It has been four years since Petter Northug ended his elite venture.
But in Norway, the high-profile 36-year-old showed that he is still top class.
– It’s madness, says Torgeir Björn.
Petter Northug ended a long and successful career after the 2018 season. When the Norwegian was at his best, he was clearly one of the world’s best cross-country skiers, something his track record certainly attests to.
The expert’s surprise
Even though it has been more than four years since Petter Northug ended his career, he is still top class. In Norway earlier this week, he ran over several elite riders, and showed that old is oldest.
The Norwegian took home one of the races in the Blink Cup, and the long-time expert, Torgeir Björn, could not stop being impressed by Petter Northug’s tremendous performance towards the end of the competition.
– It’s madness. Northug gave up long ago. Now he leads and wins the last sprint here. What a man, he says according to VG in the live broadcast.
Northug’s cocky outburst
Petter Northug was, and is, an enormously outspoken figure, but who didn’t stop himself from sending off a bunch of sour passes, not least against Sweden. After the competition showed that he still has the sharpness at the interview microphone.
– They probably just think “here comes God, move, there is no chance here”. It must be tough for them, but it is what it is. The world hasn’t changed that much in recent years, he says.
This is what he himself says about the sprint that surprised Björn:
– Then the five-mile muscles woke up. I saw the “kids” (the other riders) start to slow down, so I could go in and pick up.
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