At the end of 2018, a 22-year-old Andorran Irineu Esteve Altimiras ended up in the headlines of Norwegian and Swedish tabloids. The reason was the country’s star skiers by Petter Northug and Calle Halfvarsson raillery.
Northug lost to the then unknown Altimiras in the Norwegian Cup race in Gålå, which did not go unnoticed by Halfvarsson.
Halfvarsson acknowledged that the Norwegian skiing king should focus on the championship in Andorra next. Northug was again sure that defeat would make him a laughingstock in the fjord country.
Northug ended his career soon after the Gålå Games, but Halfvarsson has since been able to prove that the Andorran skiing ace is better than him many times. And the Swede is not the only one.
At the World Championships in Planica in January, Altimiras made Andorran skiing history by placing seventh in the free 15 km. Among other things, all Finns were left behind. Before the free race, the Andorran had won the combined race Iivo Niskanen.
– This gentleman, Urheilu’s expert and former top skier, is quite a circuit machine Ville Nousiainen admired.
– Our team knew its potential, but the results of the World Cup were a surprise to us as well. They showed that you should never give up, Esteve Altimiras now tells Urheilu.
A marginal species in a country the size of Kouvola
Esteve Altimiras has toured international competitions for years, but for many Nordics he is still an unknown figure.
That in itself is not a miracle. Andorra, a mountainous country with 80,000 inhabitants, has a population the size of Kouvola. In a country whose most popular sports are alpine skiing and soccer, cross-country skiing is the passion of a small circle.
Altimiras also enjoyed alpine skiing in his childhood. He became interested in cross-country skiing as a teenager thanks to his parents who were into the sport.
– Freestyle skiing really fascinated me. I wanted to become the best in it, and we are still on that path, Altimiras says.
Compared to colleagues from major skiing countries, the Andorran is a clear underdog. Andorra’s national team has three skiers this season. Altimiras is the only one of them who travels around the World Cup.
When the national teams of Norway, Sweden and Finland park their impressive maintenance trucks in the competition area, Andorra’s team of a few people, like other Lilliputian teams, does business in a modest little barracks.
– In the competition area, you can see the framework of the Nordic teams, the trucks, the number of staff… At first, we were a bit shocked. Today it doesn’t startle anymore.
– We have learned that with passion and professionalism you can challenge even big countries. The World Cup was an example of that.
Criticized genius
Andorra’s rugged mountain landscapes offered Altimiras the conditions to build a strong foundation of endurance. The freestyle skiing specialist is most comfortable in hilly terrain and technically demanding descents. In them, his aggressive, even headstrong skiing style has been honed.
The style has not always been to the liking of the competitors. Norway from the world championships Sjur Röthe and Sweden William Poromaa have given fiery feedback to their Andorran colleague after the Games.
Frustrated at the Tour de Ski in January Markus Vuorela said For Iltalehtithat the competition license should be taken from Altimiras in joint starts.
Altimiras takes criticism humbly.
– At the beginning of my career, I toured a lot of European Cup competitions, which are much crazier. In them, the skiers are aggressive and attack even a small gap. It took me a while to understand that the World Cup doesn’t work the same way. There, skiers respect each other’s positions and space.
That has also had an effect on the fact that Altimiras has practiced a lot alone. The legality of skiing in a group has remained in the dark. He admits that there is room for improvement in his tactical eye for the game.
– I haven’t done anything malicious, on the contrary. I simply have more to learn here. I am sorry if I have offended any competitor.
A new team in the background
Esteve Altimiras has made big changes for the season that has started.
After Planica’s World Cup successes, he wanted to think about his future. Altimiras even considered switching to biathlon, but decided to stay in his main sport after a short trial period.
– Not everyone accepted my pause for reflection. When I returned to my coaching group, I noticed that the atmosphere was no longer the same. I felt that it was better to look for new stimuli elsewhere, Altimiras says.
The skier joined the private Norwegian team Team Aker Dählie in the summer. In the same team are, among others, the long-time visitor of the Great Britain’s prestigious race Andrew Musgrave and last season’s World Cup bronze medalist Astrid Öyre Slind.
– I did some training on my own in the summer before I signed a contract with the team. Without it, it would have been difficult to compete at the international level, says Altimiras.
– The stable helps me with everything: coaching, maintenance, organizing training sessions. The change has been good, and I hope it will show during the season on the track as well.
The opening of the current season was not the best possible from Esteve Altimiras. On Ruka’s normal journeys, he just about fit into the top 40.
In the future, the skier’s goal is to secure a place in the top ten of the World Cup and succeed in the prestigious Tour de Ski tour. One of the inspirations of Altimiras is the king of traditional skiing Iivo Niskanen.
– His style with traditional is incredible. He’s one of those people I look at and know what I need to do better.