Very entertaining race for both the men and women today in Val di Fiemme! Great to see Stadlober breaking through and earning her first ever World Cup podium! This was the first podium for an Austrian female xc skier since Maria Theurl in 1999!!! We'll see more of Teresa I am certain of that! Weng effectively won the tour today. Even if Oestberg has the race of her life tomorrow, she won't beat weng on such an uphill. Weng can have a below average climbing day and still cope with Oestberg. Oestberg was tired, but I think her skis were not as good as Weng's. She was already slipping in the first lap. It reminded me of the final stage in the 2016 tour of Canada where Weng started with a 30 second gap on Johaug and her skis wee AWFUl. She lost all of that very early on. It wasn't that dreadful for Ingvild today, but her skis were noticeably slicker than Weng's.
Diggins skied well to stay in contention for the overall podium tomorrow, but I don't thin she'll beat Parmakoski. We'll see what Stadlober can do. She should do well on the climb as well.
The young, U23 Russian women Nepryaeva and Sedova are continuing their good season and they are slowly moving on up. With those two, plus Belorukova, who already has a individual podium, a team sprint win (from Toblach last year) and a World's silver from team sprint in Lahti, the Russians have three exceptional talents on their women's squad. Not sure who they'll put as the fourth skier for the relay, they have options, but regardless, they'll be a dark horse for a medal at the Olympics and if they continue to improve and not get overtrained, they'll be challenging for the podiums victories for years to come.
What a pace in the men's race, from the very first meter to the last. Wow. This mass start classic race in Val di Fiemme, whether it's 15km or 20km always delivers. Wonderful race from Poltoranin. I haven't seen skis this great since Alsgaard's in the 30km in 2003 World's on those same trails. Perfect kick and perfect glide. Add to that a man in shape with great technique and he becomes almost unbeatable. He won't stay on the podium, but I don't think that was ever in the cards for him. He always gets at least one podium in the TDS when he races and now he'll look to the Olympic 50km classic, maybe even the classic sprint, if his form is good. I can't see him being outside the top 5 in a distance classic race and the Olympic 50km could be special for him.
Cologna, not a lot to say about him apart from the usual rock solid skiing and smarts that he shows. Never phased nor troubled. Congratulations on his 4th TDS title. Unless he decides not to start, he's wrapped another one in the bag. Not sure where he'll race after tomorrow. Definitely not in Dresden and maybe not even in Planica in two weeks time. Seefeld for the pre-world's is probably where he'll race next. I also think a lot of contenders that raced the TDS will take the next two weeks off from racing. They'd be smart to. Certainly not racing next weekend. I expect him to walk away with at least one medal from Korea.
Harvey also did well. He's the only Canadian on tour, and I read he's got 7 (?!?) coaches/wax techs at the tour...So his job has been quite easy this week. Didn't have the best glide on his skis today, which may have lost him the race, plus as they were cresting the final uphill and heading towards the stadium, Poltoranin nipped inside of him and just passed him to get behind Cologna's slipstream. Cologna didn't have the best descent but the other three guys did a nice job of drafting and shot past him in the finish. Nothing strange about that.
Larkov has always been in the shadows of his more established teammates, but today he finally broke through for his first individual podium. Hats off to him! Skied a controlled race. Didn't really bother with the bonus sprints and worked his way towards his front where he just latched on by the last lap or so. Well deserved podium.
Sundby, anemic again. He should get on the podium tomorrow, simply through his frame and efficiency.
Ustiugov was brave to go for the two bonus sprints, but, perhaps predictably, paid the price for it and lost more than he gained I think. That's a pity, but even with a perfect race, he would have a tough time against Cologna tomorrow. Now he has to deal with Harvey, Sundby and perhaps Bolshunov for 2nd and 3rd place. Didn't look that tired either during the race nor at the finish. Not saying he didn't give it his all, but if he didn't give it his all, it's a strange maneuver to go for it at both bonus sprints and then lose 40 seconds...That said, Poltoranin was smart. He kept the pace high after the last sprint. You don't always see that. Harvey did the same after the first sprint.
Bolshunov, another top 5 result from him. For basically two months now, since early November, he's been racing almost every week and doing very well. Sits 2nd in the overall WC and with an outside shot at the overall TDS podium tomorrow. It's his first tour, he's barely 21, he is not built for that climb and he already has so much racing in his legs. Not sure he'll have the legs to get on the podium, but his form is there. I just hope the coaches are smart with him and Chervotkin (he too had another solid race today, finishing 12th) and they give them enough rest after the tour. Right now they are locks for that relay team, alongside probably Larkov and definitely Ustiugov as an anchor.
The Norwegian men were not that impressive today. Toenseth tried to hang with the leaders but lost a bit in the last couple km's. Holund and Sundby in the top ten in the overall and both will be looking to move up. Holund does have a shot at the podium tomorrow, based on his climb last year and the general solid form he has in distance races, but i don't think guys like Havey, Sundby and Ustiugov or even Bolshunov will just drop dead. That said, it is the end of the tour, it is the final climb and the conditions could be nasty and slow, which will favor guys like Holund.
Rickardsson had a good race and so did Svensson. Probably Svensson's best distance race at the WC this year, maybe ever. Hellner lost more time today. A top 10 is what he'll aim tomorrow. Manificat is even further back. Not a good tour for him, apart from posting the fastest time of day in the Lenzerheide pursuit. Of course he could have the best time tomorrow and be content with his tour, especially if he moves up significantly.
As a side note, the number of women's finishers tomorrow could be the lowest ever at a TDS, if it isn't already. Pretty sad actually.
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