“I feel a bit overlooked in this nomination, to be honest,” says Mattis Stenshagen, who became the undisputed king of Vuokatti: after two wins and a third-place finish in the three races in Finland, he leads the Scandinavian Cup by a big margin and was almost certain he had secured a spot in the Norwegian team for Tour de Ski.

Also Read: Norwegian team for Tour de Ski 2023/2024

“I had started to consider the possibility of spending Christmas and New Year’s in Central Europe and was about to book my tickets. But I thought I should call (national team coach) Eirik Myhr Nossum first, just to be sure,” says Mattis Stenshagen to Langrenn.com and continues:

“But then I was told that I wasn’t on the list of selected athletes and got the impression that I wasn’t even the first or second reserve either.”

In addition to his fantastic weekend in Vuokatti, Stenshagen was the best Norwegian in the season premiere in Muonio in November, facing a World Cup-caliber field. He secured two second place finishes out of two possible races. Combined with his status as the leader in the Scandinavian Cup, he feels overlooked.

The explanation from the national team leadership: Stenshagen hasn’t been fast enough compared to the athletes selected for Tour de Ski in the races that the national team management emphasized in the selection for the event.

The article continues below.

Disappointed

27-year-old Mattis Stenshagen from Follebu, Norway, admits that he is disappointed not to be selected for Tour de Ski this year.

The omission feels even more peculiar to him when he sees that Silje Theodorsen from Team Aker Dæhlie has been chosen for the Tour de Ski team. She also left Vuokatti as the leader in the Scandinavian Cup and is rewarded with a spot on the Tour de Ski team. Unlike Stenshagen, Theodorsen hadn’t competed in any ski races this season before the recent Scandinavian Cup.

“I feel a bit overlooked in this selection, to be honest,” says Stenshagen.

At the same time, he is quick to emphasize that the situation in Norwegian men’s and women’s cross-country skiing teams is different. Among the men, there was fierce competition for the spots.

On the women’s side, the Norwegian Ski Association couldn’t fill the entire Norwegian quota of ten athletes because there were only three athletes beyond the basic quota who met the criteria for Tour de Ski selection.

The Norwegian team for this season’s Tour de Ski consists of ten men and nine women.

Article continues below the photo.

Unclear selection criteria

Stenshagen, who competes for the private team Swix, points out that the outlined selection criteria in the Season Information from the Ski Association are not clear-cut. It states that, in addition to the basic quota (which is six athletes for Norway), up to four more athletes can be selected if they meet certain criteria: either top 20 in the sprint World Cup overall rankings or the leader of the Scandinavian Cup.

“It’s not a given that the leader of the Scandinavian Cup gets selected, but in recent years, that has been the practice. So I had taken it somewhat for granted. That was also a significant reason why I chose to go to Vuokatti and gave up a possible spot in the national quota for the World Cup in Trondheim,” says Stenshagen.

“It was a decision I made with both the Tour de Ski and the rest of the season in mind. In Vuokatti, I had the chance to compete in several good races over a weekend, which was more reasonable than putting all my eggs in one basket in Trondheim. There, I would most likely have only raced the 10-kilometer classic on Sunday.”

Listen to more reflections on the selection and omission in the Skisporet podcast.

Aims for the World Championships

Regardless, Stenshagen sees that this year’s Tour de Ski is just nine days in the season. Now he chooses to look ahead.

“I take it with composure. Now, I’m focusing on trying to reproduce the results I delivered in Vuokatti in the next round of the Scandinavian Cup, which takes place in mid-January. If I lead the cup after that, I have good chances to participate in World Cup races in January and February. And the winner of the Scandinavian Cup overall gets a spot in the first period of the World Cup next season. If I dare to believe in it then,” says Stenshagen.

The goal is the World Championships at home in 2025. The results he has achieved so far this season motivate him.

“World Championships 2025 is the really big one. As long as I feel I have a realistic chance of being on the starting line in Trondheim in a little over a year, I have plenty of motivation to get out and train.”

At the same time, he knows that the competition is fierce.

“To make it to the World Championships, I need to show a top-level that is good enough to compete with those who are in the World Cup, and the level in Norway is high. In that regard, the spot one has as the winner of the Scandinavian Cup becomes more and more important.”

Now in its 18^th edition Tour de Ski consists of seven competitions over nine days in three different locations and two countries, and it’s the fifth stage of the 2023/2024 cross-country skiing World Cup.

The event starts on Saturday, December 30, 2023, with a sprint in freestyle technique in Toblach, Italy, and ends on January 7, 2024, with a 10km Final Climb in freestyle technique in Val di Fiemme, Italy. See below the complete program for Tour de Ski 2023/2024.

FACTS Tour de Ski Season 2023/2024

• When: Saturday, December 30, 2023, to Sunday, January 7, 2024 
• Who: Elite national skiers – women and men
• Where: Toblach/ITA, Davos/SUI, and Val di Fiemme/ITA
• What: FIS Tour de Ski

PROGRAM

Saturday, December 30, 2023 – Toblach/ITA: Sprint Freestyle (More details can be found here)

• 12:00 CET: Sprint Quali F, Men
• 12:00 CET: Sprint Quali F, Women
• 14:30 CET: Sprint Final F, Men
• 14:30 CET: Sprint Final F, Women

Sunday, December 31, 2023 – Toblach/ITA: 10km Interval Start Classics (More details can be found here)

• 12:15 CET: 10km Interval Start C, Women
• 15:00 CET: 10km Interval Start C, Men

Monday, January 1, 2024 – Toblach/ITA: 25km Pursuit Freestyle (More details can be found here)

• 10:00 CET: 25km Pursuit F, Men
• 12:30 CET: 25km Pursuit F, Women

Wednesday, January 3, 2024 – Davos/SUI: Sprint Freestyle (More details can be found here)

• 14:30 CET: Sprint Quali F, Men
• 14:30 CET: Sprint Quali F, Women
• 17:00 CET: Sprint Final F, Men
• 17:00 CET: Sprint Final F, Women

Thursday, January 4, 2024 – Davos/SUI: Pursuit Classic (More details can be found here)

• 10:45 CET: Pursuit C, Women
• 13:00 CET: Pursuit C, Men

Saturday, January 6, 2024 – Val Di Fiemme/ITA: 15km Mass Start Classic (More details can be found here)

• 11:30 CET: 15km Mass Start C, Women
• 15:25 CET: 15km Mass Start C, Men

Sunday, January 7, 2024 – Val Di Fiemme/ITA: 10km Mass Start Freestyle – Final Climb (More details can be found here)

• 14:30 CET: 10km Mass Start F, Men
• 15:45 CET: 10km Mass Start F, Women

Read More: World Cup calendar for the 2023/2024 Winter Season