Madshus cross-country skier Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR) has more or less secured her spot on the Norwegian Olympic team with a pair of impressive performances during Tour de Ski.
First, the 23-year-old steps onto the podium with a third place in the skate sprint in Oberhof (GER) on December 29. Then she wins the sprint in Lenzerheide (SUI) on Dec 31 after posting the fastest qualifying time.
“I felt really good and strong the whole day. I am so surprised and happy to win and to be the Tour leader,” Oestberg says after her first ever World Cup podium, which also put her in the overall Tour de Ski lead.
And, as a bonus, on January 1, Oestberg is even finished top 10 in the 10-kilometer classic distance race, which has so far not been her strongest event.
However, Oestberg cuts the Tour early, leaving Switzerland in second place overall after four of the seven events in the 2014 Tour de Ski. Oestberg is only 35 seconds behind leader Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (NOR), but returns to Norway to continue her Olympic peaking plan.
“It was never in the plan to race the entire Tour de Ski,” says Oestberg, who goes home with confidence that she is on track for the Olympics in Sotchi, Russia, in February.