“The feeling of winning was great; I want to experience it again,” Johannes Eklöf said in a pre-event interview yesterday.

This weekend, Ski Classics returns after the Christmas and New Year break, and two events in 24 hours are taking place in northern Italy. On Saturday, the Pustertaler Ski Marathon (62 kilometers) and Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge (30 kilometers). 

For Johannes Eklöf, Team Ramudden, it is a special feeling to return to the competitions. It was there in the challenging climb to Prato Piazza he took his first Ski Classics Pro Tour career win:

“It was a cool weekend in many ways. For us as a team, the team spirit is what I remember best. We were a total of three new winners that weekend (in addition to Eklöf, former teammates Max Novak took his first victory in the Pustertaler Ski Marathon and Ida Dahl also her first Ski Classics victory in the Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge). Then for my part, it was a very special feeling to win; I hadn’t been on the podium before, so to cross the finish line first was awesome,” says Johannes Eklöf, who has one of his biggest strengths in the climbs.

“I have always been good at climbing and trained much of it. And before this year’s season, we practiced a lot of uphill skiing with the team. Then it helps to be one of the smaller riders in the field,” says Eklöf in a live YouTube pre-event interview. 

One of the additions for the Ski Classics Season XIV is the Iconic Climbs, where four climbs give some extra spark to the most challenging climbs in Ski Classics. The first is Prato Piazza, the finishing hill of the Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge.

Read More: Ski Classics Launch Iconic Climbs!

“It’s a good way to make the competitions even more exciting, and I hope to be able to have a good position when it comes to the climbing bib as well,” says Eklöf, who has been twelfth and thirteenth in the first two individual races in the Ski Classics Season XIV:

“I aimed higher and had hoped for a little more. The body has been okay, but I have made some bad decisions, and then there have been some things that have not gone as I wanted. But I hope to have a bit of ‘Nygaard’ form, so I will get better and better the more important the races become,” says Eklöf, who had a good training period during the beginning of the Christmas break, but then needed to make some changes in the plans after a cold:

“The plan was a little different from what I thought, but I hope it can have a positive effect with a small break. Then I’m a little unsure of my level. If we think about Saturday’s race, it will be the first race of the season where it’s a little more uncertain where things will ‘happen.’ So, I believe and hope that different teams will try slightly different tactics. Before this season, I have worked on getting a little tougher on the longer races; this will be the first longer race of the season, so it will be exciting to see the outcome; I am looking forward to the weekend,” concludes Eklöf. 

The upcoming Ski Classics Pro Tour event is Pustertaler Ski Marathon, a 62km classic technique event in Italy on January 14, followed by Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, a 30km race also in Italy on January 15, 2023.

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, 40km 
• Event 4: January 14, 2023 – Pustertaler Ski Marathon, Sexten, Italy, 62km
• Event 5: January 15, 2023 – Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, Niederdorf, Italy, 30km
• Event 6: January 21, 2023 – Engadin La Diagonela, Engadin Valley, Switzerland, 55km 
• Event 7: January 29, 2023 – Marcialonga, Trentino, Italy, 70km
• Event 8: February 12, 2023 – Jizerská50, Bedrichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 9: February 18, 2023 – Grönklitt Criterium, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: February 19, 2023 – Grönklitt ITT, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 15km
• 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 and overall standings you can find at skiclassics.com.

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