“I don’t have a real tactic. I’ll just try to survive,” says Dyvik about this weekend’s long-distance race in Orsa Grönklitt.

For the two events, the Swede will race for Team Ramudden, which also was reinforced by Olof Jonsson and Gustaf Berglund for the weekend’s races.

“I was asked during the Swedish Championships and thought about how to do it for a while. I decided to race during the Swedish Cup in Ulricehamn,” says Dyvik about being recruited for the Pro Team. 

Anna is still determining if she will compete in more races than this weekend’s 50 and 12-kilometer events.

“To begin, there will be these two races in Orsa. So, we’ll see how it feels, and then I’ll decide,” Dyvik announced during Wednesday’s pre-events interview. 

The weekend’s longer race will be a test for the national team skier:

“This will be a new experience; I think the longest I’ve raced before was 30km,” Dyvik says with a laugh and continues: 

“I don’t double pole much and don’t do very long sessions either; my longest sessions are around two hours.”

Anna Dyvik feels that she is strong in the classic technique but that it is mainly the diagonal striding her strength.

“I’ve had quite a lot of back problems in my career and probably for that reason haven’t double poled that much, but I’ve skied two sessions in the last week to get a feel for it,” says Dyvik, who has not yet decided whether she will ski with or without kick wax in Sunday’s Individual Time Trial.

The number of races over 30km that Dyvik has competed in can be counted on one hand. Three seasons ago, she raced 34km in Meråker during the Ski Tour 2020. Before that, in April 2019, a race of 35km in Bruksvallarna. Both races in freestyle technique. She did her longest classic race in Tjejvasan 2021, finishing in 16th place.

“What I remember from Tjejvasan is that I forgot to drink and that it was very tough overall. The course was unexpectedly challenging, and the speed was very high, so I just tried to keep up,” recalls Dyvik.

Even in Saturday’s 50km race, Dyvik believes it is essential to keep up.

“I hope to be able to keep in the lead. I have seen many Ski Classics races this year and have understood that it is important to be in the front,” and continues:

“I will try to have a good experience. I don’t have a tactic; it’s just about surviving,” she laughs.

Orsa is a natural home ground for Anna Dyvik, who was there and skied a lot when she was younger.

“I almost only skied in Orsa until I was 15, so I know the tracks there very well. I hope to benefit from it.”

Watch the Full Pre-Grönklitt Interviews Here With Anton Karlsson And Some Of The Favorites For The Weekend: Grönklitt Pre-Events Interviews Live On SC YouTube

The Season XIV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consists 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, Bedrichov, 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, 67km

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