Tour de Ski Preview
Tomorrow (Dec. 28th) marks the first stage of the 2021-22 Tour de Ski! I’m taking a bit of a step back from my normal style of blogging in order to provide a guide/preview of what my next couple of weeks will look like as I race in the Tour.
First, here is a quick summary of my last week:
Prior to my arriving in Lenzerheide on Sunday (site of Tour stages 1-2) I spent just over a week in Davos, Switzerland. My coach/friend Leo Hipp and I had an amazing time preparing for the Tour on the trails in Davos. We could pretty much ski right from our AirBnB and the focus for the week was to relax and acclimate to the new time zone and altitude. My training pretty much consisted of only super easy skiing and running. I did one speed session and one interval session. I am trying to come into the Tour as well rested as possible. The first few stages might feel like a big shock to the system but I am hoping this strategy allows me to maintain good energy into the later stages.
Beautiful conditions for our first ski in Davos.
12/28 Stage 1: Skate Sprint, Lenzerheide
First stage of the tour! The body could respond in all sorts of different ways after all the easy training but hopefully can try to get into the top 30 and race in the heats! It is a pretty hilly course and I am excited.
12/29 Stage 2: Classic 15K Interval Start, Lenzerheide
Really excited for this one. Distance racing on the World Cup is no joke, but I am looking forward to the opportunity to measure up against the world’s best. Body should be feeling a bit better after the sprint race shook off some rust.
12/31 Stage 3: Skate 15K Mass Start, Obertsdorf
Mass start racing on the World Cup will be really interesting. I am nervously excited to see what it’s like. Hopefully can stay out of trouble and ski with some really good skiers.
1/1 Stage 4: Classic Sprint, Obertsdorf
I love classic sprinting and Obertsdorf is also an incredibly cool course. It was the site of the 2021 World Championship races last Winter. It’ll be really cool to do this race and I am hoping to compete for a top 30 spot so I can race in the heats.
1/3 Stage 5: Classic 15K Mass Start, Val de Fiemme
I’ve never been to Val de Fiemme but I think Italy is a pretty beautiful country. I am sure I will be very tired by this point in the Tour but I am sure everyone else will be too. This is another great opportunity for me to ski with some really good skiers and try to get a good result in a discipline where I feel really confident.
1/4 Stage 6: Skate 10K Hill Climb, Val de Fiemme
By this point I will probably be running on fumes. It’ll be a crazy experience to rally for one last race up the huge alpine climb called “Alpe Cermis”. This is historically one of the hardest races of the year and I have been watching it on TV since I was a kid.
Definitely a shorter blog than I normally have been writing but I have been super focused in my preparation for these races! Thank you to all that have supported me and gotten me to this point. Regardless of how this Tour goes, I am proud to be part of a team (Team Birkie) that made it possible for me to get here.
