Fabián Štoček, the Czech Pro Tour athlete racing for Vltava Fund Ski Team, had his best season as a long-distance skier so far, despite facing other life challenges such as finishing his Ph.D. thesis.

Fabián changed from traditional to long-distance skiing in 2018 when he returned to Europe after racing and studying in the United States of America. Since then, he has been a consistent top-50 skier.

However, during the Ski Classics Season XIV, Fabián seems to have improved his shape, and his worst result has been a 41st position. Now that the season is ending, ProXCskiing talked to the Czech Pro Tour skier to understand how he improved his shape and feelings about the season.

How has this season been so far? What have been the best and most challenging moments?

“Personally, I was a little shocked with my performance in the first half of the season, in a good way. Besides Bad Gastein, where I was 41st, my worst result was 32nd, which would have been among my best from the last year. I am surprised and happy by how consistent I was this season,” says Fabián and continues:

“The best moment was probably winning the first climb at Jizerská50. I did not expect it, and my main goal for the race was to be in the top group until the top of the hill. The most challenging moment was Vasaloppet, where I felt some cramps already on the first hill as I was tired from submitting my Ph.D. thesis from the days before the race.”

 It seems that this has been your best season so far. Have you changed something about your training? How do you explain your improvement?

“I sat down at the beginning of the winter and learned about cramping during races and tried five strategies to alleviate the pain during the races. This has helped a lot this season. I have also followed other Ski Classic skiers on Strava and looked for what type of workouts they do to get inspired. I think it is very cool to have such an open database of possible workouts, no secrets, just hard work.” 

 
Now that the season end is coming, did you achieve your goals? 

“My season goal was to break the top 20 again and be the top Czech skier at Jizerská50. This year at Jizerská50, I was close to both goals, but my teammate took both away from me, so I was happy for him.” 

There have been rumors that some bigger Pro Teams are paying attention to you. Is there a chance of changing Pro Teams if the opportunity arrives?

“I am always open to opportunities and learning new things. So far, I cannot confirm anything.”

How has been being a member of the Vltava Fund Ski team? How did they help you as an athlete?

“It has been a wonderful ride so far. We always have the best skis from the Czech teams due to our dedicated service team. Not worrying about logistics allowed me to dedicate more time to work and skiing. I find myself very often in the middle of managing communication between athletes on our team who don’t speak Czech; this is, I think, the hardest aspect of it. But I enjoy the challenge and honestly have learned a lot from these situations. Until this year, we did not have any contracts and only worked based on trust, which runs well through the team’s structure.”

Finally, how is it to combine neuroscience Ph.D. studies with elite-level skiing?

“It can be very demanding indeed. I have my own project. I record neurons from the brains of rats while they are moving in virtual reality. The aim is to increase the understanding of navigation and memory. I can work on the project any time of the day, and nobody besides my research animals depends on me. There were times, when I had to stay in the lab until 2 am to finish a brain surgery. As far as my colleagues know, I occasionally go for ski on the weekends. Now that I am close to being done, despite the challenges, I can reflect and be happy with the choice to balance skiing and academics.”

Next up is Reistadløpet on April 1 and Summit 2 Senja on April 2. The events mark the 13th and 14th Ski Classics stages and the final weekend of Season XIV.

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, Bedřichov, 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.