to broaden her horizons. “The sport has also allowed me to talk to multimillionaires. It’s very exciting,” she says. Born Nidwalden with her parents in Zurich, she is also interested in the world outside her sport. She still has friends from her time at ETH, even though she stopped her pharmacy studies in 2019, she became a professional motorcyclist and can now make a good living from sports.
Keller was at home during the Swiss Olympic coup
But she also says: “For me, of course, a lot revolves around sports. If you want to be the best, you have to compromise.” Compromises in everyday life because with her there are no compromises in sports.
In the cycling scene, Keller is regarded as extremely serious, intelligent, reflective, focused and professional. But also as cozy and easy to care for in collaboration. She knows what she wants. And what she doesn’t want. “Coaching juniors next door? No, that is not possible at the moment, I have enough to do with myself.”
Last year, the woman from Nidwalden cleaned up everything. Keller wins the overall Cross Country World Cup as only the third Swiss woman after Barbara Blatter (52) and Jolanda Neff (30). Blatter and Neff – these two women from St. Gallen are two big names in Swiss sport.
Keller, on the other hand, is our new but unknown mountain biker. She has not yet broken through to the general public for one reason: Keller was absent from the 2021 Olympics, as well as in Rio 2016, when the Swiss motorcyclists won in Tokyo with Neff, Sina Frei (25) and Linda Indergand (29). the hearts of Swiss sports fans with their three podium finishes.
Keller was home. “It was tough for me personally, although I was aware that this race was great for our sport,” she says today. For Nidwaldner’s female answer to ski star Marco Odermatt, the non-qualification is the starting signal for the dream year 2022. “Tokyo taught me that the Olympics are important, but not everything.”
The disappointment in Tokyo doesn’t break Keller, it makes her stronger. Last year she not only defeated all three Tokyo high flyers, but the entire world elite. After the first Olympic distance World Cup victory, there is also the overall World Cup and the overall short track World Cup victory. And World Cup silver on the speed.
After three years of epidemics, the breakthrough
It is said in the cycling scene that other riders would have given up if, like the woman from Nidwalden, they were plagued with falls, serious injuries (both hands broken in a crash with Neff in 2019 and a knee injury in 2020). ) and the failed Olympic qualification.
Giving up is out of the question for Keller. She knows what she wants: cycling. “That is and remains my great passion,” says the woman from Ennetbürgen NW. The passion is so great that as a child she decided to cross all Swiss passes and bypass all Swiss lakes. “I made 40 to 50 passes, which I always tick off on a card. The project still exists, but I don’t have much time for it anymore,” says Keller with a smile.
Now the U19 and U23 world champion fought her way to the top in the elite class. “My family had no experience with top sport. Sometimes it was annoying that we weren’t cycling all summer like other families,” says Keller. “I fought for everything myself because I really wanted it, the bike was never forced on me.” Especially since the younger brother, who now studying law, was never interested in cycling.
To this day, the parents still support their fast daughter. Then comes friend Nicolas. Keller has been with the former racer for four years, who now works in a bike shop and as a bike coach. “He’s like my personal advisor in sports.”
It is also her parents and her boyfriend who give Keller new courage after the Olympics. “Difficult times like these teach you who really has your back and who doesn’t want to be part of the project until it’s successful.”
Success must now remain permanent. Keller knows what she wants: to show off at the European and World Championships in 2023. And then of course there is the Olympic dream for Paris 2024.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
