By Teemu Virtanen

The two-time Champion and 12-time stage winner Andreas Nygaard started the last season really well by being second at La Diagonela in Switzerland. It looked like he was once again going for the gold, but bad luck intervened and Nygaard had to withdraw from racing due to the injuries caused by the frostbites he got while skiing in the Swiss race. He was able to return to the long distance ski arena at Vasaloppet, but it was too early for him to fight for the top positions. The last race of the season, Årefjällsloppet, was much better for him, and he managed to be the number one again showing that we was back in the game.

This week’s Orsa2Levi podcast talked to Nygaard about his training, his current home city Tromsø, his goals and his life outside of skiing including his girlfriend and his studies. He spends a lot of time in Alta where his former training partner Petter Eliassen resides. He admits that it was a pity to lose his teammate who retired after last season.

“It was a big advantage for me to have someone like Petter to train with. I tried to learn from him as much as I could. There are not that many guys here in the north training for long distance skiing, but I don’t mind training alone though,” Nygaard says.

Nygaard always seems to be very positive and outspoken even in the face of adversity. After La Diagonela, it was hard to stay away from racing and skiing, but the Pro Team athlete remained focused and kept his spirit alive.

“I guess that it’s just the way I am. I’m a happy-go-lucky kinda person! I’m always optimistic. l’m a huge sports fan. I like every sport in the book. I’m addicted to every aspect of the training life. I tend to like the nature and doing things outdoors. I like to train, but I also like fishing and hunting. And sometimes I just like to chill, but the best memories are always made outdoors.”

When discussing about the unfortunate race in the Engadin valley, Nygaard’s tone becomes a bit more serious.

“The frostbites were a big failure from my side. I think I would have had a really good season if I had avoided them. The training had gone very well for the last months up to the season, but then my fingers went numb after La Diagonela. It was a bummer, but I guess that I’ve been lucky in the past years and been able to win many races and some big ones, too. You just have to take it with a smile and make the best out of it. I had to miss Marcialonga and pretty much Vasaloppet as well because I wasn’t fully recovered then. And the fight for the yellow bib was nowhere in sight for me last winter. Sometimes bad things just happen, but I’m well now and looking forward to the next season.”

Since Nygaard had to step aside for the most part the season, a new king arose and sat down on the throne, Emil Persson from Lager 157 Ski Team. He was the first Swede to win this prestigious title, and Nygaard has the utmost respect for his rival.

“Emil has shown that his speed and sprinting abilities are the best in the bunch, but what I’m the most impressed about is his development in the capacity side of things. His victory at Marcialonga was amazing. I must admit that I didn’t see it coming, at least not this season. If you win Marcialonga, you can win every race in the calendar. He is the one to beat in the upcoming seasons, but we saw at Toblach-Cortina that even Emil can lose sprint finishes. If you’re tired enough, it doesn’t matter how fast you are. When you’re empty, you’re empty!”

Nygaard thinks that the next season will be very competitive since Emil Persson is now the reigning king, but Oskar Kardin, Nygaard’s teammate, showed stability and got great results throughout the season and there are many more eyeing on the podium.

“Oskar will be fighting for the win and podium in every race as long as he doesn’t get sick or injured. Ermil Vokuev will be strong if he’s not focusing too much on the Olympics, Tord Asle Gjerdalen and the usual suspects are there. However, I think that the new guys in our team are going to be really strong. Johan Hoel was on the podium this season and at Reistadløpet, and in some races he will be the one to beat. Also, Kasper Stadaas and Karstein Johaug show a great potential and they are here to compete hard. Now, with Martin Johnsrud Sundby focusing on long distance skiing, the game is going to change. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s going to crush everyone or if we’re going to able to keep up with him. It will an interesting season for sure!”

Nygaard is happy with the way the Visma Ski Classics brand the Pro Tour have grown. He thinks that long distance skiing is becoming more like pro cycling where teams play a huge role in the overall picture.

“I think a lot of people can relate to cycling, and even if we are an individual sport, the teamwork and tactics are going to be more important in the future. Hopefully now, when the brand is evolving, the prize money will go up as well. I like the product now, and it’s going the right direction. I think it’s important to get female skiers in long distance skiing, but we have to be aware of the fact that it could be challenging for some teams to get these girls because they want to do traditional skiing as long as possible. They may also be concerned about focusing fully on double-poling. We have to make the calendar suitable for all teams so that it doesn’t become too expensive to travel and participate in the races. I think it’s nice to have a little bit of everything in the calendar, short races, longer ones, different courses and so on. We just can’t be like the World Cup with short races and a lot of loops because that’s against the nature of our sport.”

Nygaard is now in full swing when it comes to training, and his methods are quite traditional without any complexity.

“Before the season, I double-pole a lot on roller-skis and do some diagonal striding as well. Of the ten workouts I do, eight are in double-poling and two in classics technique. I don’t skate at all except for fun in the winter. I also like running, but this year I’ve been struggling with it. But I’ve been Nordic walking a lot on uphills. I don’t do so-called Vasalopp-pass sessions because I don’t like mixing easy and hard training sessions. If I’m doing a long workout, my pace is easy. In short sessions, I can have more intensity. I can go for 4-5 hours with an easy pace, but I don’t include intensive segments within the session. On the training camps, we sometimes mix long and intensive workouts. When I do intervals, I try to do them so that they hurt but my body doesn’t get too toxic. I go hard but with control so that I feel I could have gone a little harder and faster if I had needed to.”

In addition to his skiing career, Nygaard is studying to be a doctor. He is in his fourth year, and there is still a couple of years left for him before graduation. His girlfriend is studying to become a nurse, and according to Nygaard, they complement each other really well.

“We are both into helping people, I guess,” Nygaard says with a laugh.

In the podcast episode, you can also learn what type of music Nygaard likes, what series he likes to watch, what guilty pleasures he has and find out when he starts “snake-dancing”. The episode can be heard on all podcast platforms and on our site.