The 2024 UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) and Short Track (XCC) World Cup overall series winner Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) has undergone surgery on her right cruciate ligament. 

The 28-year-old Swiss rider had the operation in St. Gallen, Switzerland on October 22, two weeks after the season's final race in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada. The procedure was planned and aims to fix a historic injury that the two-time UCI XCO World Cup overall winner has managed since 2018. 

The then-22-year-old fell during training at that year’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, tearing her right cruciate ligament. Just one day later, she was back on her bike and winning gold at the U23 UCI XCO World Championships with a taped knee. 

She has managed the rupture ever since and planned to analyse the situation after an Olympic year to find the best solution that would benefit her long-term health and work within the four-year Olympic cycle with an eye on Los Angeles 2028. 

“The recovery and rehabilitation phase is currently going well. I feel I am receiving the best possible physiotherapy and medical care and am making the most of the situation,” she said. 

The Swiss rider is no stranger to the surgery, having had an operation on her left knee’s cruciate ligament in 2021. She therefore understands the rehabilitation process and is already focused on returning for the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in April and next September’s UCI World Championships in Valais. 

“I have enough time and therefore no pressure,” she added. “I want to be back on my bike by the end of January 2025 and then really start my pre-season preparation in the heat. My big goal for 2025 is the home UCI World Championships in Valais. There’s still plenty of time until September.”