A year and a half ago, the Swedish cross-country skier Edvin Anger entered the competition season in his first winter as a senior without having raced a single World Cup race. It turned into a successful winter where he lined up finals in the World Cup sprints. But the first podium finish would have to wait. Instead, it came in the now concluded season, during the Tour de Ski in Davos, when Edvin Anger was “one boot” behind the winning Frenchman Lucas Chanavat.

Also Read: Lucas Chanavat wins the sprint race at Tour de Ski Stage 4

Just over a month later, in Canmore, Canada, Anger secured another World Cup podium, finishing third in the sprint final:

“The two podiums I achieved mean a lot; standing on the World Cup podium is something I could only dream of when watching the World Cup skiers on TV. And I was the only male skier to secure two podiums in the World Cup this winter. But overall, I am not satisfied with the season. It’s clear that you always want more, but it felt like there was too much going wrong in the sprints for me to be satisfied. I didn’t quite have the surplus needed to really fight. But I have a good foundation to build on, and in the coming winters, I will be able to increase my training a bit more and compete a bit less,” says Anger to Langd.se.

“Together with my coach “Analysis-Ljung” (Lars Ljung), and the team at the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK), we have analyzed a lot and looked at what exercises I need to incorporate strength-wise to achieve the skiing I want in classic style. It’s not about major changes, but I need to adjust some strength elements to ‘use the right muscles’ and thus can ski more relaxed and efficiently. In other words, to ski faster without expending more energy,” says Anger, who is making several significant changes.

One such change is that he, along with his girlfriend Emma, is moving to Östersund:

“Home and Hedemora will always be there. But it feels good to get something of our own together with my girlfriend. I hope it will give a boost to spread our wings and fly to Östersund,” says Anger with a laugh.

He will also be competing in a new ski brand this winter. He is leaving Madshus, which he has “always skied on,” and will be switching to Rossignol. Currently, the work is underway to select the skis that will be part of his ski fleet for the winter:

“I usually have 40-50 pairs when I enter a season. Now, my fleet might not be maxed out at the start of the season. This will be built up before and during the season. The goal is for everything to be in place for the World Championships. It’s not about how many pairs you have but having some really, really good pairs.”

How extensive is the work to test a new ski fleet?

“It’s a lot of work, absolutely. And for me, it might mean an extra trip to the ski tunnel in Torsby. But I have wax technicians in the A-team who do a fantastic job for me. They have been in Sognefjell testing intensively to find a base, starting with skate skis,” concludes Anger.

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