Andreas Nygaard sounds cheerful and talkative on the phone again. However, the skier has had a bit of trouble lately because he has just had his appendix removed, which means his training must be quite moderate. He spends a week resting completely, and for a month, he shouldn’t jump on roller skis. Training begins with indoor cycling and walking, gradually transitioning to sport-specific exercises.

There’s also cause for celebration for the skiing hero, as he has recently gotten engaged to his girlfriend, and they are getting married next summer. His studies in medicine at the University are currently on hold, and he is fully focused on his skiing career. In November, he will turn 34, which is still a great age for a long-distance skier, so focusing on his career is entirely justified.

A career that truly stands out in the Ski Classics series. Andreas has been able to achieve victories in various Pro Tour races for eight consecutive seasons, and his tally of wins now stands at 19, making him the second most successful skier of all time after Britta Johansson Norgren. In addition to this remarkable achievement, he is a three-time overall winner, a two-time winner of Vasaloppet, and a three-time winner of Birkebeinerrennet, and those victories have come consecutively, with the latest being from this winter.

Despite these impressive results, the skier does not consider himself the most gifted in the sport.

“I’m not the most talented in the sport, but I must be doing something right because I’ve been so successful. My training philosophy is simplicity, using the KISS method: Keep It Simple Stupid! I know what I need to do and what my body needs so that I can succeed in the winter races. The early-season races serve as good practice for me, allowing me to tune myself to top form,” Andreas explains his training method to Maastohiihto.com.

You can read more about the top skier’s training in the next article, but let’s rewind a bit and remember last fall’s Team Ragde Charge training camp in Mallorca. Andreas wasn’t in his best shape then, and in an interview conducted there, he pondered his chances for the upcoming winter.

“In Mallorca, I wasn’t in my best shape because I had just had COVID. However, I had achieved my best results on the SkiErg and in the 10-kilometer run, so I knew my body was in good shape. I was sure that if I could do the right exercises before the winter and my body responded to them, I could still win races. You never know if you’ll win races again, but the possibility was there if my training went according to plan. The Bad Gastein races came a bit too early, but I still got good training from them, which helped me get back into top shape,” Andreas reflects on his preparation.

Speaking of Bad Gastein, our conversation shifts to the series where Andreas has achieved incredible success. Ski Classics is now entering its fifteenth season (season 13 was skipped in numbering because no one wants to carry the burden of an unlucky number), and the brand value of the series has risen over the years, and the skiing carousel has firmly established itself, although changes and experiments are made almost annually. With years of experience in the sport, our athlete has the perspective and experience to analyse the skiing series.

“I think Ski Classics is a good concept now, but there’s always room for improvement. We could try or consider small changes. For example, the number of races before Christmas and at the end of the season, placing hill races and iconic climbs in races like Birken, where the iconic climb should either be immediately after the first long ascent or at the end, but not where it was now, which was after a flat section. It was just silly!”

Andreas continues to ponder the future of the series, saying that Ski Classics should not be too similar to the current FIS World Cup.

“We need to be careful that this doesn’t become a B or C class World Cup, where we’re doing short laps in a small area. These Criterium races, where you do one lap, need to be well planned, and the TD’s need to be much stricter with their yellow cards to avoid unnecessary skating. I don’t think even those Ski Classics skiers who do well in these short races want to ski a 6 x 5 km track at high altitude in some small valley every weekend. That’s not why they became long-distance skiers.”

Short races and prologues are, of course, a topic of their own, but together we also consider the participation in really long races in the Pro Tour. Andreas has won the world’s longest, 220 km, Nordenskiöldsloppet three times, and he knows what nearly half a day of skiing competition requires.

“Nordenskiöldsloppet could be included, but then it should be the last race of the season. And if it were to be added to the calendar, it should be that 220 kilometers, and not a kilometer shorter. Nowadays, people want things and challenges that are truly impressive and amazing. They shouldn’t be every weekend, but enough. Even I, who am a huge sports fan and love skiing, wouldn’t want to watch Criterium races on a five-kilometer loop in some valley I’ve never even heard of. I think races with history and background, like Tartu Maraton, should be part of the Pro Tour.”

Andreas gets excited to develop new ideas that the viewers might be interested in as well. He suggests instead of short Criterium races, for example, SkiErgo races, where the athletes would face each other closely, and their lactate concentration and heart rate would be constantly visible on the screen. Another option could be roller skiing competitions on equal races, which of course are on the skiers’ program in the summer, and the Ski Classics Challengers series has a good selection of these.

Encouraged by this brainstorming, Andreas Nygaard and Teemu Virtanen started thinking about the significance of ultra skiing and how modern people are interested in these extreme performances. Teemu’s own 24-hour skiing world record has received great attention at home and abroad, and we have already discussed the significance of Nordenskiöldsloppet and the possibility of it being part of Ski Classics. However, skiing doesn’t really have ultradistances, Nordenskiöldsloppet aside, as there are in running, cycling, or triathlon, where performances go well beyond five or six hours for top athletes. So, is there room for ultradistances in skiing?

“I believe there is room for ultra skiing. People are interested in these extreme things. I think there should be even longer distances in skiing, and we professionals train so much that it would make sense for us to have tougher challenges too. 100 kilometres is no longer what it used to be.”

Indeed, skiing offers opportunities for many different distances, techniques, and concepts. In the next article related to Andreas Nygaard, you can read about his training, his team, and future goals, and whether it’s harder to win Ski Classics races now than before.

Are you interested in Ski Classics and long-distance skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.

Top Photo

Vasaloppet wins have been the highlights of Nygaard’s career – photo from 2022