[ad_1]
For three days, the national team riders (and a few more) will meet for a test competition in Östersund, which has been endowed with such a cohesive sponsor name that I choose to keep that invention with you.
When Sweden jumped out of the World Cup two weekends in a row, of course the only right thing to do is to try to create some kind of substitute at home.
Exactly how much skiers care about the results in Östersund is as individual as it is unclear.
Oh good.
For a highly skilled skier, it is more serious than for others. Charlotte Kalla makes her debut for the season, Charlotte Kalla wants to do a Ski Tour and on Monday the team will embark on the adventure.
But this time the situation is a bit special.
1) Sweden has decided to send a very small staff to the Ski Tour due to the pandemic.
2) At the same time, Sweden currently has the best women’s national team in the world.
So, one thing’s for sure: not everyone who wants to get a ticket for that Swiss-bound chartered plane.
Of course, this can create an extremely unusual situation.
After suffering a period of illness with covid-19, after missing the entire start of the competition season, it is more than likely that Charlotte Kalla has a little left for something like top form.
At the same time, skiers like Ebba Andersson, Linn Svahn, Frida Karlsson, Maja Dahlqvist, Jonna Sundling, Emma Ribom and Moa Lundgren have already been at least in the top 8 in the World Cup.
Add to that Anna Dyvik who, despite a bad back, landed in a perfectly fine 18th place on the mini tour in Ruka.
No, it is not a fact that Charlotte Kalla impresses more than these eight now in Östersund. For completely obvious reasons.
But in that case, it gives the leadership of the national team a rather delicate dilemma.
Leaving Charlotte Kalla, against her will, out of the national team squad would actually be a historic decision.
So should they?
No.
Definitely not.
Although Charlotte Kalla is underperforming in Östersund, obviously I think the 33-year-old should be on the Tour de Ski team. Of course, as long as Kalla herself feels she has something to do there.
The Ski Tour can be a tough competition, but nothing is more important for this national team to ensure that the team is as ready as ever before the World Cup in Oberstdorf.
Charlotte Kalla needs to compete in shape for the WC. But if you also miss the Ski Tour, there really aren’t that many World Cup competitions left to choose from.
And yes, I really want to see Charlotte Kalla in one last (?) WC. Not because of her old credentials, but because I think she can really make a difference there.
It is truly a message of strength for Swedish women’s skiing that not even Charlotte Kalla can feel delivered in a team, to the competition that she herself won as the only Swede.
But with that said: of course Charlotte Kalla will be with this time too.
READ MORE: The message: the stars will isolate themselves during Christmas
READ MORE: Cross-country skiing World Cup: everything you need to know
