May 30, 2013 – The month of May is traditionally the time when cross-country skiers return to work. The season is always long and after the end of World Cup racing in March, there are still many races to compete in and the resting time is no longer than a few weeks in April. Here is a short overview of what the teams have been up to.

Justyna Kowalczyk in Spain

The overall World Cup winner from the last season and four-time FIS Tour de Ski champion, Justyna Kowalczyk, and her coach Alexander Wierietielny went for the first training camp of the season to Spain on May 15. “We decided that the first training camp in Sierra Nevada at the beginning of the training period will suit me better,” Kowalczyk explained on her website www.justyna-kowalczyk.pl. Kowalczyk’s training road map for the spring/summer 2013 covers Spain, Austria, Poland, Estonia and New Zealand.

Swiss Squad in Mallorca

Swiss Team trains in Spain. © Swiss Ski

The triple FIS Tour de Ski and FIS Cross-Country World Cup champion, Dario Cologna, rested two weeks in Mexico. After the well-deserved break, the Swiss ace joined the first training camp of the Swiss team, which took place in Mallorca in May. As last year, Dario Cologna and Co. carried out two training sessions per day under the Spanish sun. The team went for long road bike rides, conducted strength training sessions and logged their first kilometers on roller skis.

The spring and summer 2013 will be very busy for the Swiss athletes. After performance tests carried out last week in Magglingen, the team will travel to Stelvio and Seefeld in June. July features a week in Engadin, and at the end of the month, Dario Cologna and Co. will train in Norway and a month later in Oberhof.

Swedes in Mallorca and Riksgränsen

May 18th put an end to the holidays of Swedish Cross-Country skiers. As last year, the ladies’ squad kicked off their pre-season training in Riksgränsen. Ida Ingemarsdotter, Charlotte Kalla and Emma Wikén travelled to the North of Sweden to train on snow and test equipment. “We had a good camp in Riksgränsen last year and the girls prefer a skiing camp to be able to test a lot of material,” Sweden’s head coach Rikard Grip revealed.

Unlike the ladies, the Swedish men decided to start the training year in the southern latitudes. Marcus Hellner and Co. went to Puerto Alcudia in Mallorca for the first training camp of the off-season the goal of which was to get ready for hard workouts that would come later in the year.

Norway Starts in Lillehammer

As last year, Team Norway gathered for the first time in the training season in Lillehammer. Together with other disciplines, Norway’s Cross-Country skiers held training sessions on snow up in Sjusjoen. The first pure Cross-Country skiers’ training camp is scheduled on 2nd – 9th June at Sognefjell. From June 20 until July 8, the team will carry out the first high altitude camp in Seiser Alm and Livigno. After a short summer break the team will meet again before Toppidretsvekka in Aune. At the end of August, they will go again to high altitude, as three weeks in Seiser Alm and Livigno are on the program.

Russians Back on Snow

The Russian Cross-Country teams have also commenced with preparation for the next season, which will be one of the most important ones for them. Men’s distance team kicked off the training period in Sognefjell, Norway as women’s team left for Ramsau in Austria.

The second Russian team around Alexander Legkov and Ilia Chernousov is training these days in Magglingen, Switzerland. The team plans to go to Oberhof in June and in July is going to train in Willingen and take part in the competitions on July 20 and 21. After the training block in Davos, Legkov, Chernousov and Co. will head down under to Australia.