Latest updates before Vasaloppet 2018
Visma Ski Classics Event 8, Vasaloppet is the world´s biggest and one of the most prestigious events and it is now getting very close to the start of this Swedish classic. The upcoming Sunday, the 4th of March at CET 08:00 about 16000 skiers starts their 90 km long journey from Sälen to Mora.
Vasaloppet has its origin in 1922 when the first race was organized. The history of the race goes even further back to the 16th century when the future king of Sweden, Gustav Eriksson Vasa, fled Danish troops and organized a rebellion against the Danish King Christian. The event has now grown from one single ski race to 20 different races attracting almost 100,000 participants every year.
This Sunday’s 90 km race is the main event, and Eva-Lena Frick, the CEO of Vasaloppet, credits the history as one of the key components in the event’s ever-lasting success.
”The tradition of our race carries an enormous importance, and our constant work in finding new participants. We thrive in giving them excellent experiences from all of the races, and we believe there’s always a race for everyone during the winter week of Vasaloppet.”
This season the Vasaloppet region has been blessed with a lot of snow, and what kind of conditions are to be expected come the race day on Sunday?
“It’s been very cold here for the last few days, we have much snow and the course is in perfect condition. The forecast predicts some cloudy weather with temperatures between -15 C in Sälen and about -5 C in Mora. Due to the cold weather, I think there will be more diagonal striders this year. The elite skiers will naturally go double-poling, but behind them there may be more people using kick wax.” Eva-Lena continues.
She admits that Visma Ski Classics plays an important global role in keeping up the interest in cross-country skiing and developing the sport even further and thinks there will be great excitement in the air on Sunday.
In the men’s race, there will surely be a sprint finish where the last event’s top four, Morten Eide Pedersen, Team BN Bank, and three Team Santander skiers Oskar Kardin, Andreas Nygaard and Tord Asle Gjerdalen will be among the favorites. Ilya Chernousov, Bauer Ski Team is a skier to watch out for same as Team Koteng skiers Tore Bjørseth Berdal and Stian Hoelgaard. Lager 157 Ski Team’s Anton Karlsson is also expected to perform well.
In the women’s race, there are two skiers who are beyond anyone’s reach at the moment; the undefeated Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team and Kateriná Smutna, Bauer Ski Team. The challengers is Sara Lindborg, Team Serneke, who performed really well two weeks ago and Lina Korsgren, Åre Ski Club, that has stated that her main goal is to win Vasaloppet.
Vasaloppet information
Location: Sälen – Mora, Sweden
Date: March 4th 2018
Start Time: CET 08:00
Distance: 90km Classic technique
Active years: 94
Participants: 15 800
Ski Classics Sprints: 2
(Press release from Visma Ski Classics)
Watch the event live on Visma Ski Classics Play, download the app at
play.vismaskiclassics.com
