Finnish Pro Tour athlete Heli Heiskanen, Slavia Pojišťovna Sport Team, who finished eleventh in Reistadløpet last Saturday, left the finish area limping. Pain in the leg forced her to withdraw from Sunday’s Summit 2 Senja. After finding out about a fracture on her leg, it was sure that Reistadløpet was her last race of the season. 

Heli Heiskanen’s leg has been symptomatic in the past during the winter, but the pain has been so mild and transient that she has not paid much attention to it before Saturday’s race. In addition to the disappointment, Heiskanen also sees a bright side to what has happened.

“It has been a busy winter, and I have been traveling a lot, so maybe stopping for a while and recharging my batteries is good. If you have to handle such a thing as a fracture at some point in the season, now is the best time to do so. It would be worse during the training or race season,” says Heiskanen to Maastohiihto.com.

In addition to the fracture, Heiskanen has had various challenges throughout the season. An infected tooth early this year has caused fatigue and lowered her fitness level, and challenges with the service team have negatively affected her race performances.

Although Heiskanen feels she has not been able to fully build upon the shape she had over the summer and autumn, there have been some successes. She highlights her eighth place in Jizerská50, qualifying in the Finnish World Cup team in Ruka, and the eleventh place last Saturday, which came with a fractured leg.

“I am an experienced athlete, but even with this experience, I have not been able to prepare for the challenges of this season. The service team has not been as it should be in a professional team, and performing well in that environment has been very challenging. Fortunately, there have been few good performances as well.”

Heiskanen has yet to have time to think about next season. Despite the difficulties, she has the motivation, but continuing her career is still being determined. For now, the most important thing is to heal the fracture and sort out the other problems.

“Once I have sorted the health problems, I have to take a break and think about what I can do and what kind of package can be put together. Only then will I make a decision on the way forward. As an experienced athlete, I do not want another as challenging season as this one has been. It has eaten up both my physical and mental resources.”

The Season XIV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consisted of 14 events on 10 event weekends in 6 different countries. 

Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XIV (2022/2023)

• Event 1: December 10, 2022 – Bad Gastein PTT, Bad Gastein, Austria, 15km
• Event 2: December 11, 2022 – Bad Gastein Criterium, Bad Gastein, Austria, 35km
• Event 3: December 17, 2022 – La Venosta Criterium, Val Venosta, Italy, 36km 
• Event 4: January 14, 2023 – Pustertaler Ski Marathon, Sexten, Italy, 62km
• Event 5: January 15, 2023 – Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, Niederdorf, Italy, 32km
• Event 6: January 21, 2023 – Engadin La Diagonela, Engadin Valley, Switzerland, 48km 
• Event 7: January 29, 2023 – Marcialonga, Trentino, Italy, 70km
• Event 8: February 12, 2023 – Jizerská50, Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 9: February 18, 2023 – Grönklitt Criterium, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: February 19, 2023 – Grönklitt ITT, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 12km
• Event 11: March 5, 2023 – Vasaloppet, Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
• Event 12: March 18, 2023 – Birkebeinerrennet, Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
• Event 13: April 1, 2023 – Reistadløpet, Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 40km
• Event 14: April 2, 2023 – Summit 2 Senja, Bardufoss- Finnsnes, Norway, 68km

More information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour you can find at skiclassics.com.