Earlier in the tour, Frida Karlsson was questioned by Marit Björgen.
The Norwegian legend said that Karlsson has made a tactical mistake in the fight against the American girls Jessica Diggins and Rosie Brennan.
- You see that Frida uses a lot of energy and wants to go first.
She first went for almost three and a half laps and then they got behind as they wanted.
They were never invited to draw.
It was a tactical boom by Frida, she then told Norwegian TV2.
Now she chooses instead to pay tribute to the Swede - and highlights the Swede as a successor to the great dominant Therese Johaug of recent seasons.
"Toiled very much"
- As long as she can stay injury-free and manages to balance on the edge of the knife and be out competing, then she is a hope for the future.
She has the capacity and still has a lot to develop and go on.
It is between 25 and 30 that you develop the strength and technology.
She can definitely be the one who takes over after Johaug, she tells TT.
- It's the same with Ebba (Andersson), they have the future ahead of them.
Motivation problems
In any case, the story belongs to Marit Björgen.
With 8 Olympic golds, 18 World Cup golds and 114 World Cup victories, she is the best cross-country skier of all time.
In 2018, she chose to end her successful skiing career.
- I struggled a lot with motivation and trained very little the last two years, she says.
Charging for the Vasaloppet
After two and a half years as a ski pensioner, she is now on her way to a comeback.
The focus is on the long-distance race cup, including the Vasaloppet in March.
- I try to train once a day.
I have two small children, so it's more demanding that way.
It will be exciting to see if I can get the training done, it's half of the training I did before, so it's on a completely different level.
During the current pandemic, there may be a special first impression of the long run.
- Now it may be in a different way that you do not get to experience the atmosphere and everything that is around it, but I look forward to the challenge of staking for nine miles, it can be brutal.
CLIP: Björgen criticizes Frida Karlsson's tactics (January 4, 2020)
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Björgen criticizes Frida Karlsson's tactics Photo: TV2 Norway / Bildbyrån