Patience, Belief and Persistence

Looking at Adversity Differently: Patience, Belief and Persistence in XCO MTB

Cross-country Olympic (XCO) mountain biking is a tough, honest sport. It tests you physically and mentally, not just over one race or season, but over years. For young riders, it can be easy to focus on quick wins and immediate results—but true success in XCO is a long game.

Often, when a pro finally breaks through with a big World Cup podium or championship win, people call them an “overnight success.” But that’s rarely true. Usually, it’s the culmination of a decade or more of setbacks, lessons, and quiet progress.

As a coach, I believe helping young athletes see adversity differently is one of the most important things I can do. That’s why I want to talk about three essential virtues that will keep you in the sport, growing and improving for years: patience, belief, and persistence.

Patience

Patience is more than just waiting. It’s trusting that the work you’re doing now will pay off—even if you can’t see it yet.

In XCO, progress is rarely linear. You’ll have seasons when your results plateau, or you get injured, or other riders seem to surge past you. But look closely at the top pros: they all have these chapters in their story.

When you see someone on a World Cup podium, remember you’re seeing the highlight reel. Behind it are years—often more than a decade—of hard training, travel, injury rehab, mechanicals, crashes, and races that didn’t go to plan.

How to practise patience in your own racing:

• Focus on process goals (skills, fitness, mindset) instead of obsessing over results.
• Accept that setbacks are normal and not a reason to quit.
• Understand that real mastery takes years.

Belief

Belief is your anchor when things get hard. It’s the voice inside you that says I can do this, even when you don’t have evidence right now.

The truth is, many great riders only become “believers” after enduring big challenges. When you have a mechanical in a big race, crash in training, or miss selection for a team—those are the moments that test your belief.

This is where mindset separates those who eventually make it from those who give up.

Belief isn’t about ignoring your weaknesses. It’s about knowing you can improve them. It’s not blind optimism, but a commitment to keep working, knowing your moment can still come.

How to strengthen your belief:

• Reflect on times you’ve improved before—proof you can do it again.
• Surround yourself with people who believe in you.
• Reframe failures as feedback, not evidence you’re not good enough.

Persistence

Persistence is where patience and belief come together in action. It’s showing up, again and again, even when it’s tough or the rewards seem far away.

There’s a quote that sums this up beautifully:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison

This couldn’t be truer in XCO. Often, an athlete’s breakthrough result happens just after their hardest patch—the point where they almost walked away.

Persistence means continuing to train on cold, wet mornings. Entering the next race after a DNF. Putting in the gym work all year to stay strong and resilient.

How to build persistence:

• Make your training a habit, not an optional extra.
• Find motivation beyond results: love of the trails, the friendships, your own growth.
• Accept that success might take longer than you hope—but it’s worth it.

Final Thoughts

XCO MTB is a sport that rewards those who can stay in it for the long haul. It’s brutally honest and often humbling. But for those who master patience, belief, and persistence, the payoff is immense—not just in race results, but in who you become along the way.

If you’re a young athlete reading this, remember: the highlight reel you see of your heroes is just the tip of the iceberg. The real story is in the years of quiet work, setbacks overcome, and the refusal to give up—especially when success felt furthest away.

Don’t give up. You might be closer to your breakthrough than you think. As a coach, I aim to show athletes that their limits are often self-imposed, and there’s more in them than they realise—which is why I’m so invested in helping them realise it too!