Stian Berg, Team Kaffebryggeriet, won the Sprint competition in Season X and the 26-year-old Norwegian is now ready to defend the green bib in season XI.
"I long very much to start competing, and the goal is to keep the green bib," says Stian.
Berg has not competed on skis since the Vasaloppet on March 1th. He secured the green bib by going in a breakaway and winning both sprints; in Mångsbodarna and Evertsberg. In that way, Stian won the Sprint competition 100 points ahead of Max Novak, Team Ramudden. He also finished in 25th place in Vasaloppet even though he was in the long breakaway.
Ten months have now passed since the abrupt end of Season X. Even though Stian lacked competitions ahead of Season XI; he has excellent conditions where he lives.
"We have a lot of snow in the Lillehammer area. It is very nice conditions, albeit a little soft snow. It has been snowing about 60 centimeters in the last three days," says Stian.
How have the pre-season preparations gone?
"I have done a solid job all summer and autumn. I had some problems in October, but I was back on track with two weeks of adjustments.
During the summer and autumn, there were no long roller ski competitions as in a normal year. In the autumn of 2019, Stian showed his sprint capacity at the end of a race when he won the Challengers Klarälvsloppet.
"This summer, at a training camp, we had an internal 90 km race on roller skis. A "Vasapass" as the Lager 157 guys say. We added sequences between 5 and 13 minutes, pushing hard. After that, however, it has only been normal training and nothing really competitive. But of course, you think competition-like in some of the training sessions."
Stian has a long-term plan to become a skier for the yellow Champion bib, but this winter, the goal is to defend the green Sprint bib.
"The green bib is a clear goal for me. At the same time, I aim to reach better final places in the races and be in the top ten.
His best Visma Ski Classics performance so far is 11th place in Birkebeinerrennet 2019.
Stian together with Lina Korsgren, who won women's Sprint competition in Season X.
Will you have the same contenders for the green bib this winter as last winter? Or do you think there will be more athletes in the game?
"It will be exciting to see. I guess Novak and Panzhinskiy will be there again. It will also be interesting to see how Lager 157 Ski Team and Team Ragde Eiedom think. Will they select an athlete who goes for the green bib?"
Anton Karlsson, Lager 157 Ski Team, who won green bib in both season VIII and IX, is back after his back injury!
"Yes, Anton is very fast, but I would think he is aiming for a yellow bib this winter," says Stian.
Have you changed anything in your training ahead of season XI?
"Getting a better capacity and being able to fight for top places in the races is a work that takes several years. I have pushed my training a bit, a little more quantity and a little higher quality. I have increased my total training by about 50-60 hours this year," says Stian and continues;
"I have been able to see in specific training sessions on treadmills, both when running and roller skiing, that I have progressed. That's a good sign."
Soon he gets the opportunity to test the form in a Visma Ski Classics race again.
"It will be a lot of fun to compete again. I usually compete a lot even during summer and autumn, but that has not been the case this year. I'm really looking forward to the start of season XI, Stian concludes.
