This summer, Riege showed us that he was in good shape and has already taken a step forward with his new Pro Team. Indeed, he won Youth and Champion bib on the Mitsubishi Electric World Classic Tour and never finished outside the top 6. His best result was 2nd at Alliansloppet. 

This winter will be his first one with the Yellow Monsters (Team Ramudden nickname), and ProXCskiing will keep an eye on him. 

This winter will be your first one on Ski Classics with Team Ramudden. What is your main goal? 

“First and foremost, I want to be at my best during the winter and perform well in as many races as possible. The Youth bib is a natural goal, but my main focus is to deliver good results with my team.”

Who do you think will be your main rival for the Youth bib? 

“My teammate, Herman Paus, was by far the strongest of the contenders last winter, and he will definitely be at the top this winter as well. Hopefully, we can help each other to get the Youth bib to Team Ramudden. But several other strong athletes will fight for it.”

If you had to choose only one race on the Pro Tour, which one would it be? 

“I guess I would say Vasaloppet since it is the most prestigious. Also, I believe that it is a race that can suit me well. I am not sure if it is the race that suits me the most at the moment, but if I have to choose one race, it has to be Vasaloppet.”

What is your favorite type of course? Where is your biggest strength? 

“I think that a race with some shorter uphills but not the longest climbs will suit me well. At the same time, I believe I have decent speed in a finish, but maybe not against the absolute fastest skiers.”

What is your favorite training session? 

“Long sessions with lots of intervals. I don’t do them often, mostly on training camps with Team Ramudden. But I feel those sessions help me develop the specific capacity required as a long-distance skier.”

Do you also enjoy biking or running for training? Did you also keep some skating in your training? 

“I don’t have a bike, so biking has not been a part of my training plan for the past years. But I definitely enjoy running during the summer season. I also try to do one session of skating every week. It is mostly to get more volume in my training, and it is not the session with the highest priority.”

Do you use Skierg or rollerski treadmill as training? 

“No, I have not done any skierg or training on rollerski treadmill the past year. I don’t have access to a treadmill, so that is why I haven’t used it. I plan to use the skierg a bit when the season gets closer, and it becomes difficult to do rollerski sessions outside.”

Is mental training part of your preparation? 

“I don’t do any specific mental training other than visualization before a race. But we always discuss together in the team before a race to prepare for the race as a group.”

Why did you choose to join Team Ramudden? 

“Team Ramudden is a great team in many ways. Everything is well planned, and they offer professional service and support in training and competitions. And the most important factor is that they are a great group of people to be with both on and off training.”

According to you, what is the biggest strength of Team Ramudden? 

“The athletes on the team have different strengths, so we can help each other develop on training camps and cooperate together during races.”

What are you doing when you are not skiing or training?

“Besides skiing, I am studying Business Administration full time. Therefore, it’s not that much time left for other hobbies during the winter and autumn, but in the summertime, I enjoy playing discgolf with friends, even though I am terrible at it.”

Do you have a favorite streaming series or a movie to recommend? 

“I think Squid game is the last series I saw, and that was exciting.”

If you had a piece of advice to give to young athletes, what would it be? 

“Do more of the training that you enjoy and have fun. Keep it simple.”