Norway has dominated on the ladies side this year, through Therese Johaug in particular, and in the Ski tour it has been completely Norwegian on the podium in all distance races.
- For the international interest, it's not good for the sport. We would love to see more Swedes compete with the Norwegian ladies up there, but of course other nations as well, ”says Fredrik Aukland, expert at Nrk, to SVT Sport.
Ebba Andersson is the rider who has been closest to cracking that dominance - but the last has been missing to take a place on the podium.
Good opportunities to be the best
One reason for the dominance during the tour he thinks may be that Sweden lacks two of its biggest stars, Frida Karlsson and Stina Nilsson. But at the same time, see that Sweden has good opportunities in the future to be the best on the women's side.
- In five years when we are at the World Cup, it may happen that Sweden is the dominant nation on the women's side, he says.
Good recruitment in Norway
For Norway, the future looks bright. There is great interest among the younger ones, which means that they have good opportunities to recruit new future stars.
- The recruitment in Norway is extremely good, if you look at the interest among the younger ones, there are a lot of talents who choose to invest in cross-country skiing, says Aukland.
So what is it then that Sweden can do better?
- In Sweden, you have to see where you can organize better and you have to build long-term, he says.