The 26-year-old from Norway won the Tour de Ski and the World Cup overall last winter. Now he has a free place in the World Cup until the Tour de Ski, fierce plans for the World Championships on home soil, and a solid dose of self-confidence.

How do you think it will feel to enter competitions now, as the overall winner of the World Cup, with all eyes on you even more: as the one to beat?

“It doesn’t matter to me, but it probably does to the others. There is certainly a difference, and I noticed that well during Blink. I get much more respect in the field now than before, which is basically positive,” says Harald Østberg Amundsen to ProXCskiing.com’s sister site Langrenn.com.

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Østberg Amundsen has never been in better shape. National team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum suggests he can do anything in the World Championships. He crushed his national team colleagues at the test race in October, where he, among other things, beat Simen Hegstad Krüger by almost a minute.

This even though he trained less and lay more on the sofa in the first months of the season than planned. Because after the World Cup final in mid-March, Østberg Amundsen was physically and mentally on the edge.

But they say that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The 26-year-old can be said to be living proof of that.

“Of the tests he has carried out, I can only say that he has not deteriorated physically. It is exactly the opposite. He is better than ever if you look at the physiology,” says national team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum to VG.

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Can do anything in the World Championships

The head coach for the distance men now does not ignore the fact that Østberg Amundsen can go all in at this winter’s World Championships.

“He is capable of going all distances,” says Nossum.

And that is precisely what Østberg Amundsen wants. But that requires him to prioritize wisely towards the championship. Last winter, he went to almost all the World Cup races: 35 out of 37.

“He would not have won (World Championships) gold with that competition system last season. He was already ailing in February,” he says.

The national team coach suggests that the Norwegian star will probably do his best this year until the Tour de Ski but that he must then include periods with fewer competitions in favor of training.”

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No special treatment

However, Amundsen does not expect special treatment when the squad for the World Championships in Trondheim is selected, nor can he expect to be guaranteed a place early in the season.

“It will be damned difficult to join the Norwegian World Championships squad early,” says Østberg Amundsen, and he points out that in this context, it is fresh results from the top level that apply.

As the overall winner of the World Cup this winter, however, he has a small ace up his sleeve: He has a free place for all World Cup races right up to the Tour de Ski.

More arduous training and clearer periodization

Østberg Amundsen has improved his form because he has trained harder, more, and with clearer periodization. The content is otherwise pretty much the same as before.

“Much of the content is the same as last year. The season went so well that I see no reason to change so much. But I’m constantly trying to challenge myself, so I’m training a little more this year than in previous seasons. I notice that I can tolerate more training as I get older and have more experience,” he says to Langrenn.com.

Specifically: How much do you train now, and how does it compare to before?

“It is difficult to compare directly from year to year because several things come into play. Last year, for example, I had a period of illness in July; this year, I didn’t. But this year, it was up to 130 hours in July, which is the largest amount I have trained.”

Not the most hours

Østberg Amundsen suggests that he trains between 860 and 900 hours a year. Few raise their eyebrows at that.

“There are many people who train more than me, and I think there are few skiers in Norway who train too little. We have a tough and good training culture. I try to see how to increase the quality of the training I put in and train better than those I compete against. That is a bit of the key for me,” says Østberg Amundsen, and continues:

“I am constantly looking for more developing sessions, and I have dared to challenge myself without throwing away the whole scheme that has worked before. I have probably been good at finding the balance between increasing the amount gradually, listening to the body, and resting when I feel I need it.”

So, what does it take now to beat Klæbo?

“Heh, heh. The short answer is that I need to get even better.”

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