Let me say this up front: the anticipation and positive tension grow with every hour. This Sunday it finally gets going for real.

We prepared intensively in Kaabdalis, Sweden. Since last Sunday we’ve been training in rain and fog. That’s rather unusual for the region – normally it’s bitterly cold here. But this year, like everywhere else, it’s warmer. To be honest, my first training runs in Sweden weren’t ideal, but I kept improving. Every session got better, and on Wednesday and Thursday I finally put down some really good runs. The feeling is coming back! This year I’m on a completely new ski with a different turning feel – and now I’ve got it figured out. On Friday we head to Levi, only four and a half hours’ drive away on icy roads. Press conferences and interviews start right away there. The day before the race is a rest day: we inspect the slope and adjust to the weather. The slope depends heavily on the temperature and, of course, on how much water is in it.

Levi is a full-throttle course, and that suits me

I’ve always felt really comfortable in Levi. When conditions were more spring-like, I was always lightning fast – so the weather is on my side. The slope needs full throttle: not only on the flat section at the top, the steep part also needs full speed. The times here are much closer together than on other courses. The top 30 are at most 1.5 seconds apart; elsewhere it can be 2–3 seconds. So it’s all about pure speed! The Norwegian coaches will set the first run and ours the second, so I expect them to be fairly similar. Like our coaches, the Norwegians focus more on radius. That’s certainly no disadvantage.

Aiming for the top

So what do I expect from the first race of the season? I’d be happy with a top-5 finish and very happy with a podium. That’s quite realistic, because compared with last year the whole team has taken a big step forward. It’s handy to have other world-class skiers as teammates in training, because it gives you a kind of benchmark – and that looks pretty good for me.

What do you actually do before and after a race?

I get asked this a lot. After breakfast we go to the training slope for a few easy runs, and at 9 o’clock we inspect the race course. You get 45 minutes for that. After the first run it’s back to the hotel for a short while to lie down and prepare for the second run, which you can inspect for only half an hour. Once the race is over, the interviews start. Ideally you go to the award ceremony, followed by a short press conference and possibly a doping test. We’re back at the hotel around 3 pm. On race day we’re taken straight to the airport, we stay the night there and then fly home – hopefully with lots of World Cup points in our luggage.

So keep your fingers crossed and watch live! You can see how my first race goes on Sunday from 9:45 am on ORF eins.