Hedda Bångman started this season strongly, but an unfortunate incident during La Venosta Criterium before Christmas means that her dreams of a prominent finish in Marcialonga must be postponed. Here, Bångman writes about her injury, the challenging Marcialonga course, and about following this weekend’s race from a ski ergometer.

“It’s the last Sunday of January 2023, I’m sitting on the edge of a fountain in Cavalese with a coffee in my hand. The sun is shining and warming my cold cheeks. I have just finished my third Marcialonga and am feeling that wonderful tiredness in my body that comes after a long race, but also a bit disappointed with the result. I had a vision and dream of finishing higher up.

The disappointment soon turns into a clear vision that next season I will be a stronger double-pole skier and hopefully place higher.

During the summer and autumn, I visualized myself double-poling through Val di Fassa and up to Canazei, through the steeper and flatter sections, a course where it’s about adapting the technique to the terrain.

The final climb up to Canazei ends with a sprint that makes the lactic acid burst, just like in interval training.

After Canazei, it goes downhill towards the finish, where it’s about skiing big and powerful, steering the skis at as high a speed as possible through the picturesque North Italian villages.

The frosty and chilly morning temperatures with hard tracks at the start quickly turn into plus degrees as the spring sun rises over the mountains and beats down over Val di Fiemme. The snow transforms into a sorbet-like consistency. The prestigious race concludes with the famous Cascata – 3 kilometers uphill with an average gradient of 12 percent, to finally cross the finish line in Cavalese after 70 kilometers. The opportunity to visualize the entire route in detail makes me feel well prepared for the race.

A week before Christmas in December 2023, I’m sitting in the examination room at the hospital in the authentic village of Santa Maria in the Swiss Val Müstair. It was a moment, a tenth of a second, and my entire plan for the season changed direction.

I have just seen the X-ray images of my aching foot after the crash in the race in Val Venosta.

Tears fill my eyes as I quickly count the weeks to Marcialonga and realize there are six weeks left. The X-ray images show a clear fracture in the distal fibula. My stubborn, strong-willed, and optimistic side makes me for a brief moment truly believe that it’s possible to be at the starting line of Marcialonga 2024, but the rational side quickly takes over and I realize that the dream of having that amazing race in this year’s edition of Marcialonga has gone away.

At the same time, the doctor looks deep into my tear-filled eyes and says “It’s gonna take time.”

This Sunday, the 51st edition of Marcialonga will be decided, and I will hop on my crutches to the ski ergometer in the gym to follow the race.

In my head, I’m skiing strongly in the pack, and as we approach the sprint in Canazei, the wattage will increase drastically. It wasn’t how I visualized the race last summer, that my Marcialonga would be at a distance on a ski ergometer.

But life is unpredictable, and not everything can be foreseen. Hopefully, I’ll be sitting by the fountain in Cavalese in 2025, feeling pride and joy over the journey I’ve made to the goal, where I’ve overcome unforeseeable setbacks.

Regardless of fulfilled visions, Marcialonga is a highlight, and good luck to all of you who have the opportunity to start in this year’s race.”

This article was originally written by Hedda Bångman and published in Langd.se.