The countdown has started to the Prologue weekend and the premiere of Season IX. Friday the 30th of November the Pro Team Prologue takes place in Livigno, Italy. The Individual Prologue that kicks off the bib competitions will be held on Sunday December 2nd.
There are several strong names to take the lead in the Champion competition. Here is a review written by Erik Wickström:
BRITTA JOHANSSON NORGREN
Lager 157 Ski Team
With three consecutive wins, Britta Johansson Norgren is of course the big favourite for the yellow bib. Last season she also won the Visma Alp Trophy, the sprint bib and the climb bib. The strong double poler from Sweden managed to win seven (!) events in a row last winter, before she left her shape somewhere in the Jizera Mountains and didn’t win any of the last four races. In September she won the 90 km long Klarälvsloppet ahead of Maria Gräfnings and Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes. You can count on Johansson Norgren this winter as well.
KATEŘINA SMUTNA
eD system Bauer Team
Kateřina Smutna won the overall title in 2016 and has been in second place the last two seasons. In 2017 Smutna. won seven events, but last season she never reached the top of the podium. Has she lost the game to Britta? Smutna’s strength is skiing uphills and she used to outsprint Britta. She needs to become a better sprinter again to attain the yellow bib. Since Smutna hasn’t done any of the major rollerski races this summer, we can’t say too much about her dryland shape.
ASTRID ØYRE SLIND
Team Koteng
The Norwegian that almost always roll up the sleeves on her race suit is getting better every year. At the closing event last season she finally crossed the finish line ahead of everybody else. Due to a shoulder injury, Øyre Slind wasn’t able to perform well in the first part of the season, but with four top three races in the end she won the Visma Nordic Trophy. She is a good strider and she is not afraid of using kickwax in hilly races.
LINA KORSGREN
Team Ramudden
After several visits on the podium, Lina Korsgren won her first Visma Ski Classics race last season – Vasaloppet. Of course, it is an enormous boost to triumph in the most prestigious race. Will that make Korsgren reach higher than third place overall? In September her new team was presented, Team Ramudden, so now she has veritable teammates.
KARI VIKHAGEN GJEITNES
Team Ragde Eiendom
Even though she was “only” eighth overall, Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes is definitely one of several podium contenders for the champion bib. After a great start of the season she got injured at Kaiser Maximilian Lauf. She was back on track at Reistadløpet and she has been doing well in the rollerski races this summer. We assume she is eager to be back in full condition fighting for the podium.
JUSTYNA KOWALCZYK
Team Trentino Robinson Trainer
Two-time Olympic Champion and two-time World Champion Justyna Kowalczyk has a long record. She has won 5 of the 13 Visma Ski Classics races she has done. Justyna does not have a high- top speed, but she is great at going at a steady pace for a long time. Her results in the overall standings depend a lot upon how many races she will do.
ANDREAS NYGAARD
Team Ragde Eiendom
The two-time sprint bib winner has ended up 17th, 12th, 3rd and 2nd in the total during his four seasons in the circuit. Andreas Nygaard’s endurance is getting better every year and his capacity to sprint in the end of long races is previously unseen in long distance skiing. In Vasaloppet, he was in second place in a group of 17 skiers with 28 seconds to the finish line. He won by three seconds, which is a lifetime in that context. A threat for Nygaard is races where Eliassen and Gjerdalen keep a high pace throughout the race.
TORD ASLE GJERDALEN
Team Ragde Eiendom
Few skiers can double pole better in long uphills than the three-time Marcialonga winner Tord Asle Gjerdalen. And few skiers can stick to a back (often Eliassen’s) like him. The Norwegian with the aviator glasses has two consecutive victories in the Hertz champion competition. Each year he wins more individuals events. But now he will get challenged not only by the sprinter Nygaard, but also by Eliassen. Before he entered Visma Ski Classics, Gjerdalen’s best technique was skating, which may help him in Engadin Skimarathon.
MORTEN EIDE PEDERSEN
Team BN Bank
Because he has raced since the first season of Visma ski Classics in 2011, Morten Eide Pedersen is certainly one of the most experienced skiers in the peloton. Morten is not afraid of either breakaways or sprinting hard in the middle of the race. Last year he was third overall (first time top three) and won the climb competition just ahead of Gjerdalen. If Pedersen could keep more calm in the peloton and wait for the right time to make his move we are confident that he will be victorious in more races than just Jizerska that he has won three times.
PETTER ELIASSEN
Team BN Bank
The two-time champion is back in on track after a year where he focused on his job as a physical therapist. Eliassen has one of the best VO2 max (measure of endurance) in the circuit and he wins races by simply wearing down his competitors. But in a race with slow pace with a big group coming in towards the finish, most other athletes at this level are faster than Eliassen in a sprint. We haven’t seen much of Eliassen during the rollerski races and maybe he needs the first half of the season to get back in shape?
ILYA CHERNOUSOV
eD system Bauer Team
With bronze medals in both the Olympics and in the World Championships, the 32-year-old Russian is an interesting part of Visma Ski Classics. Ilya Chernousov has been eighth overall in both his years in the tour, but we know he is better than that. He had a good start last season with third place at Kaiser Maximilian Lauf, second place in La Diagonela and first place in Marcialonga. After that he got out of shape and was mostly outside top ten. He needs to be more consistent to reach the podium in the champion competition.
