By Johan Trygg

Season XI has been extraordinary with adjusted and changed event programs and many challenges for events and athletes. However, Visma Ski Classics’ interest is rising, with both new athletes and fans.
In Russia, the interest is greater than ever since the national channel Match TV broadcasted all races this winter. 
Athletes from the world cup have tried their wings in the tour, and there will be more in the future.
Saturday’s Årefjällsloppet 100 km will probably increase the interest even more.

“This season is the first time a national channel showed all the races in Visma Ski Classics. It has taken the interest of long distance skiing to the next level. Many people learned about the events in Europe that they didn’t know about before, says Russian Winter Teams Pro Team Director Andrey Tyuterev.
“I think a lot of recreational skiers from Russia want to come to attend these events in the coming years, Tyuterev continues.

The Russian Winter Team’s successes with Ermil Vokuev’s victory in Toblach-Cortina and his podium places at Marcialonga, Jizerská, and Vasaloppet gave a lot of attention at home in Russia.
”Еrmil became the second most popular Russian skier behind Bolshunov. His interviews were quoted a lot, and news about our Pro team and Еrmil’s podiums scored views comparable to the news about the national team,” says Andrey Tyuterev.

Unfortunately, Vokuev couldn’t participate in the last three races as he is contracted to the Russian police and he must attend the Russian championships. The same applies to several of the Pro team’s athletes. Tomorrow only Maxim Vylegzhanin and Aleksei Dvoskin will do the race.

Ahead of season XII, Tyuterev hopes further to develop the Pro team and the interest in Russia.
“Hopefully there will be no more quarantines this summer, so it will be easier to arrange training camps. I’m thinking of inviting 2-3 new strong athletes and, of course, promote our brand among fans and sponsors.”

This season we could see interest from “new” athletes to try their wings in long distance skiing. The world’s best cross country skier of all time, Marit Bjørgen, created great media interest with her start in Vasaloppet. Then she did an impressive performance by finishing second behind Lina Korsgren. World Championship medalist Ebba Andersson did a great race last Saturday, winning Vålådalsrennet just ahead of Emilie Fleten. We also saw world cup skiers like Jens Burman and Andrew Musgrave make an impression during the men’s race.

The other day, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, another of the world’s best cross country skiers of all time, announced that he would focus on Visma Ski Classics next season. Sundby has shown his long distance skills before. In 2017 he won Birkebeinerrennet. It will be interesting to see which team he ends up in or if he starts his own.

Magnar Dalen, Pro Team Director Team Ragde Eiendom, is looking forward to seeing Sundby in the Pro Tour during season XII.
”It feels great. I don’t think he will be the last one to convert to long distance skiing. I believe this is a trend we will see more of in the future. We know that Sundby is excellent at long distances, and he has a great possibility to be part of the fight at the top. I’m convinced of that,” says Dalen.

Dalen also sees the increased interest from fans among long distance skiing and Visma Ski Classics. Årefjällsloppet tomorrow he thinks can give the interest another boost.
“I think Årefjällsloppet will be the best race of the season. A lot of things will happen during the long race, and we will probably see very tired skiers the last 15 km, Dalen concludes.

Top picture: The sprint finish at Toblach-Cortina with Ermil Vokuev winning just ahead of Oskar Kardin, Emil Persson, Morten Eide Pedersen and Stian Hoelgaard. Photo: Björn Reichert/Nordic Focus.