Cross-country skiing: in Russia, the new generation has never raced internationally
For almost four winters now, they have been skiing in a vacuum. Officially excluded from the FIS circuits since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian cross-country skiing team has disappeared from the World Cup rankings… but not from the results sheets. FromAlexander Bolshunov to Natalia Nepryaeva and Veronika Stepanova, a whole generation continues to train, race and win. It’s just that the scenery has changed: no more Ruka, Davos or Falun, but Tyumen, Vershina Tea or Kirovsk, under the banner of a ‘ Russian Cup ‘ that has become the main circuit.
In his homeland, Alexander Bolshunov remains the benchmark. The three-time Olympic champion has put together a series of high-altitude training courses in the Caucasus and a string of victories on the national circuit. At 28, he continues to rack up the kilometres and sessions as if the Tour de Ski were still waiting for him at the end of the winter.
Around him, the “close guard” is intact: Denis Spitsov, Olympic medallist, is still working on the same volume/intensity model that was the strength of Yuri Borodavko ‘s group before the suspension. Sprinter Alexander Terentev, for his part, took advantage of the closed-door period to revive his career: after a complicated international season, he won a string of sprints in the Russian Cup, just to remind everyone that he is still one of the best specialists in the world, even if he is now racing away from the cameras.
On the women’s side, the driving force behind the system remains Natalia Nepryaeva, winner of the 2022 Crystal Globe and the Tour de Ski that same year. The Russian returned to competition at home after her maternity leave and remains the headliner of the in-house circuit: classic distances, skiathlon, relays, she ticks all the boxes and is still the technical and tactical benchmark. Alongside her, Tatiana Sorina is pursuing the same programme: altitude training courses, hard work on the classics and long climbs, and a lot of volume in rollerskiing. The third piece of the jigsaw is Veronika Stepanova, the face and voice of this frustrated generation. Very active in the Russian media and on the networks, the Olympic relay champion has no hesitation in commenting on the political situation in her sport, while piling up podium finishes at the Russian Cup.
Behind this trio, a new wave is emerging: sprinter Ekaterina Smirnova, a regular on the national stages, Anastasiya Faleeva and Alina Pekletsova, often seen at the front of junior and U23 races before 2022. For them, the closure of the international circuit has delayed their entry into the big time: at 20 or 22 years of age, they should have discovered Ruka or Lillehammer; instead they are piling up victories in Tyumen or Vershina Tea.
The final blow came in October when the FIS Council decided not to authorise neutral status for the Russians and Belarus for Milan-Cortina. No qualification, no way back through the back door. The message is clear: the road to the Games remains closed.
In front of the camera, the message remains the same: forced exile should be a springboard, not the end of a career. “ Everyone understands that the Russians will come back and that the relationship with the rest of the world cannot be broken off for good”, Borodavko, the man who still oversees a large part of the male elite, regularly repeats.
From a sporting point of view, the structure remains very similar to the one the FIS was still working with in the 2021-2022 season. The national team is still divided into several training groups, each with its own head coach: the Egor Sorin clan, that of Yuri Borodavko, but also the younger groups inherited from Markus Cramer or Petr Sedov.
As for the calendar, it has become denser. In addition to the Russian Cup and the national championships, the regional federations organise a host of FIS races on the calendar, but which do not lead to the World Cup: 10/15km classics, relays, mass-starts, sprints… A closed mini-circuit which allows the Russians to remain competitive, but which offers them neither a direct confrontation with Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, nor a chronometric benchmark in relation to the rest of the world field.
With no possibility of qualifying for Milan-Cortina, the only common objective remains the major national events, a few high-profile show races and the Russian championships at the end of the season. The youngest riders – Saveliy Korostelev, Alina Pekletsova and their comrades – have never known anything other than this closed circuit. And what is played in Russia, which is highly competitive and highly structured, remains invisible to the rest of the world.
