In just six months, the young skier from Trondheim has gone straight into the Tour de Ski squad after beating World Cup and World Championship athletes. She is now being described as Norway’s new rising star.

The regional team skier from Team Elon Midt-Norge is in her second season as a senior. She now gets her chance in the Tour de Ski as the overall leader of the Scandinavian Cup. She has never competed in a World Cup event abroad before and does not know what to expect from the Tour de Ski.

“It will be really cool, but it feels very strange,” Eva Ingebrigtsen tells Langrenn.com.

“It will probably be the most fun of all. I think I’m a skier who can handle a lot of racing, and as an underdog, I can relax a bit and just try to ski good races.”

Also Read: Norwegian national team for Tour de Ski 2025/2026

From “filler” to the podium in six months

Ingebrigtsen has taken an enormous step since March.

From finishing 22nd overall in last season’s Scandinavian Cup, she now leads the overall standings after the first round, ahead of World Championship star Ebba Andersson. Suddenly, she is also competitive across all distances and in both techniques.

“I hoped to reach the podium, but I didn’t expect it with the field that was on the start line,” Ingebrigtsen says modestly.

Several World Cup stars and accomplished athletes fighting for Olympic spots were chasing the same results. One by one, they were beaten by the young skier from Bratsberg IL.

In Friday’s sprint, Ingebrigtsen finished 14th in the prologue, advanced all the way to the final, and finished fourth, just one second off the podium.

“That surprised me,” Ingebrigtsen admits.

In Saturday’s 20km classic mass start, she finished second after dropping her rivals with a final lap that had commentators cheering.

On Sunday, Ingebrigtsen completed the weekend with another impressive second place in the 10km freestyle.

“Norway has a new major talent here! She skied faster than Ebba (Andersson) over the final five kilometers. She was 32 seconds behind at five kilometers but only 26.5 seconds back at the finish. That shows just what kind of talent this girl has,” the commentators said.

“Ebba is 28 years old and in her prime. It should be possible to close that half-minute gap over the next seven years.”

Ingebrigtsen beat U23 World Champion Märta Rosenberg, Finnish World Cup skier Anna-Kaisa Saari, junior World Champion Evelina Crüsell, and 2023 World Cup winner Tiril Udnes Weng in demanding conditions.

She now returns home from Östersund as the overall leader of the Scandinavian Cup.

What happened?

“It’s probably the boring answer,” Ingebrigtsen says. “I’ve put in one more year of training. And I’m rarely sick, so I get really good training continuity.”

Changed her intensity approach

Ingebrigtsen also highlights that she changed how she conducted high-intensity sessions last year. She now includes days with double-intensity workouts, which have made her more conscious of intensity control.

She believes the results are now becoming visible.

“The point of double intensity days is to get more volume. That means the intensity can’t be too high. I’ve become better at keeping the intensity at the right level. When you know you have another hard session later the same day, it’s easier to hold back a little, and that improves the overall quality.”

Forced to change plans completely

After the weekend’s somewhat unexpected success, Ingebrigtsen must completely rethink her season plan. She was initially scheduled to race the next round of the Scandinavian Cup, but it clashes with the Tour de Ski.

She now hopes the Tour de Ski will open new opportunities for the rest of the winter, potentially changing her priorities.

“Originally, the U23 World Championships were the main goal. But now I hope to get more international World Cup starts, and if that happens, I’ll prioritize World Cup over the U23 Worlds,” says Ingebrigtsen.

“I’ve watched the World Cup on TV since I was little and always thought that’s what I want to do.”

The U23 World Championships take place in Lillehammer from March 2–8. First, however, Eva Ingebrigtsen heads to the Tour de Ski, which starts in Toblach on December 28 and concludes on January 4 with the infamous Monster Hill, Alpe Cermis, in Val di Fiemme.

Read More: Tour de Ski 2025/2026: Complete program

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