Winning a UCI Downhill World Cup is famously difficult, you need only look at how few athletes have ever actually managed it for proof. In Nina Hoffmann, the Santa Cruz Syndicate have won of just three elite women who managed to take to the top step in 2023.  

The 27 year-old from Saalfeld in Germany tasted victory in Pal Arinsal Andorra and went on to utilise her consistency to push Valentina Höll to a final round title decider in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada. Her results also helped ensure that the Santa Cruz Syndicate would take the Team of the Year title to boot.  

In her latest video release, Focus, Hoffmann goes into the detail of how mentally tough the sport of downhill mountain bike racing can be and how she has trained her mind, as much as her body, to be able to cope with the rigours of race weeks. It’s a revealing and extremely personal look behind the professional veneer of a topflight racer which sheds light on what goes on inside the helmet.  

The 2024 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup kicks off in Fort William, Scotland 03 – 05 May. It’s a round that Hoffmann has won before and so will definitely be amongst the pre-race favourites to take the season opener.