Double off-road World Champion Isabella Holmgren sets sights on road racing in 2024

Six months after celebrating a women’s junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship Isabella Holmgren covered her mouth with a gloved hand in shock as she earned a second world title, this time in the women’s junior cross-country race at Mountain Bike World Championships. 

After a decisive win in the MTB XCO race and eighth place in the women’s junior road race in Glasgow, she then inked a two-year contract with Lidl-Trek, along with her twin sister Ava. The dynamic duo is now set to race in multiple disciplines with the Women’s WorldTour team beginning in January 2024. Ava, by the way, won the junior’s silver medal at cyclocross Worlds, the pair making history for Canada as the first riders to win medals at a Cyclocross World Championships event.

The Holmgren sisters are not identical. They have distinct physical characteristics, riding styles and personalities. At a race, Isabella stands out with a 10-12 cm height advantage over her sister. Tall in stature and lots of tall milestones accomplished as a teenager, there is so much more to do as an under-23 rider. 

For an interview to learn more about the young, talented riders, Cyclingnews caught up with Isabella first to learn more about her upbringing in a cycling-focused family, find out if her head has stopped spinning from a wildly successful year and where the road, and trails, will take her with the new Lidl-Trek team.  

Cyclingnews: You grew up with an active family in Ontario. Tell me about family competitiveness with parents, both who competed in cycling, and brother Gunnar, who has earned top-10 finishes on the U23 Mountain Bike World Cup circuit. Was everything you did a "who can do it faster” scenario?

IH: I grew up in a very active family. The whole family rode bikes when we were younger and we would do weekly series at Hardwood Ski and Bike recreation centre. It was a really nice family activity that we looked forward to. We are certainly a competitive family when it comes to card and board games, but when it comes to cycling, I'm really only competitive with Ava. 

However, we use our competitiveness in a positive way that pushes us to go harder in training. On the other hand, we’re also able to just enjoy a nice endurance ride together (maybe only with a few sign sprints).

CN: What other sports or activities have you enjoyed, besides riding a bike?

IH: Ava and I grew up playing many sports. I think this was an important thing to do as kids since we were able to try different things and see what we enjoyed. Obviously, nothing could beat cycling. We did competitive swimming growing up, and for many years we were in the pool more than we were on a bike. We weren't able to swim much once COVID hit, so that was a bit of an incentive to focus on cycling.

CN: What are three words would you use to describe your 2023 season?

IH: Teamwork, Challenging, Rewarding

CN: 2023 was a big year, starting with Cyclocross Worlds in February as a junior - gold medal for you and silver for your sister getting silver, or the “Vice CX” prize as she called it. Was that a dream scenario?

IH: Cyclocross Worlds was definitely a dream scenario. I wouldn't say that it's a scenario I specifically thought of prior to the race, but I couldn't have imagined a better outcome. Mountain Bike Worlds were also a major highlight of the year, but what would have made it better is if Ava was also able to race. It was a bit of a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, I was very excited with my performance, but I was sad that Ava wasn't able to race because I knew how much she enjoyed the course and how strong of a competitor she is.

CN: You were part of Team Canada for UCI Worlds in Glasgow, in junior events for XCO and road racing. You earned the rainbow jersey for Junior Women in XCO. You looked surprised crossing the finish line, even though you led from start to finish. Were you surprised to win a second rainbow jersey of the calendar year? 

IH: Going into MTB Worlds I didn't have any outcome goals. I had only raced the European girls one time this year at the start of the season, so I had no idea where I would place. This was sort of a nice thing because it let me focus entirely on my own performance and not so much on other things happening around me. Before Worlds, I trained primarily on the road. I rode my MTB in British Columbia for a few weeks at the beginning of the year, but after that I was mainly training and racing on my road bike.

CN: This fall you won the elite Pan-Am CX title, distancing US national champion Clara Honsinger. Tell us about competing at the elite level.

