Text by Teemu Virtanen

Russian Winter Team has shown impressive results in the past few years in the Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour. Ermil Vokuev has won twice and been third three times in the past two years while Alexey Shemiakin and Anastasia Vlasova have one podium place, 3^rd, under their belts. The Pro Team has many more top 10 places, and one athlete who certainly has a chance to be the next podium skier in the team is Maxim Vylegzanin.

He already entered the long distance scene in 2015 by taking part in Birkebeinerrennet and Årefjällsloppet. However, his true debut as a permanent Pro Team member took place in 2020 with the Individual Prologue in Livigno, Italy. That race turned out to be his worst performance as he finished 29^th. Ever since, he has been quite close to the top, and his best performance was Jizerska Padesatka’s 5^th place this winter. He also finished 10^th at Marcialonga, 8^th at Vasaloppet and 8^th at Tåssåsen Criterium 64 in Season XI.

Before his Visma Ski Classics career, Maxim was one of the most successful Russian skiers with his three silver medals at the Olympics and five medals at the World Championships, one gold. Additionally, he has seven individual World Cup victories and 24 podium places.

Now, this soon-to-be-39-year-old athlete is putting his sole focus on long distance skiing, and earlier this month, he won the 60 km Lake Saimaa Roller-ski Marathon in Imatra, Finland, a Challengers event. Pro XC Skiing approached the skier after that race and found out that he is really a devoted father and a passionate skier.

How has your dryland training proceeded so far?

“I liked my summer training. We had two joint team training camps. One of them was up in the mountains where we managed to climb the highest point in Europe, Mount Elbrus 5642 meters.”

 You just won Lake Saimaa Roller-ski Marathon – how was the experience and the race from your perspective?

 “I’ve been waiting for this marathon very badly. I got tired of just training all summer, and therefore it was a great pleasure for me to take part in this marathon. I liked the race, I tried to break away a couple of times, but I was not able to do it because of the strong wind. So, I decided to leave all my strength to the finish line.”

Speaking of roller-skiing, how much of that do you have in your training program?

 “Of course, I do spend more time doing double-poling now, but at the same time I still do classic skiing and skating, and I run cross-country a lot.”

Since you are a long distance skier now, how much has your training changed since the time you were skiing for the World Cup?

 “There is no big difference. As I said, I focus more on double-poling now, and there are longer training sessions compared to when I was preparing for the World Cup.”

How would you compare these two sports – long distance skiing and standard distances?

 “This is also cross-country skiing, but with absolutely different specifics. I figured this out in the first season of Visma Ski Classics.”

 What about Visma Ski Classics – what do you want to say about the Pro Tour, the brand and the world within?

 “The atmosphere of Visma Ski Classics is very friendly. I get the same feeling at all events that I take part in. This is why I like this sport. Visma Ski Classics is becoming more and more popular every year. The very idea of the Pro Tour is very interesting and it unites athletes.”

 Is there anything you would like change or develop in Visma Ski Classics?

“I’ve only been doing this long-distance ski tour for two years, and I don’t consider myself an expert. I would like a variety of countries and have the start of the races earlier.”

 What about your team – Russian Winter Team? It seems that you have a great unity and spirit in your team.

 “My Russian Winter Team is the best! Each year we become stronger and more competitive. We have an excellent team manager Andrey Tyuterev, who arranges everything perfectly. I hope that this year he will be able to win the Best Pro Team Director award. Our leader Nikita Evgenievich Tamm and the general sponsor of BСM are doing everything possible to enable our good results. We are a very friendly team.”

 What are your goals for the next season – fighting for the yellow jersey?

 “This year, I will have my third season in the Visma Ski Classics, and of course, I want to win a race and get podiumplaces. So far, I have never been in the top three.”

Tell us a bit about your family – how hard is to combine family life and ski racing with a lot of traveling?

“I do not separate my personal and sports life – this is my one life. At every opportunity, I try to take my family to training camps and competitions. Now, it will be more difficult since my son started his first grade at school this year. The hardest part is to combine work at Udmurtia Cross-Country Skiing Federation and the sportswear business.”

Who are your inspirations or heroes when growing up?

“There were no heroes. But I watched cross-country skiing when Yelena Välbe, Larisa Lazutina, Yulia Chepalova, Alexey Prokurorov, Bjørn Dæhlie, Thomas Alsgaard were racing, and I wanted to win the same way they did.”

Finally, you’ve achieved so much in skiing, but what is your ultimate goal or dream that you would like to reach before retiring?

 “My double-poling has always been my weak side. I lost a lot of times at the finish line. I want to make it strong, to prove that a human can do anything he wants.”