Is Storlien-Meråker in classic or skate? Only that gradually descending profile reminds me of Vasa.
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The only location that has proven capable of organizing the WC at a suitably high level in Russia is Rybinsk which had it's problems with snow this winter.
They are all in Obersdorf for a two-week training camp, preparing for next year's World Championships. The decision is a bit strange indeed though, and Bögl for example also said, that he would have liked to do the Ski Tour instead.
the first sprint is tough though with the climb in the end. Based on the date form the test event in December, the climbing alone should be a ~2 minute effort, ~300m at >15%.
Johaug may actually win that one, I guess. Even Holund said, he would see a chance for himself to fight for the win.
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So it seems like Ustiugov had ammunition only for Tour de Ski, and then that's it?
Italians are well-placed to compete for medals in the pursuit, I think. I don't really see Dunklee and Charvatova staying up there, who had a perfect day, while most big contenders missed 2-3 targets, or more.
Wierer said that she had rather low expectations because they got home after midnight after celebrating the medal. Still, Silver for South Tyrol + Plodn in the first race.
Italians are well-placed to compete for medals in the pursuit, I think. I don't really see Dunklee and Charvatova staying up there, who had a perfect day, while most big contenders missed 2-3 targets, or more.
Definitely disagree with this. Tyumen has held the European Championships biathlon and World Cup, as has Khanty-Mansiysk for several years of course, Kavgolovo just outside St Petersburg is a high level facility, and there's the Olympic trails from Sochi as well. Krasnoyarsk held the Universiade last season. Ostrov has held the IBU Cup, and the trails at Chaykovskyy are fine too. OK, so IBU Cup venues don't have the same requirements as the World Cup, but in terms of space in the stands etc. there aren't really the same requirements as more people head out on the trails in XC than stay in the stands because there isn't the need to be near the range to understand the race. Even if it's only World Cup/IBU top standard venues that you'd accept, bearing in mind biathlon stadia like Oberhof and Östersund, and shared facilities like Otepää, Holmenkollen and Canmore appear on the World Cup calendar, I can't see why Tyumen or Khanty wouldn't be suitable venues.
I mean, it's a moot point as I think one of the punishments for the Russians in 2014 is having the World Cup taken off of their doorstep for the foreseeable future, but I do see places like Almaty, Raubichi, Otepää and Shchuchinsk being considered for the World Cup in this period to take advantage of their proximity to Russia in attracting their fans.
You can disagree all you want, but Rybinsk is the only XC WC venue in Russia that had positive feedback for organization.
And the list of WC Level homologated venues is here
https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/cross-co...ioncategory=&gendercode=&homologationtype=SEL
Of the venues you mentioned Kavgolovo, Krasnoyarsk, Ostrov and Khanty is not on the list and Sochi has only 1 loop homologated and I think it's NC only.
But let's dig even further.
The minimum lap length for an interval start of 10km and longer is 5km according to the rules so Chaykovskiy is also out so actual alternatives to Rybinsk for an interval start race in Russia are only Syktyvkar and Tyumen with only Tyumen having previous WC level event hosting experience.
So ok, let's amend my post as Tyumen would be the only other suitable location for an event.
Quite a surprising afternoon, Loginov reaching his peak shape in perfect time while Johannes Boe set off too fast and suffered in the second half of the race. Fillon Maillet very strong as I predicted
In the Ski Tour, surprised to see Bolshunov losing and not even being on the podium although its understandable considering that he is in a great shape for one and a half month. He can still win the Tour but its going to be hard because he will be very attacked by the Norwegians.
Norwegians really strong (even Krogh!), apart from Klaebo that still managed to lose 1min to Bolshunov.
Disappointing races by Niskanen and Ustiugov.
In the Ski Tour, surprised to see Bolshunov losing and not even being on the podium although its understandable considering that he is in a great shape for one and a half month. He can still win the Tour but its going to be hard because he will be very attacked by the Norwegians.
Norwegians really strong (even Krogh!), apart from Klaebo that still managed to lose 1min to Bolshunov.
