Andy Newell (USA) ©Heinz Ruckemann file photo
Congrats on your 5th place in the Rybinsk 1.2km Skate Sprint this past weekend. How are you feeling about your result and the race?
Andy Newell: Rybinsk is always a fast exciting race. I’ve been in the B final there the past two years in a row so It felt good to make the A final. Any time you make the A final you have one thing on your mind. Podium. So finishing outside of the top three is always a little bit of a disappointment, but it was still a good race.
The course looked like it had a killer hill. How did it play from your perspective – where did you feel good, what were the tough sections and why?
AN: That course does have a killer hill, but it’s also one of the shortest sprints we have on the tour so it’s not a wicked hard course. That hill sure kills your legs though, then there’s a fast downhill into the stadium for the finishing stretch. Basically it does come down to that one hill but there’s also a serious sling-shot from the steep downhill, so the person leading off the top of the hill rarely crosses the finish line first. In that respect, it can be a pretty tactical race so we’re always reviewing video and thinking about that kind of stuff.
In Whistler you seemed to have bad luck and some tangles but in Russia you looked relaxed and confident even skiing over a competitors skis. Is luck something that just changes with each race, or do you get periods where you’re on and off?
AN: At times it can seem like luck isn’t on your side, but the fact is the best sprinters in the world can consistently make it into the finals, and there’s no luck about that. The best sprinters are fast as hell, but also good at skiing in tight packs of people and avoiding situations where they might get tangled up. I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I don’t make the best decisions. Like in Whistler… I had a split second where I could have pulled out of my tuck and scrubbed some speed before the corner, or just go for it and pass on the inside. I get a little crazy sometimes so I decided to try something risky. In the end it was the wrong choice and I ate it. In Russia I wasn’t faced with too many of those tough decisions,… except for when I had to sneak over that guys skis, but that one worked out.
Did the cold have an effect on the race at all? Do you have to adjust your warm-up and cool-down in extreme cold?
AN: It was really cold, but it wasn’t too bad. Not too much wind. When it’s cold like that we have to really make sure we’re warmed up for the qualification, and then time your start well so you’re not standing around too long before you trip the wand. During the heats we were running around with our parkas on, and I was wearing the massive mittens over my race gloves that I would pull off right before the start. It wasn’t too nasty though; I didn’t even have a race cough after.
You’ve been one of the best qualifiers in sprints this season. Do you feel that qualification is easier now and more automatic, or do you still have to focus to make it to the rounds?
AN: I think everyone, even the fast qualifiers, have to focus on making it into the rounds. There’s such a small margin of error between first and 30th, that you can’t really afford an off day. For me, a lot of it is just getting into zone. No matter who you are, qualifications hurt like hell, so when I’m getting ready to go I’m not really thinking about where I’m going to finish, but more about how I can get my body fired up enough so that I don’t puke all over myself after I cross the finish line.
Are you feeling at the top of your game, or still searching for another gear in preparation for Nordic Worlds in Liberec?
AN: I’ve been feeling pretty fit all season, probably better than what my results have shown, but there is definitely another gear to come. I feel like I haven’t proven myself yet this season so I’m hungry to compete and get on the podium. Right now the goal is going to be to try and peak the fitness for Liberec.
What’s next in your racing and preparation?
AN: We arrived in Ramsau Austria last night so our preparation plan is going to consist of training here before we go to Italy for the World Cups just before the world championships. We have about 10 days to get in some good training here in Ramsau and try to touch up the fitness so we can peak for Worlds. I’ve been doing a lot of hard racing, so for me what it means is that it’s time to do some more threshold intervals, hit the gym, and put in a little volume before we taper off the training for Liberec.
What do you have to do to win in Liberec?
AN: It’s hard to say… cross the finish line first..haha. These World Champs are unique because nobody, with an exception of the Czech team, has even seen the race courses because there was no snow there last year. So we have no clue how the sprint course skis. We know it’s skate, and we know it’s probably going to be pretty long. So now more than ever it’s going to be important to be ready for anything during that race, and then throw down a hard finishing stretch. I’m confident we’ll be ready.
What are your thoughts on the first ever 15km mass start for men in Rybinsk? It played out to be a 30-person field sprint. Do you think this could be a good event for you and the other US Sprinters?
AN: I thought it was kind of sweet. It definitely sounds like the some of the world cup athletes like it and some don’t. It for sure looks like that’s the way things are headed, with races like the Tour de Ski where they have a lot of short mass stages as well. It looks fun to me so I’m stoked to give it a try one of these days.
I think it’s cool to have a lot of different styles of races. Individual start, mass start, short, long, I think we should be able to do all of it. In the end the athletes don’t have much say, it’s up to the TV ratings – we’ll just keep showing up on the start line.
What is racing in Russia like? The crowds looked great, but it always seems like there is a pretty big cultural difference there….
AN: One things for sure, they dig XC skiing in Russia. It’s always one of the biggest World Cup crowds we get and that’s with the cold weather. You definitely see a big cultural difference in everything. Nobody speaks English, the way people live is pretty interesting. We walked around town one day and went to a market, they had fish piled up on the dirty sidewalk and everything, families pack into these small apartments, it was crazy. People don’t smile too much, but underneath it all there’s a lot of good people. It’s cool to be able to ski in a country so far away from the US and there are these wild drunk guys on the side on the trail that know your name and cheer for you.
Thanks Andy – good luck in the next few weeks. We’ll look forward to seeing you in Liberec.
AN: Thanks