“I have a super competitive personality”: Cross-country skier Antoine Cyr has big goals for 2024-25 and beyond
Antoine Cyr had a breakthrough season in 2023-24. The 26-year from Gatineau, Quebec raced to 10th place in the overall FIS Cross-Country World Cup standings, in part due to his versatility across distances and the two techniques of classic and free, also known as skate skiing. The highlight was a fourth-place finish in a classic sprint event in Drammen, Norway in March, as he came within half a second of what could have been his first career World Cup podium.
At Beijing 2022, Cyr finished fifth in the men’s team sprint alongside teammate Graham Ritchie–Canada’s best ever Olympic result in the event in classic technique. But given last season’s results, Cyr thinks there can be more in store for Milano Cortina 2026.
Olympic.ca reached Cyr towards the end of an altitude camp in Colorado where, despite a heavy training load and thin air, he took the time to fill us in on his preparation and goals for the upcoming season.
Can you take us back to the beginning and tell me a bit about how you got into cross-country skiing?
I’m super lucky because I grew up in the Ottawa Valley. I grew up on the Quebec side, in Gatineau, and we are super fortunate to have Gatineau Park, which is an unreal place to learn to cross country ski–it was 400 metres from my door!
My dad moved from Montreal to Gatineau for cross-country skiing, because he liked the lifestyle. And then my mom was born and raised in Gatineau. So they both were cross-country skiers. And yeah, we are also lucky, because Gatineau has a huge ski community.
As long as I can remember–I think I was probably like two years old–my parents gave me little skis that you put your boots on. I started skiing from there. It was lots of weekend adventures at the beginning. And then eventually it became a little bit more about racing. I have a super competitive personality. So when I was in middle school and growing up, I always wanted to race and race more. And still to this day, I have a pretty competitive personality!
You had a huge season last year, finishing 10th overall in the FIS World Cup standings. Can you reflect a little bit on that, and then talk a bit about what the goals are for this coming season?
Last year, I was super lucky to be able to race on the World Cup circuit every weekend, from start to finish. I think I barely missed any races because of sickness or other injury, so I was really happy with that.
I’m also lucky enough to be good at both sprinting and distance skiing. That feeds my competitive personality as well, since I can race in almost every World Cup weekend.
Last year was a big year for me. I was on the World Cup circuit and I felt like I deserved my spot there. I had good results two previous seasons, but I didn’t feel like I knew everything about World Cup racing–I still have so much to learn. But I felt like last year was a giant step in the right direction. I feel way more comfortable on the World Cup circuit now.
It was a huge team effort to finish the season in 10th in the overall. All the staff from the Canadian team came together, making sure I was getting the support I needed last season to perform.
Going into the next two seasons now it’s going to be a little bit less focus on racing as much as possible, and more of a focus on quality. In 2025 we have the world championships in Trondheim–that’s a big, big goal for me. They’re around the same date as the Olympics as well. So for the training program, we can do a practice run. And then, I know Cortina is going to be marked on my calendar, that’s for sure.
I have a lot of good memories from Beijing and I had an incredible Olympic journey. I think the way I got there was what I really was the most proud about. But I think I can make Milano Cortina so much better with all the experience I have now.
Is there anything in particular that you’ve been working on, from a training perspective, heading into the season?
After Beijing 2022 we realized that one spot we were definitely lacking in was altitude training. A lot of the other teams do it, and we felt like that’s where we missed a little bit for Beijing, especially since it was pretty high up there–I think it was about 1600 metres.
After the Olympics, we went back to the drawing board, and we created this plan to run three altitude camps a year. We tried it, and it showed good results, so now I’ve been really sticking to all those altitude camps.
It is a lot of work, and it’s really hard. You get so tired when you come back home after banging some 30 hour weeks on your training plan at altitude! But I think it’s all worth it. And the reality is that most of the other European teams are doing it as well. So it’s trying to go head to head with those guys as well.
For Milano Cortina, we’re going to be racing in Val di Fiemme, which is not super high, it’s about 1200 metres. I’ve raced there a bunch before. But, I think we’re going to be really well prepared for that, and better prepared than what we were for Beijing.
You were talking a bit before about your versatility with sprint and distance racing. Do you have a preference?
Honestly…I like them all! But for sure, I’m a better classic skier, and I’m normally a little better in distance. Last season, I felt like I was really consistent in distance. I had consistent results, good ones, and I was feeling good. And then I got a really, really good result in sprinting towards the end of the season [the aforementioned fourth place finish in Drammen]. So it was a good surprise. [That result] was also right after 50k too. So, I like them all, but for sure, classic a little more than skate.
Wow. 50 kilometres is so long. What’s the fueling strategy for a 50km race?
I think [fueling] has really gotten more attention in the past two, three years. The guidelines are you’re trying to hit in between 60-120 grams of carbs per hour. I try to go in between, I do 80 grams through a sports drink and gels. The hard part in skiing is the access to the feed– it’s so different than cycling.
We sit down the night before and plan what we’re going to receive at what point on the track. Normally we can have three staff on one lap, so you can get a gel, sports drink, water. Towards the end of the race, I like [to have] a Coke–that’s always a bonus.
Slightly different question, did you watch much of the Paris Olympics? And if so, did you have any favorite moments as a Team Canada fan?
I got to watch a lot of Olympics, because I was on a training camp in Utah, and so in between all of the training, we were just watching the Olympics.
I have a couple of favorite moments. The coach we had with us in Utah is a strength coach, and he coaches some of the track and field athletes. One of his athletes–Thomas Fafard–made it to the [5000m] final, and it was super exciting for him to be in the final.
I could tell that [Fafard] maybe didn’t run the race that he wanted to run, and it was one of my favorite moments, because maybe it wasn’t his PB, but I think he had everything to be proud of in that race. And I could put myself in this position.
I know how hard it is to find your A game at the Olympics. The Olympics are so different than whatever you see in the normal season. The food, the transportation, the accommodation, it’s all different. So, I was really impressed by his performance. He didn’t win a medal or anything, but I could put myself in that spot, and I could see how much that race was going to mean to him, after you realize all of the hard work you put in.
And then there were a couple athletes from my area performing. There was Derek [Gee] in cycling. There was also Sophia Jensen, who did the [sprint] canoe. I grew up racing bikes with Lois Betteridge, who’s a [slalom] paddler. So it’s cool to see all of them perform.
And it’s funny too, because most of them used to do cross country skiing!
Rapid Fire with Antoine Cyr:
Favourite place to train?
Silver Star, B.C.
Any pre-race rituals?
No, I’m pretty good. Though I am a little obsessed with my racing gloves. My race gloves and training gloves have to be really different.
If you weren’t a cross-country skiing Olympian, what sport would you do?
I would have loved to be a pro cyclist.
What’s your best skiing memory?
Having soup and grilled cheese in one of the Gatineau Park cabins with friends and family.
