The Lager 157 Ski Team was powerful last season, largely thanks to Emil Persson’s remarkable record of nine victories.

Season XV started more “cautiously” for the Swedish Pro Team. Before this weekend’s Marcialonga, the squad had two third places (Emil Persson and Karolina Hedenström). But in Sunday’s Italian classic, a lot changed.

After about seven kilometers, Runar Skaug Mathisen broke his pole.

“At that point, it was obvious for ‘Mackan’ (Marcus Johansson) to give Runar his pole. Then, it took just over a kilometer before Runar got a pole of the right length from me. But there’s a big difference in skiing with two poles compared to one. And even though it was an obvious choice for Marcus to give away his pole, it’s still a great gesture. Without that, the race wouldn’t have developed as it did,” says Pro Team Director Anton Järnberg to Langd.se.

How many of the tactics are planned in advance? 

“We work year-round on our DNA, our basic idea of how to act when we compete. And I think we’ve done well over the past year. Then, it’s hard to plan in detail before a race, considering it depends on how you feel, the skis, and how your opponents act. We had a scenario where Runar had free rein, but we also knew he wouldn’t decide it on the last hill, so he had to plan it differently. And Emil was also clear that if he felt strong, he wanted to push hard quite early, not just the last ten kilometers,” says Järnberg.

Emil Persson pushed hard with 35km to go, and towards the sprint prize in Predazzo (with 25km left), Skaug Mathisen was upfront.

A couple of kilometers later, he pushed hard and got a gap:

“He was very dedicated in the work he did there. He doesn’t look back once for the first five minutes. The terrain there, with easy skiing, suited Runar extremely well. I would say that there were only four or five in the whole field who could challenge there, and then we had one or two of these in our team, and they didn’t do anything when it was Runar who was on the break. So, when the gap was 20 seconds, we were in a very good position where it must be like Stadås or some of our toughest opponents on the last hill who have to set the pace and chase. Both Runar and our other guys grew out of this,” says Järnberg.

When they entered the last tough climb (Cascata), the distance between Skaug Mathisen and the chasing group was 50 seconds.

“That was about the distance we thought he would need to hold on. Then he went controlled in the last climb; it’s easy to go too hard from the start of the hill, especially considering he’s been going as fast as he could for several kilometers. But he managed not to stress out and only lost ten seconds until it got really steep, but he managed it. Incredibly. And then Emil came in second, and even Alvar did a great race (ninth).”

On the women’s side, Karolina Hedenström finished seventh.

What do you think this win will mean for Skaug Mathisen? 

“It’s a barrier to winning for the first time, and especially to winning the second biggest race. Then, Runar is a bit of an ‘odd bird’ in this, with his height of 195 centimeters. It makes him stand out in the field, and he has learned to play to his strengths. And he’s an uncomfortable opponent because no one is like him. He has his strengths in different areas than many others. Then I think this was important for the entire Ski Classics; it pays off to do something other than the norm. That a skier dares to ski on his strengths and dares to be offensive was nice to see. Outstanding and spectacular,” says Järnberg.

A race-free weekend awaits before it’s time for the Czech Jizerská50, the season’s second Grand Classics.

SC Play: Watch the Ski or Die documentary and raw cut interview with Marcialonga’s winner