Petter Northug on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s U.S. trips and form ahead of the Falun World Championships, Digi Mart USA News: Football trips, galas, magazine covers and illness: Petter Northug, 40, believes Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, 30, has “lowered his guard” heading into this year’s World Championship season.
“He is at a breaking point, I think, in terms of how many years you can live in the extreme bubble he has been in. I notice there are U.S.
trips and things like that. That is what I call lowering the guard,” Northug told VG.
The expression comes from boxing and figuratively means becoming less alert and more open to distractions.
Northug knows what he is talking about. He himself lived for years with an extreme focus on being the world’s best cross-country skier.
Now he believes he sees signs that Klæbo is beginning to run out of steam.
Klæbo has won an incredible twelve golds in twelve attempts across the last two championships. After the Olympics in Italy last winter, Klæbo has spent time on more than training.
Klæbo himself has said he knows his competitors have trained five hours a day while he was in the U.S.
Northug explains “having the guard up” as saying no to everything in order to stay fully focused on the sport and the most important races.
“Klæbo goes on U.S. trips, there is the football World Cup, there are things and distractions that take the focus away from being the world’s best cross-country skier.”
At the same time, Northug stresses that Klæbo is still the world’s best and could be for several more years.
But what will be the consequence of Klæbo “lowering his guard”?
“I would be surprised if someone does not beat him over distance now,” Northug said.
He is also skeptical about what Klæbo’s rivals can deliver when it matters most. He believes they make too many mistakes and let nerves take over.
Northug says this happened both at the 2025 Trondheim World Championships and the 2026 Olympics.
“Those who can challenge him also fail, while he is ice-cold and best in championships.”
That is why Northug is unsure whether the rivals will succeed already in Falun.
“And as long as he is allowed to have that confidence in how he builds his form, I do not see right now who can stop him.”
When VG met Klæbo at the national team’s altitude camp in France at the end of October, he rejected the idea that the summer’s many activities had come at the expense of training.
“It is not that I have been lying around for that. I have trained what I could tolerate.”
Klæbo says he feels less tired after the 2026 Olympics than he did after the 2025 World Championships.
He says a large part of his main motivation for taking part in everything he has done this summer is a desire to lift cross-country skiing. Klæbo says his choices have been based on what he finds fun and what can give him something, more than money.
He also rejects the idea that his competitive drive is gone.
“I don’t bother doing anything halfway. If I am going to compete, I am going to do it properly.
If not, I can leave it. Then I can find something else.
Plenty of other fun things to do than this life here.”
Klæbo’s training partner Emil Iversen denies having seen any signs of satiety.
Iversen believes Klæbo’s many trips were deserved after the winter. His expectations for the coming season are high.
“But he is extremely hungry, and that is what is so special about him. He can get grumpy if he has a bad session here, even though he has won 500 ski races in a row.
He has a constant competitive mindset. He is always chasing the next ski race.”
Iversen says Klæbo appears to be in good form, perhaps better than he had expected. His summary is brief:
“My goal is to beat him, that is the dream. But I do not think it will be any easier this year than it was last year.”