IH: I made a very last-minute decision before Pan-Ams to upgrade to the elite category. There are very few U23 races, so I wanted to race for a jersey that I could potentially wear and represent over in Europe. I knew it would be a very tough race, there were lots of strong racers like Clara Honsinger and Sidney McGill [fellow Canadian], so it was very special to have a good performance on the day.

CN: At the end of November, you won the U23 Canadian CX Championship. How did you and Ava decide to compete in separate events, and both of you took home maple leaf championship jerseys?

IH: Last year, Ava decided to upgrade to the elite category for Canadian CX Championships as a junior. Because of that, she has to continue to race in the elite category at nationals, so she didn't really have a choice. I decided to race in the U23 category because I will already wear the Pan-Am jersey at elite races. It was also a nice perk that Jenaya Francis is also a U23 [won silver at Canadian Nationals] because I love racing against her. She is a very respectful racer, but we still always have some really fun battles!

CN: What is your dream event to ride, and separate from that, a dream event to win?

IH: There's so many events that I’d love to ride. It would be amazing to ride in the Tour de France Femmes for the road. For mountain bike, the Olympics are definitely an ambition, and for cyclocross, I want to win a World Cup as an elite!

CN: In 2024 you will race for the Lidl-Trek Women’s WorldTour programme, and your sister will as well. Tell us how you want to develop as a pro cyclist.

IH: I am so happy to be on Lidl-Trek because they have such a great programme. The riders on Lidl-Trek are such amazing athletes, so I want to learn as much as I can from them. I think this will help me develop as a pro cyclist, and I’m so excited that I get to do so alongside my sister!

CN: In which disciplines will you focus for the upcoming season? 

IH: For the next while the main focus will be on the road. I will certainly do a MTB race whenever I have the opportunity, but road will have priority. Cyclocross is a bit different since it doesn't interfere as much with the road season. However, I will have a lighter ‘cross schedule this winter.

CN: The Olympic Games are in Paris in 2024, so will you work to compete with Team Canada in XCO for mountain biking?

IH: As a Junior, there is no selection criteria for the MTB Olympics in my country. Now that I am U23, there's one opportunity to qualify. However, road will be my main focus for next year.

CN: The Lidl-Trek squad is full of talent. Who are you excited to train with and learn from?

IH: I’m so excited to learn from everyone on the team! I think that they're all so amazing and I have so much to learn from everyone. There are four other girls on the team that are the same age as me, so I’m very excited to be able to develop with them and learn from them!

CN: You are out of high school, right? Will you pursue a higher education?

IH: I graduated and got my high school diploma earlier in the year. I am currently taking an extra high school class just to keep my options open for higher education. In the future, I definitely plan on applying to universities online so that I can still travel and race. I think education is very important and in my opinion, it's great to have other things to focus on in everyday life.

CN: On down the road of life, what do you think you'd like to do besides cycling?

IH: Something that intrigues me is engineering. I think it would be cool to do something involving bikes or equipment. Just for fun, I really love coffee, so down the road I want to be able to do some good latte art. But, I always want cycling to be a part of my life!

CN: You ride and race CX, MTB and road. If you had a day to just ride - not race or train - which bike would you choose and where would you ride?

IH: If I had a day just to ride, I think I would choose to do a MTB ride. I love riding on the road and training ‘cross skills, but mountain biking is just so much fun. It also lets you access places and roads that you wouldn't necessarily be able to ride on a CX or road bike.

CN: What sets you apart most from Ava in a bike race? 

IH: Ava is very good tactically in a race. She knows exactly where to be and when to be there, whereas I'm not as great in that aspect. In terms of similarities, I would say that we both enjoy super tough race conditions!

CN: Off the bike, what sets you apart from Ava?

IH: Ava is definitely much more artistic than me. She can do tons of cool things like painting and playing the piano, whereas I prefer numbers, so math and science and things like that. When we’re at home, Ava is a bit more introverted and I have a lot of energy a lot of the time.