So far, Sjur Røthe hasn’t managed to convince the national team coaches that he should have one of the eight coveted spots on the Norwegian team to the 2022 Olympics. 

Now, the 34-year-old is starting to feel like he’s running out of time to peak. Tour the Ski is the absolutely last chance to qualify for the 2022 Olympics, and Røthe is hardly the only one aiming to snag one of the last two spots on the team. 

“I am racing Tour de Ski goal in order to land a ticket to the Olympics. That is my overall goal for Tour de Ski. But six of the eight spots on the Norwegian Olympic team are already gone. So, if I want to go to China, I need to race really fast here,” Røthe says. 

“Good results from Tour de Ski are important. To race well feels good, and it gives me confidence,” he continues. 

Tour de Ski 2021/22 starts in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 28 and ends in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on January 4. Here are all the Tour de Ski details and the day-by-day schedule

Who Will Win Tour de Ski? Check out our extensive analysis of this year’s Tour de Ski lineup.

Motivating and stressful
Røthe admits that he is both motivated and stressed out by the upcoming Olympics.

“It’s a mixed bag. Some days, I get really fired up when I’m thinking about the Olympics. I pay more attention to all the important details, and I want to fight even harder. Other days, the pressure to make the team makes me super nervous,” he says. 

Røthe explains that when he gets too caught up in the team selection, he tends to perform worse. 

“During the World Cup in Lillehammer the first weekend in December, I was a little too nervous. I focused too much on qualifying for the Olympics, and I didn’t manage to get the results I wanted. But in Davos the weekend after, I managed to let my shoulders down and things went a lot better,” says Røthe, hoping to have more of that in Tour de Ski. 

“I have to focus on the things I can control. And I have to focus on one race at a time.”

Tour de Ski day 2 will be crucial
The second day in Lenzerheide is the Tour de Ski stage that Røthe has the highests hopes for: 15 kilometer classic is one of Røthe’s favorite events. 

“The course in Lenzerheide is very fair. It has technical turns and descents, fast flats that require a lot of double-poling strength, as well as long, grinding uphills for striding,” Røthe says. 

15 kilometer classic is also on the schedule for the 2022 Olympics.