The pink Youth bib is given to the best female and male athletes aged 26 or below. Who are the favorites for Ski Classics Season XVI?
For the Youth bib category, the athlete’s age is determined by the year when the Ski Classics final of the season takes place (for Season XVI, skiers born in 2008 to 1999). Points in the Champion competition are used. The athlete’s single best result from a Ski Classics Challengers event is included.
Youth Favorites Women
The Youth competition on the women’s side is quite open this winter. Karolina Hedenström from Lager 157 Ski Team, the winner from last season, is still in the youth class and is a solid name for winning the Pink bib again. The same applies to Hanna Lodin from Team Engcon, who finished second in this category, but it doesn’t mean the fight won’t be fierce among the young skiers.
Hedenström has quickly become one of the best female skiers on the Pro Tour, succeeding in being on the podium a few times, and we can surely expect her to be among the best three, many more, and defend the Youth bib overall. Lodin was only 161 points behind in second place overall in the Youth category and was in the top 10 in every race, except three, last season. The Team Engcon athlete will fight for podium places and get the chance to grab the Pink Youth bib for Season XVI.
Linnea Johansson from Lager 157 Ski Team, Hanna Sandholt Hansen from Team Næringsbanken Stora Enso, and Michaela Patscheider from Team Robinson Trentino are some other solid names in the battle for the Pink jersey. They finished 4th, 5th, and 8th in the Youth competition last season.
Linnea was in and out of the top 20 but shone at Vasaloppet last winter by being the eighth-fastest skier in Mora. Hanna was among the top 15 best women in two different races the previous winter, with Bad Gastein Criterium and Birkebeinerrennet being her best results. Michaela’s best races were La Venosta Criterium, 16th, and La Venosta ITT, 19th.
Youth Favorites Men
For some years, the youth invasion has occurred in Ski Classics. Many young skiers have been on the podium or among the top finishers, even winning some stages.
Last season’s Youth winner, Thomas Ødegaarden, and runner-up, Axel Jutterström, both from Team Eksjöhus, are now too old to compete in this competition. However, the fight in this category will again be extremely fierce, and many great names are ready to show what they are made of.
The three biggest favorites to win the men’s Youth competition are Amund Riege from Team Ramudden, Alvar Myhlback from Lager 157 Ski Team, and Herman Paus from Team Ramudden, and last season, they finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. There are some other worthy contenders as well, and most likely, Jeremy Royer from Team Eksjöhus is a name who can seriously shuffle the deck in this competition.
Alvar Myhlback is perhaps the most outstanding rising star we have ever seen. He has been among the top Ski Classics athletes since the age of 16, and last season, he finished third at Vasaloppet. He became the youngest Vasaloppet podium skier ever, as he was only 17 at the time. He has also represented Sweden at various World Cup races and is a Junior World Champion in the 10-kilometer classic ski race in 2024. In addition to the Vasaloppet podium, he was second at the Grönklitt ITT.
Herman Paus won La Venosta ITT, but the rest of the season did not go as planned since his 12th place at Reistadløpet was the best result after his victory.
As we can see, based on last season’s results, any one of these skiers can be number one in the Youth class. Young skiers develop fast and raise the bar if their summer training has progressed well. This could quickly happen this season as well. Selecting one name is always challenging, but we should watch this list.
More information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour can be found at skiclassics.com
Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XVI (2024/2025)
- Event 0: Friday, December 13, 2024 –Ski Classics Pro Team Presentation XVI – Bad Gastein, Austria
- Event 1: Saturday, December 14, 2024 – Bad Gastein ITT – Sportgastein, Austria, 7km
- Event 2: Sunday, December 15, 2024 – Bad Gastein Criterium – Sportgastein, Austria, 36km
- Event 3: Saturday, January 11, 2025 – 3 Zinnen Ski Marathon – Sexten, Italy, 60km
- Event 4: Sunday, January 12, 2025 – La Venosta ITT Kapron-Melago – Val Venosta, Italy, 12km
- Event 5: Saturday, January 18, 2025 – Engadin La Diagonela – Pontresina-Zuoz, Switzerland, 55km
- Event 6: Sunday, January 26, 2025 – Marcialonga – Trentino, Italy, 70km
- Event 7: Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Jizerská50 – Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
- Event 8: Saturday, February 15, 2025 – Grönklitt Criterium 61 – Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 61km
- Event 9: Sunday, February 16, 2025 – Grönklitt ITT – Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 12km
- Event 10: Sunday, March 2, 2025 – Vasaloppet – Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
- Event 11: Saturday, March 15, 2025 – Birkebeinerrennet – Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
- Event 12: Saturday, March 22, 2025 – Marcialonga Bodø – Bodø, Norway, 50km
- Event 13: Saturday, March 29, 2025 – Reistadløpet – Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 46km
- Event 14: Sunday, March 30, 2025 – Grand Finale Summit 2 Senja – Bardufoss-Finnsnes, Norway, 60km
Read More: Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XVI
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Photo: Reichert/NordicFocus
