Dalija Stojanovska, 16, rising in XCO and cyclo-cross

Sixteen-year-old Dalija Stojanovska has quickly become a fixture on the cross-country mountain bike and cyclo-cross circuit, juggling international starts while wearing North Macedonia's national colours.

From a childhood memory in Budapest to podiums across the Balkans

Stojanovska traces her first spark for the sport to a cyclo-cross race in Budapest she watched as a child. She remembers a tiny girl in a pink dress pushing her bike up a steep slope and decided on the spot: "I want to be like her." That image led her into mountain biking disciplines including XCO (cross-country Olympic) and CX (cyclo-cross), disciplines she now competes in at an international level.

Her development was supported by a series of coaches and teams. She credits coaches Zholt Bur, Tamash Shosh, Viktor Shpeciar, Andrash Parti (Olympian), Virag Busaki and her current coach Zholt Juhas for teaching her technique and helping her overcome the sport's physical demands: the races last up to an hour and often push athletes to a sustained heart rate of 180 beats per minute.

Stojanovska keeps a growing list of results: second place at the Balkan XCO Championship in Čapljina (Bosnia and Herzegovina); a runner-up finish at an XCO race in Samobor, Croatia; a strong result at the EMOF race in Kumanovo in 2025; and a recent cyclo-cross performance in Budapest this season. She also rode for the North Macedonia team at the European XCO Championships this year in Gradište, Romania, as part of a combined Hungary–North Macedonia team.

Her club ties run both at home and abroad. Domestically she represents the Skopje-based club Energy Cycling, led by team leader Ljubiša Kondev, and in Hungary she races with Cube Csömör, led by Tibor Valter. She says she is grateful to her trainer Zholt Juhas for preparing her training plans and for his patience and support.

Beyond cycling, Stojanovska speaks several languages—Macedonian, Hungarian and English—and is studying German at school. She rides multiple bikes for different disciplines (she currently uses four bikes for three disciplines) and credits her family and team support—both Macedonian and Hungarian—for covering much of the sport's expense.

Asked about motivation when pain and fatigue set in on a hard course, she replies: "Breathe deep, breathe!" and repeats a mantra: "Yes, it is hard, but you must continue. Pain is temporary, and if you give up, there is no going back." She says her long-term goals include racing at more European and world events and, ultimately, competing at the Olympic Games.

Photo: press material from the event