Disappointing races by Niskanen and Ustiugov.
But Tyumen and Khanty-Mansiysk have both had pretty positive feedback for organization in the biathlon. I can't speak for the ski jumping venues, however, which don't seem very well attended. I don't know how well they would fare for XC, it must be said, as both venues/regions are locked in a bit of a battle of pride in Russian biathlon, which would take precedence in much the same way as the Tour de Ski in Oberhof met with some problems because the organisers clearly cared far more for the biathlon which came to town a couple of weeks later.
Just because something isn't homologated at present doesn't mean it couldn't be homologated with the minimum of fuss, however - some have all the facilities in place but have not seen fit to apply for FIS events therefore do not need to be homologated with the FIS, for example Krasnoyarsk as the Universiade is dealt with by FISU rather than FIS. Štrbské Pleso, which hosted the 2015 Universiade, is similarly absent, while there are temporary courses even outside of the city sprint courses that require more work to get active than would be required for an established biathlon venue to meet FIS criteria. Dresden, Drammen and Quebec City are temporary city centre sprints, and Asiago is just a golf course that they put some trails around to have a sprint course, for example. They might need a minimum 5km circuit to do an interval start, but they don't have 5km circuits at any of those sprint-only courses - plus some others which have hosted the World Cup recently do not appear on the homologated list if they are temporary venues no longer bidding for the World Cup - for example Gatineau and Stockholm, neither of which appear on the list.
You or I might prefer venues where they can do a good long interval start event, but given the way the World Cup is going, nothing would be stopping them from agreeing homologation standards on Khanty, Chaykovsky or Krasnoyarsk or even somewhere like Ufa, and holding one of their generic weekends with a sprint and a 15/10 mass start using a 3,33 / 3,75 circuit. The longest circuit used in biathlon is 4km, but large numbers of biathlon venues have a whole network of trails above and beyond those used in the World Cup biathlon - hence places like Oberhof, Ruhpolding, Pokljuka and Östersund appearing on the list. Ustiugov is from Khanty Okrug, so that might be the most reasonable to expect if there was the intention to go to Russia other than Rybinsk.
Besides, I'm sure that if there was a reasonable possibility of having the World Cup and the will was there, the Russians could make the necessary improvements to many of these venues with the minimum of fuss.
Definitely not your average sprint sprint
https://tour2020.overbliq.com/content-service/v1/file/Åre sprint
Although at 666 meters length I think the sprinters are not without a chance
should be interesting, especially in the later rounds. They also need to walk back to the start, so there won't be much time to regenerate
In tours sprinters are usually less competitive anyway due to fatigue, so the hill climb sprint could be a distance skiers show.
Bolshunov vs. 7 Norwegians, with a gaggle of chasing Russians. Who's doing all the work? Bolshunov, of course. Greatly entertaining, but tactically completely boneheaded.
Wierer finally gets the pursuit WC title she's been after for years. In Anterselva.
Most likely the pinnacle of her career.
Most likely the pinnacle of her career.
Women's pursuit was much more 'conventional' than sprint with big names moving to the front. For the host nation the championship can be considered already a success with gold and silver.
An impressive victory for Jacquelin as well. It looks like JT.Bö isn't as imperious as he can be at his peak. And although he would never admit it, I think becoming a father this year has hindered his preparation.
In Ski Tour it looks like Norwegians have clearly targeted this event as they are all on the money in terms of form. Apart from Kläbo, who I wouldn't be surprised if he abandoned the tour, although I think he is interested in sprints in order to win the sprint cup. Bolshunov has his hands full to win this Tour, and it seems him and Andersson in women are the only non-Norwegians, who could end up in top 3.
The only limiting factor for the amount of Norwegians up there is how many skiers can they field. Let's see in Holmenkollen 50 km whether they could get the entire national group into world cup points. That would be an achievement.
An impressive victory for Jacquelin as well. It looks like JT.Bö isn't as imperious as he can be at his peak. And although he would never admit it, I think becoming a father this year has hindered his preparation.
