Slind won the toughest race on the Ski Classics schedule.
“It was a dream race. I felt fresh, and it is fun to be a skier when it is like that,’ said Astrid Øyre Slind (NOR) after winning the 50km Ski Classics race Reistadløpet in Norway on Saturday.
While Slind won the Ski Classics season opener prologue/time trial and has been on the podium in almost all of the races this season, the Reistadløpet victory was her first win since Ylläs-Levi a year ago.
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Season not over
Slind not only won the 50-kilometer race that is considered the toughest race on the Ski Classics schedule, she also took over the lead in the overall climbing competition. With 171 points, she has a seven-point lead to Norgren in seconds place with one race to go.
“Britta Johansson Norgren will still be so tough to beat for the climb competition, but I want that bib,” she says.
Slind is also second in the Nordic Trophy, only five points behind Britta Johansson Norgren. The cup within the Ski Classics series consists of the four Scandinavian races Vasaloppet, Birkebeinerrennet, Reistadløpet and Ylläs-Levi, which means that if Slind beats Norgren in Finland next weekend, she will win the 2019 Ski Classics Nordic Trophy. Norgren and Slind have a 90-point margin down to third place.
Finally, Slind is currently third in the sprint competition, but has a shot at moving up to second place next weekend.
Accordingly, the victory on Saturday was a welcome start to the April double-header that wraps up the Ski Classics season. The Ylläs-Levi takes place on Saturday, April 13, and is the final race in the 2019 Ski Classics.
While the Ski Classics season is soon over, and the World Cup wrapped up in March, there is still a lot more skiing to come.
Read more: Madshusland spring skiing