Cross-country skiing: Flora Dolci tested herself in Beitostølen
Eighth in theindividual skate at the opening Norwegian cross-country ski races in Beitostølen ( Norway) on Sunday, Flora Dolci sent out some positive signals just a few days before the first World Cup races, scheduled for Friday in Ruka, Finland.
Having already performed well the day before in the same classic event, the Frenchwoman was able to rise to the level of the best Norwegians, some of whom were fighting for selections. However, at the dawn of her first bibs on snow, the Haut-Alpine was not yet fully into the swing of things.
“I felt I still needed to make some technical adjustments to the skis. Yesterday [Saturday, editor’s note], it was cool in the classic but it was a bit complicated because it was ‘floury’ and it wasn’t easy to hang on, she tells Nordic Magazine. These are not the easiest conditions to find your ski. We all feel that we’re missing a bit of skiing in our legs to be able to be clean and efficient. This morning [Sunday, editor’s note], it snowed a lot so it was complicated to play between rhythm and power.”
“We were able to see what needs to be changed before the World Cup”Flora Dolci at Nordic Magazine
And despite finishing sixteenth and eighth, the cross-country skier from Villard Saint-Pancrace (Hautes-Alpes) admitted that her assessment of this first weekend of competition was “mixed”. “We know that we still have some time left and we knew that these races were just ‘adjustment’ competitions. We were able to see what we needed to change before the World Cup, she says. Another important thing is that we were warming up on foot, so that’s a bit strange too. It’s not the most obvious thing, but everyone was in the same boat.”
The ambition to perform at the Tour de Ski
While her compatriot Hugo Lapalus admitted in our columns that he was “looking forward to getting back to the World Cup”, Flora Dolci remains cautious about the start of the winter season. “I’m not impatient. I’m going to take things step by step. For me, in Ruka, it will still be a question of fine-tuning, she confides. I’m making my mark on each race at the start of the winter. I really want to be at the top of my game in the Tour de Ski. So I’m leaving myself this period, when I’m obviously not forbidding myself anything, to take on the races one after the other. I take it easy and there’s no pressure. I’m in a period where I’m practising my technique.”
In contact with the solid Scandinavians, the 25-year-old has already been able to draw on the effects of a fruitful summer preparation: “I feel that there are sensations that tell me that things are going well, like breathing for example. I have the impression that the preparation was good and I noticed that I wasn’t under too much pressure. In October, I was a bit tired and that was more complicated. I feel that this fatigue is gradually diminishing and is less present at this stage. But I really believe in our preparation and I’m giving it time to express itself,” she says.
In Finland, Flora Dolci will be keen to shine, particularly in the 20-kilometre skate mass-start scheduled in just over a week’s time: “It’s good to see that things are going well and that there are a lot of things that aren’t too bad, but at the moment, I don’t feel that I’ve got the fire in me yet. But if I get it later in the season, I’ll be fine too,” she concludes with a smile.
Read also
- Beitostølen: Heidi Weng beats Therese Johaug by less than a second in the individual skate, Flora Dolci makes it into the top 10
- Beitostølen: Therese Johaug reigns in her comeback individual classic, Flora Dolci best Blue