In Ski Tour it looks like Norwegians have clearly targeted this event as they are all on the money in terms of form. Apart from Kläbo, who I wouldn't be surprised if he abandoned the tour, although I think he is interested in sprints in order to win the sprint cup. Bolshunov has his hands full to win this Tour, and it seems him and Andersson in women are the only non-Norwegians, who could end up in top 3.
The only limiting factor for the amount of Norwegians up there is how many skiers can they field. Let's see in Holmenkollen 50 km whether they could get the entire national group into world cup points. That would be an achievement.
he got permission from the FIS to travel to Trondheim tomorrow for an "emergency check up for his broken finger" (he needed to, as the rules only permit transportation by train) - let's see if he returns at all.
Golberg must be in the shape of his life, not only has he been doing great in the sprints but also in the distance races (even in skating). I still think he will crack in the 38k skating mass-start but he is a contender.
Bolshunov was clearly better today and in theory he is still the favorite although I expect Roethe, Kruger, Sundby and Holund to attack him in the mass-start (Rothe is the probably the biggest threat for the overall).
In the women's the boredom continues now that Nepreayva's shape got worse Andersson is the only one capable of giving a fight.
In the biathlon, Wierer almost sentenced the World Cup with today's win while Jacquelin was just brilliant, benefiting from Boe's prone mistakes to be fresher in the end and win.
Bolshunov was clearly better today and in theory he is still the favorite although I expect Roethe, Kruger, Sundby and Holund to attack him in the mass-start (Rothe is the probably the biggest threat for the overall).
In the women's the boredom continues now that Nepreayva's shape got worse Andersson is the only one capable of giving a fight.
In the biathlon, Wierer almost sentenced the World Cup with today's win while Jacquelin was just brilliant, benefiting from Boe's prone mistakes to be fresher in the end and win.
In biathlon WCH coming up next are the individuals and single mixed relay, which often create the biggest surprises, so let's see, what could happen this time.
Wierer has got a bit of a breathing space in the overall world up, but it has to be said that none of her chasers (Eckhoff, Öberg, Herrmann, Röiseland) will have to drop scores, so Wierer has to keep up the intensity if she is to win it.
In men's overall I think it seems Fourcade can win it on consistent performance as long as Fillon Maillet and JT.Bö struggle to win consistently. Though JTB has the benefit of not dropping scores any more.
Wierer has got a bit of a breathing space in the overall world up, but it has to be said that none of her chasers (Eckhoff, Öberg, Herrmann, Röiseland) will have to drop scores, so Wierer has to keep up the intensity if she is to win it.
In men's overall I think it seems Fourcade can win it on consistent performance as long as Fillon Maillet and JT.Bö struggle to win consistently. Though JTB has the benefit of not dropping scores any more.
I think a lot will depend on the weather in the classic pursuit irrespective of what happens in 38 km. If it is snowfall, it will effectively ruin the race. Today in women's race the gaps basically didn't change at all throughout the field although you had the imperious Johaug at the front. If the men's pursuit is in snowfall, someone like Golberg can easily just glide into the lead group and outsprint everyone at the finish.
I personally think pursuits should be in freestyle instead of classic, because unfortunately classic racing is more vulnerable to weather and especially snowing. It's literally useless to be first on the road. So the way FIS is setting up the double-headers (interval start followed by a pursuit), the styles should be the other way around.
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Yea, sadly this has come a bit too soon in Karlsson's comeback for her to have the form for it.
On Wierer, though - while she has a 60 point lead in the World Cup outright, once the two worst scores are removed (so in the terms that the Cup is decided on) she only leads Eckhoff by about 20 points, and Öberg is within 50 with Herrmann just outside that cutoff. I think Doro should probably win this - Tiril's form can't last forever and she has so many years of inconsistency that you'd expect her to have a couple more washout races, Hanna isn't quite at the stage of turning her consistent strong performances into regular victories and podiums, so she's more like Vittozzi was last year, and Herrmann is the same as Tiril but without having had the run of victories earlier in the season.
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