Susanne Nyström (Madshus) won the women’s race in the 2012 Marcialonga, which was a longtime dream of the Swedish Vasaloppet princess. She was literally shining like the Italian sun as she crossed the finish line Sunday.
“I’m just going to enjoy this moment. I have been third here so many times, so it’s a dream come true to win the Marcialonga,” Nyström said as she finished the race.
“It feels really, really good. Marcialonga is the most important race for me after the Vasaloppet.”
Challenging
Nyström explains that it was a challenging course through the valley in the North Italia Alps, even though the conditions were perfect.
“We were two girls who skied mostly by ourselves, and that makes for a tough race. We had to work really hard through the double-pole sections,” Nyström said.
While the top guys skied without grip wax, the all the elite girls opted for kick in the 70-kilometer classic race.
“It would have been even harder without kick,” Nyström said, adding that she really thought her skis were excellent.
“I definitely had good skis,” she said.
Nyström deserved it
Nyström completed the 70-kilometer course in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 20.3 seconds. Xpirit teammate Jenny Hansson (SWE) said Nyström deserved the victory. “I’m so happy for her. We train a lot together and she is definitely in shape,” Hansson said. “She was stronger than me. I’m super happy to be second today.”