Madigan Munroe is focused on her final season as a junior in the mountain bike category after winning a bronze medal at this weekend's UCI Cyclocross World Championships.

The 17-year-old U.S. national champion had a gutsy ride to pull away from her rivals and take bronze at the first-ever women's junior cyclocross world championships in Dubendorf, Switzerland.

"It feels so unreal right now, so exciting to make history today," Munroe said.

"It was a pretty challenging race, but a lot of fun.

"The course was amazingly challenging, pretty bumpy, with some pretty steep flyovers. It was definitely a tough course and required a lot of wear and tear and endurance to power through the four laps.

"I tried to stay mentally strong and keep pushing because the bike race was only four laps and would eventually be over.

Munroe, from Boulder, Colorado, started mountain biking at age 11 and only started cyclocross in 2018.

After finishing sixth at last year's Mountain Bike World Championships, she is back focused for a new season of mountain biking.

"With a full season of mountain biking coming up and this being my last year in the junior category, I hope to make some trips with USA National Cycling," Munroe said.

"And next year I'm going to try cross for the first time as an under 23 year old. I've been mountain biking longer, so I feel much more experienced in that discipline, but I enjoy both and it's great to have the chance to go back and forth."

When asked about the challenges of riding a full season of mountain biking and cyclocross, Munroe replied. [I think there are a lot of skills in mountain biking and cyclocross that go really well together.

"Having the other aspect is really helpful for both disciplines."

Next year, only one cyclocross World Cup race will be held in the U.S., with the remaining 13 races in Europe.

Munroe says it has been difficult to race in Europe this season, although he has raced there more often thanks to Mudfund.

"Last year, as a junior first-year cyclocross and mountain bike racer, I raced one cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide just before the World Cup.

"There are more races in Europe. But this year in particular, the Mad Fund helped me a lot.

"I was able to do a whole block of cross races over Christmas, two World Cups in Europe, and three other races.

"The Mad Fund helped me a lot.