Hedda Bångman started with a solid Ski Classics season, but an unfortunate incident during La Venosta Criterium forced her to take an involuntary break from competition. Here, she writes a column about Sunday’s exciting Marcialonga.

“The winners of this year’s Marcialonga were Team Ramudden’s Emilie Fleten and Lager 157 Ski Team’s somewhat surprising Runar Skaug Mathisen. In the women’s class, it was clear before the last three-kilometer climb that it would be a contest among five skiers where Fleten demonstrated she was the strongest woman of the day. In the men’s class, the race was decided in the opposite way – Skaug Mathisen was the hunted prey in the final climb but managed to stay ahead of his competitors.

Spring had arrived in the Dolomites and the Val di Fiemme valley, where Marcialonga was held with plus temperatures and sun. Despite limited snow, the organizers managed to prepare fine tracks for a classic Marcialonga condition with warmer temperatures and wetter snow as the day progressed. The fact that this was the first ‘Grand Classics’ race was evident – a high pace was set from the start in both the men’s and women’s classes.

Based on last weekend’s race, Engadin La Diagonela in Switzerland, there were indications that the Lager 157 Ski Team was in improving form, with Runar Skaug Mathisen putting in a strong performance and finishing fourth.

Even Emil Persson indicated better form as he made a strong finish and skied faster than the leading group in the second half of that race. This turned out to be a correct indication when, on Sunday, the two teammates were strongest over the 70-kilometer course, with Skaug Mathisen in a long breakaway and winning his first Ski Classics race in his career.

Skaug Mathisen did not have an entirely trouble-free race as he broke a pole early in the race but got a new one immediately through his teammate Marcus Johansson. Just before the ski stadium in Val di Fiemme, he took the lead and increased the pace, which no one else matched. It was still a thrilling race as the pack behind gradually closed the gap in the final climb and rapidly approached Skaug Mathisen. However, they never caught up, and Skaug Mathisen’s first victory was a fact.

On the women’s side, it was about Team Ramudden versus Team Eksjöhus and Team Ragde Charge before the final climb up Cascata. There, there was no question about who the strongest woman of the day was – Emilie Fleten broke away meter by meter from the rest of the skiers, and Magni Smedås, unlike last weekend’s race, found herself defeated by Fleten. Team Eksjöhus made a strong team effort and had all four of their female skiers in the top 10.

Smedås and Roivas made a strong effort together and caught up with the leading group when it seemed they had fallen behind after the sprint in Predazzo, finishing second and third, respectively.

Astrid Øyre Slind from Team Aker Dæhlie, who was both the big favorite and the big question mark of the day as she had health problems before the race, did not keep up after Canazei and later withdrew from the competition.

Emilie Fleten thus seems set to become the queen of long-distance races this year as she has taken a stronghold of the Yellow Champion bib.

One of her most prominent challengers, Ida Dahl from Team Engcon, did not start due to respiratory problems and lost valuable points in the overall standings.”

This article was originally published at Langd.se