After six seasons in Visma Ski Classics, Marcus Johansson, Lager 157 Ski Team, had a really big breakthrough in season X.
Marcus was the best non-Norwegian with his sixth place in the Champion competition. In season XI he aims even higher. A broken rib four weeks ago doesn’t stop him.
“The goal is to be in the fight for the yellow bib,” says the 30-year-old Swede.
It was four weeks ago that Marcus fell on roller skis and broke a rib.
“For ten days, it really hurt, but since then, it has gotten much better,” says Marcus.
How did the accident occur?
“I didn’t go so fast. I had only been out for five minutes on a skate session. There was a crack in the asphalt. I did not see that it was so big and a wheel went down and got stuck. I fell over quite hard, “says Marcus and continues;
“I jumped up and was pissed at myself. I felt it was not so good, but I kept going, thinking it would be better after a while. I was out for three and a half hours. In the end, it felt really bad and I couldn’t use my arms.“
“I had to take it easy for about ten days. Since then, it has gotten much better. I had hopes of being able to train with SkiErg now but it has not worked so far, unfortunately.”
This week Marcus is at training camp with Lager 157 Ski Team in southern Sweden, in the same area as Team Ramudden did last week. But Marcus can not double pole on roller skis with his teammates.
How do you train now?
“For now, its bicycle-training. This Monday, I was out striding on roller skis on some slopes when my teammates double poled. It actually felt okay. Last week I did a couple of diagonal stride workouts on a treadmill as well. Last night I tried to run a bit; it worked okay. It felt better when I ran uphill.”
“I still don’t think it’s that far away before I can start double poling again,” Marcus says hopefully.
“Of course, it was a bit sad that this happened. But the training has worked very well all summer. I have trained more and harder than ever and felt stronger. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get back in normal shape. I know what I have to do.”
Before the start of season X, Marcus had an inflammation in one knee that disturbed him a lot. Despite that, he took fourth place in the Livigno prologue after barely been on skis before the race.
“It was only a couple of days before we went to Livigno that I could start bending my leg. I trained on a Ski Erg with straight legs.
Season X was Marcus’ big breakthrough. His fourth place in the Livigno prologue was his best result in Visma Ski Classics so far. He followed it up with third places in both Kaiser Maximilan Lauf and Toblach-Cortina.
Marcus together with Petter Eliassen and Andreas Nygaard after finishing third in Toblach-Cortina.
How are you’re your thoughts for the coming season?
“I have stepped up everything. More and harder training and I am more strict with everything around. It has paid off.”
“The goal is to be in the fight for the yellow bib.”
Then it is crucial to be in good shape all season. But are there any races that you focus more on?
“Vasaloppet is big. It was sad that I had my worst races at Vasaloppet (12th) and Maricalonga (13th). I want to change that.”
“Birken is also a race that would have been fun to be able to perform well on. It is a race that is usually is dominated by Norwegians. The race should suit me well, but I often have been quite tired after Vasaloppet. It will be a challenge to stay in good shape all the season.”
