Roller Skiing: World Champion hopes for World Cup title

The final stages of the FIS Roller Skiing World Cup will be held in Val di Fiemme (Trentino) next weekend.

On Saturday 14th September, there will be the first stage of the Fiemme Roller Skiing Cup in Ziano di Fiemme: a Mass Start of 10/15 km for junior & senior athletes in free technique. The categories junior women, junior men and senior women will compete on the 10 km track, while the category senior men will cover 15 km. The showdown will take place on Sunday 15th September with a 13 km CT pursuit for the categories junior women, junior men and senior women and a 15 km CT pursuit for the category senior men. The World Cup champions will be crowned on Alpe Cermis after facing the legendary Final Climb.

The fight for the title is very tight and uncertain. One of the protagonists will be Victor Gustafsson who was born and raised in Mora in Sweden – where the legendary ski-marathon Vasaloppet ends – and where he returned only after a long journey: "I moved first to Gävle for study, then to Falun to have better conditions for training, and finally to Östersund where I completed my Master in business administration”.

Gustafsson returned to his hometown after winning the gold medal in the 20 km FT mass start in the FIS Roller Skiing World Championships in Madona, Latvia, ahead of the Italian Matteo Tanel.

Now, however, given the situation of the overall standings – the Swede leads together with the Norwegian Andresen – it is also important to consider the World Cup, the Mini Rollerski Tour and the Fiemme Rollerski Cup: "The best moment of the World Cup is when we compete in Italy. The landscape is spectacular and gives me energy. Last year I really enjoyed the final stage in Val di Fiemme, with a flat first part and a tough climb in the final part. The stage in Ziano is great and fast with sharp turns, which usually makes the competitions exciting”. The battle is open for the title: "I hope to win – continues Gustafsson – but unfortunately recently I had serious family problems that made me lose strength, distracting me from training, so I do not know if I’m in good shape, I still hope to give my all and win”.

The Italian Matteo Tanel is just behind the two Scandinavians and has the chance to win the title: "Matteo is a good friend of mine; this year he had a really good season – concludes Gustafsson, – he’s fighting in the leading positions and I think he will be the hardest opponent on roller skis for the World Cup. I know he's strong on the climbs and the program of Val di Fiemme fits him well".