Despite eleven out of twelve podium finishes being secured by altitude-acclimatized skiers, Anton Järnberg, Pro Team Director at Lager 157 Ski Team, stands firm on his team’s strategic approach after the weekend in Bad Gastein.

A Challenging Start to the Season

This past weekend marked the start of Ski Classics Season XVI with two races in Bad Gastein. Lager 157 Ski Team delivered an impressive performance on Sunday, with Emil Persson taking second place. Saturday’s results, however, were less convincing for the team.

“We probably hit a wall, and it seems like many were affected by the altitude. Maccan (Marcus Johansson) is not feeling well at all right now,” said the team’s ski technician, Marcus Laggar, after Saturday’s race.

Earlier, Karolina Hedenström revealed that the team had deliberately chosen a different preparation strategy: skipping altitude acclimatization before the races.

Read More: Karolina Hedenström – “Stay low, race high” long-distance strategy

Järnberg Skiing Strategy – a Long-Term Strategy

Anton Järnberg explained that the decision was made during the first training camp after last season.

“We made this decision early on. Since there was only one race weekend in December, we decided to try this approach”, he explains.

“We wanted to stay home and train while avoiding the time and effort needed to acclimatize to the altitude. The idea was to come to Bad Gastein just for the weekend and continue pushing our training over Christmas,” Järnberg elaborated.

Do you believe the payoff from this strategy will come later?

“Yes, exactly. I hope we’ll see the results in January, February, and March”, says the Lager 157 Ski Team Pro Team Director.

Also Read: Ski Classics Standings after Bad Gastein weekend Season XVI

A Tough Competition Field

Several major Pro Teams, including Team Ramudden, Team Ragde Charge, Team Eksjöhus, and Team Engcon, had trained at altitude. These teams dominated the podium, securing eleven of the twelve top spots over the weekend. Despite this, Järnberg remains confident in his team’s tactical choice.

“Given the results, I can’t say it would have been better to train at altitude. I dare say that. We had a decent race on the men’s side, and Jenny did an okay race,” concluded Järnberg.

Emil Persson delivered the best result for the Lager 157 Ski Team, finishing just centimeters behind Amund Riege in Sunday’s Criterium race.

“Maccan’s setback on Saturday was severe. It might be a bigger risk to go straight into racing without acclimatization. But it shouldn’t have to be. Apparently, it was this time for Maccan,” Järnberg speculated.

In the photo above, Emil Persson thanks competitor Amund Riege after the sprint finish in Bad Gastein. Persson was the only podium finisher over the weekend in Bad Gastein who had not acclimatized to the altitude, according to Järnberg’s skiing strategy.

Read More: SC Ranking: Fleten is the new leader

This article was translated from Langd.se.