Nordic Skiingworld Cup
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The Norwegian cross-country skiing champion based a large part of his preparation in view of the current season by training at high altitude, often also in the Swiss resort where tomorrow, Saturday 17 December, the first of the two races of the CdM stage is scheduled. The rest of the Norwegian team, on the other hand, snubbed the altitude training....
Friday 16 December 2022 4 minutes reading time
Having resolved the problem two weeks ago in the Lillehammer stage, Johannes Klaebo is back on track in the Davos stage, valid for the cross-country skiing CdM. The Norwegian cross-country skiing icon, despite having missed the last stage of Beitostolen, has had an impressive record so far, winning all four races.
For Klaebo tomorrow's environmental conditions should be perfect, taking into account the important blocks of preparation carried out at high altitude by the Norwegian champion, between Europe and North America, including Davos itself, which is located at 1560 meters above sea level.
However, most of Klaebo's teammates did not share their compatriot's strategy in the slightest. Paal Golberg, current leader of the CdM general classification, expressed several doubts about the usefulness of training at altitude: "We did some training at altitude, but we didn't find any improvements. I would have understood Johannes' choice if the World Cup had been scheduled in a high altitude location, but Planica is 900 meters above sea level, like Sjusjoen, where many of our team's athletes train".
Sjur Roethe, on the other hand, found both positive and negative aspects to altitude training: "I've always obtained good results training at high altitudes; I think Johannes will be able to take advantage of this path undertaken in the Davos stage, where to be at the top of form, an acclimatization of at least a few more days would have been necessary".
Even the Oberstdorf 2021 world champion, Hans Holund, revealed that he has never particularly appreciated training at high altitude: "My performances have never been better after high altitude rallies, so I believe that in the long term I will not may be a good training program"
The head coach of the cross-country skiing team Eirik Myhr Nossum took care of turning off this little one in Norway: "Every athlete can choose the best method to optimize their preparation in view of the races: there are those who prefer to train in altitude, some on the plain. Johannes has an eighteen-month training program at high altitude, most of the athletes decide to train in a different way".
Already from tomorrow's skating sprint, Saturday 17 December, it will be possible to understand if Klaebo's strategy will actually be successful.
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