By Johan Trygg

Ida Dahl, Team Ramudden, was one of the big surprises during season X. In her first full season on the Pro Tour, she won the Youth competition and finished 7th in the Champion competition.
“It was beyond my expectations last winter. Now, of course, I want to defend the pink Youth bib, says the 25-year-old Swede.

When we talk to Ida, she’s on her way through Germany by car. Team Ramudden will go to Switzerland and stay in Celerina just outside St. Moritz before the start of Visma Ski Classics season XI, which will now be La Diagonela in the Engadin valley on January 16th.

Her goal is to defend the pink Youth bib and finish top five in the Champion competition. In season X, Ida finished seventh overall.
“It will be tough, of course. It feels like there are more strong girls this season. I think it will be more girls fighting at the front of the peloton,” says Ida.

She has been able to carry out the training she has planned and feels well prepared now that Season XI is finally starting.
“It has worked on well. There have been some competitions and training races at home,” she says.

That it has not been a normal pre-season and no real long distance races to test the form has not affected her so much.
“I haven’t thought about it because it’s nothing I can change. I have taken it for what it is and adapted to what happened. In the competitions or training races I have attended, I have felt stronger than last year.”

Ahead of this season XI, both Ida and teammate Lina Korsgren have started with Mattias Reck as a coach. We have written about this before. They were inspired when Max Novak did so well last winter with Reck as a coach.
“I started to imitate Max’s training a bit already during last season and it felt good, so then I also chose Reck as a coach, says Ida.

More of one long workout per day is the basis of Reck’s training philosophy. Something that suits Ida well because she studies full time.
“I can train in the morning and then concentrate on my studies in the afternoon and don’t have to think about another training session in the afternoon or evening,” she says.

After being a bit down in the results list for the two initial races in season X, Ida then lined up top results for the rest of the season. Or how about this: Kaiser Maximilian Lauf 4th, La Diagonela 6th, Marcialonga 4th, Toblach-Cortina 8th, Jizerksa 6th and Vasaloppet 4th.

Which races did you think were your best during season X?
“Kaiser Maximilian Lauf in Seefeld was special. That’s where it started to go well for me. Then, of course, Vasaloppet, with all the people and that it is such a long race,” Ida concludes.