Viktor Mäenpää is an experienced Ski Classics skier, but last season didn’t go as he had hoped. After the season, the skier decided to take a complete rest period. Over the summer, he changed his training to introduce new stimuli. He admitted that his body was tired during the winter, and his results didn’t meet expectations.

“The start of the season was quite good, but after Marcialonga, my body was in very poor condition. I don’t know what happened—maybe I was just too tired and had too many competitions. My fitness just didn’t hold up for the whole season. La Venosta was a decent race, but I fell on the first day, and the second day went quite well. At La Diagonela, I had a good feeling beforehand, but on race day, the performance wasn’t strong enough. Was it the altitude? Maybe the cold weather also played a role? Now I’ve been building a stronger fitness base through increased training volume so I can endure the whole season,” Viktor Mäenpää said in an interview with Maastohiihto.com.

A Season of Change: Training Adjustments and New Goals

To build his fitness base, the skier has increased his annual training volume by 100 hours, from 850. In addition to basic endurance training, he has added more threshold training. His training has mostly consisted of roller skiing, but running and strength training have also been part of his program.

“There are so many races in Ski Classics, and there are a lot of racing kilometers during the year, so it’s hard to train during the winter. All my threshold training consists of intervals—I don’t do continuous long threshold sessions. One example is 6 x 10-minute intervals with 1–2 minutes of rest,” Viktor explained his training and continued to analyze his strengths and weaknesses.

“My strength is uphill skiing, and I’m not too bad at it. I’m still better at skiing 10 km distances than entire long races, so my goal for next winter is to improve that aspect. When I increase my cruising speed, my performance will improve. At the same time, it will also bring more speed to flat sections.”

Thinking about Ski Classics races, Team Mäenpää’s athlete admitted that Marcialonga is one of the best Pro Tour races.

Viktor Mäenpää Ski Classics Insights: Challenges and Aspirations

“Marcialonga is my favorite race, and the course should suit me. It’s a tough competition because so much can happen. The race also depends heavily on the skis because conditions change during the race. It’s hard to find suitable skis for this race. It’s a competition where I want to show what I can do”, he explains.

One of Viktor’s main goals is to perform well at Marcialonga and stay with the lead group on the final climb.

“Placings aren’t the most important thing for me. It’s about the feeling of finishing with the top skiers—the feeling of being part of the action at the highest level. However, for next season, I want to break into the top 20. The level behind the leaders has increased so much in the Pro Tour, and the speed has risen tremendously. The pace is now so intense that if you fall off, you don’t stand a chance. It might look easy on TV, but it’s not.”

Also Read: Team Mäenpää – Pro Team presentation Season XVI

For Viktor Mäenpää, Marcialonga suits him well, and he wants to succeed in the race.

Ski Classics has already reached Season XVI, and development occurs every year. According to Viktor, the gap between small and large teams has also grown, making fair competition challenging.

“There are many good things about Ski Classics, but the problem is that the big teams have become even stronger, and the smaller teams can no longer keep up. When we first joined Ski Classics, all the teams were relatively equal, but now the gap is quite large. The big teams have so much money that they can hire ski testers, wax technicians, and support staff, which of course increases the gap between teams. For smaller teams, it’s hard to compete anymore.”

Viktor also pointed out that ski testing is much more challenging in long-distance skiing than in the World Cup because the distances are long and conditions can change during the race. Nowadays, teams can no longer manage with just one wax technician and tester, which naturally raises team budgets.

For this reason, Team Mäenpää collaborated with the now-defunct Team Kaski Ekovilla last winter, as Finland doesn’t have the same resources as neighboring countries’ teams. The lack of resources is also because Finland doesn’t have enough successful skiers in the sport to attract sponsors and media visibility.

“It’s hard to find Finnish long-distance skiers—athletes who want to commit to this discipline and focus on double-poling. In Finland, the Finnish Cup is such a big deal that skiers want to focus on it, but the situation is completely different in Norway and Sweden. I started skiing relatively late and I am not very good at diagonal striding. I first tried Vasaloppet and realized it was easier to ski without grip wax and focus solely on double-poling,” Viktor explained Finland’s situation in long-distance skiing.

The Future of Finnish Skiing and Inspiring Young Talents

At the end of the interview, Viktor reflected on how young talents could spark an interest in Ski Classics and mass-start skiing.

“Young people should join camps and see what this sport is about. It can bring variety to training and break the monotony that often plagues skiers—always training at the same pace and with the same group. Long-distance skiing training can bring new motivation. I’m not saying it’s the only or the best way to train, but it can provide fresh energy when you see how hard it’s possible to train.”

Speaking of young people, Viktor was also asked what fatherhood means to him now that he has become a father.

“Fatherhood feels good right now, but let’s see where this journey takes us!”

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