Check out the video above where Ebba Andersson talks about how the Tour de Ski affects her feelings and goals before the WC in Trondheim.
Andersson was the fifth skier up Alpe Cermis in the last stage of the Tour de Ski. Something which meant that she became a total six and thus the best of the Swedes.
– I really tried to give it a chance and I was far ahead at the bottom of the hill. I’m doing very well, but towards the end, I’m running out of energy, Andersson says.
When the Norwegians in the lead then made a move, Andersson could not respond. In the end, she was 44.4 seconds behind Therese Johaug who won the stage and the overall.
Andersson says this about the tour as a whole:
– It has been a demanding tour. It has been for me and many of my teammates as well. We have really tried to help and support each other to still get up this hill. There were three of us who managed it in the end and the three of us are happy with that.
Andersson had a particularly tough day in the race over 20 km in Toblach where she finished 33rd. A race that she describes as “the big, big fat” during this season’s edition of the Tour de Ski.
– There have been stable efforts in the distance races, with the exception of that 20-kilometer race in Toblach… But that had its explanations and it was really the big, big bummer on this tour for me. I feel that the basic level is approved, but I don’t have that last peak right now, says Andersson.
Other Swedish women on the last stage: Moa Ilar in place 21 and Linn Svahn in place 24. Overall, Ilar was 14th rider and Svahn 18th.