The Norwegian team was far from reaching their goal of a podium finish in last weekend’s 30 kilometer double pursuit race in Kuusamo, Finland. The best Norwegian was Kristen Skjeldal in 11th place and he isn’t even on the National team.
The result of this is that only Tore Rud Hofstad from the A-Team (24th last weekend) is racing the upcoming 30 kilometer skate mass-start in Toblach, Italy this weekend. The rest of the team members are prioritizing training or are simply not good enough to race, and other skiers will get a chance instead.
Neither Anders Aukland, Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset, Frode Estil, Jens Arne Svartedal, Tore Bjonviken nor Espen Harald Bjerke will be at the starting line this weekend. Norway is instead showing up with a team without much international routine – especially for this event. They’ll have to rely on a good performance from Tore Rud Hofstad, Kristen Skjeldal or Olympic Sprint Champion Tor Arne Hetland if it’s going to be any top results. Several of the classic specialists are intentionally choosing to skip this race.
Sport Director Bjornar Hakensmoen comments:
“We have to do some prioritizing. We discussed this (tough month) with the skiers and have made a plan that also makes it possible to fit in some training. It’s not made a secret of the fact that some of the skiers are not at a high enough level in skating to have been selected either. You are not an automatic pick by being on the National team. Six of the skiers on the team have classic as their strongest technique. The exception is Ruud Hofstad. We believe at this point that several of the (new) skiers we have selected are better skaters than the national team members. We have been criticized in the past for not allowing new talent to race in the World Cup. I think they should absolutely get a chance if they have proven results” – says Hakensmoen.