Joan Verd is back at full strength after 5 weeks of training in New Zealand

The podium in New Zealand is now a thing of the past for Andoren Joan Vertue’s team, but its intensity and quality helped put the skier at his best ahead of the start of the World Cup in Soltan on October 29. Both Verdu and his coach Juan Lago now value five weeks of work.

5 important weeks to prepare for the World Cup

Andorran runner in New Zealand. Photo by FAE

Joan Verd thinks they were “Five Weeks of High Quality Training”: “We had great conditions and we progressed in three different seasons, from least to greatest difficulty. Since I don’t ski much in the summer on the glaciers, we do all the work in New Zealand, so we end up with a block, which I feel more and more comfortable with. Maximum intensity on a long and difficult route.

Staying was even more favorable due to the level of competition the team faced, with teams like Norway from the World Cup: “We had good snow conditions and were able to train with such talented runners and Norwegians and share everyday life with them.This is very important for me and it has allowed us to give time notes, compare things with them and discuss some technical aspects… We have benefited a lot in this sense and we have a very positive assessment of New Zealand”.

PeriodDoing so in the Southern Hemisphere is important for the entire season. “It’s a basic level.” Verdu assures. “In these five weeks we focused on our preseason. We worked a lot, we built all the fundamentals of the work we did before. In five weeks we concentrated everything, we already did it last. The season and I was very comfortable with it, We got a lot out of it and decided to do the same for another year because it was going well for me.“.

There are two more stages before Soltan: Sauce chargeFrom October 7 to 12, and PitstalFrom October 20 to 25, they have very little “Final Details”Verdo says. “Now we do A week of physical preparation here at home and then we go to the sauce fare A week, then to Pitstal, A station near Solden, for final preparations. “That will be the week before the race because the girls compete on Saturday and the boys on Sunday.”

Regarding technical aspects, coach Juan Lago He also assessed his stay in New Zealand: “The evaluation is very positive because we have done a great job, from easy slopes to very difficult slopes, from short to long slopes, and from short stick to long stick, with different types of snow, with a five-week progression, from normal snow without water treatment to snow with very hard and aggressive water. , and the fact is that we were able to do a very thorough job. Jon is very motivated and I think he’s very ready to start the season and I’m very happy.”. “We have also improved physically”A Spanish coach was added who considered the runner “Very well prepared”. In addition to the physical aspect, the trainer has also experienced a nice evolution: “We’ve worked on some outstanding technical issues. We’ve made a lot of progress from last year to this year, which I think is very ready for Solden.”