Heidi Weng (30) felt she was in good shape, but then the Tour de Ski began.
LENZERHEIDE (Nettavisen): She has previously been seen as the biggest Norwegian hope in the tour on the women’s side, but in Lenzerheide things have not gone completely smoothly for Weng.
In the first stage, she was knocked out in the prologue of the sprint, while on Wednesday it was a somewhat disappointing 13th place in the 10-kilometer – 1 minute and 2 seconds behind the Finnish winner Kerttu Niskanen.
– It was not terribly bad, but I did not feel so violently alert. I had to fight from start to finish and quickly noticed that this was a heavy 10-kilometer. It’s a bit boring, Weng says to Nettavisen after Wednesday’s race.
– It was also not something free to get today. It was very heavy lead. I would like to go faster, but the seconds go fast when it’s like that. I felt good for two kilometers, but it does not help.
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Tired
Weng struggles to explain why things have not been one hundred percent so far in the tour.
In the run-up to the Tour de Ski, Weng felt in good shape. Therefore, she is given up when things do not quite turn out as she had hoped.
– I felt refreshed before I came here, but that is typically the case, says Weng.
– I would like to go faster, but today I had more than enough to get from start to finish. I’m glad it’s not getting worse. I felt that it was almost worse than the results show. In that sense, I was at least trying to fight pretty well, says Weng.
The 30-year-old makes no secret of the fact that it is difficult when she feels that it will not be completely okay.
– It’s a little frustrating. I feel like I often clap together on ski runs. There will be a lot of unnecessary forces. I get a little too eager and I get stiff quickly, Weng explains.
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Carefree national team manager
However, national team manager Espen Bjervig is not worried on Weng’s behalf.
– Heidi was not happy with the race and thinks it went hard. It promises really well because then she has more to go on. She thinks I will really rise in the future, says Bjervig to Nettavisen.
– She is so experienced and driven that it does not worry me at all, Bjervig says about Weng’s somewhat disappointing start.
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National team coach Ola Vigen Hattestad also thinks Weng will return stronger.
– I think she probably has a little more inside, Hattestad says to Nettavisen.
That Weng did not have the whole day in Lenzerheide thinks the former Olympic champion is a bit coincidental.
– I’m pretty sure that Heidi can show herself from a completely different side in Oberstdorf. She should have been half a minute better today, but I’m pretty sure we’ll see it a little later in the tour, Hattestad says.
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– Has a plan A and a plan B
While there is a day off in the Tour de Ski on Thursday, the tour for the women continues with a 10-kilometer joint start in Oberstdorf on Friday.
After the first two stages, Weng is in 18th place in the summary – 1 minute and 31 seconds behind Niskanen as leader.
However, Weng says she has little focus on the summary.
– I have not thought very much about the summary this year. I take day by day and look a little. I have not been there that I am already thinking about the «finish». For me, it is important to only get good passes, the 30-year-old explains.
The Norwegian national team runner will start in Oberstdorf, but is currently not one hundred percent sure if she will complete the tour.
– In a way, I have plans A and B. We will see how it goes, Weng says.
National team manager Bjervig still goes a long way in suggesting that Weng will go all six stages.
– Plan A is to complete. As long as things work well, I see no reason to deviate from it. Things can happen with illness, total collapse with form and so on, but she at least has a plane ticket home on 5 January, says Bjervig.
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