From the Russians guys like Maltsev and Spitsov who'll only race 1 or 2 races at the Olympics are the only ones who should race the whole Tour.
Yes, I think those two will be good candidates to do the whole tour, at the same time though, the format doesn't suit either of them too well, particularly Spitsov. Two distance skate races, both of them mass starts, a skate sprint in Lenzerheide, classic sprint in Oberstdorf, classic individual start in Lenzerheide and a classic mass start in Val Di Fiemme. This is the sort of format that suits skiers that can sprint and do distance, like Bolshunov, Klaebo and Ustiugov. Spitsov has had some good success in sprints, particularly at the TDS, and Maltsev has made finals in sprints, but perhaps one less sprint and one more skate distance race or skiathlon would have suited them a bit more. That's the issue I have with FIS these days, 90% of the weekends, the races are sprints and 15km's (10 for the women), that's extremely repetitive and monotonous. They only have two skiathlon races on the WC this season, and one of them was scraped because of snow. The other one will be at the Pre-Worlds in Planica next month. But how many top racers will actually be there? That's the last WC before the Olympics, less than two weeks before the first races in China. I don't you'll see too many contenders there. Maybe the Norwegians will not send anyone at all to Slovenija.
What I am very surprised is the poor form that the top Russian women have showed today. Stepanova had another very good race today, if not great. Everyone else was below or far below what I expected, given their abilities and the way they skied yesterday and in the Lilehammer relay. Sorina started well, but maybe too fast and dropped out of the top 10 by the finish. Nepryaeva also skied within the top 10 for the first half, then finished 17th. Racing at altitude is not her strength, but I expected a top ten for sure, given her form improvement since Ruka. Stupak was never in contention, finished 33rd, 1:30 out of first. That's quite a loss for someone that skis very well at altitude and that's had podiums in skate distance races before, including a second in Davos last year. I read that she and Sorina had COVID during the Summer, plus Sorina had a shoulder injury after a rollerski crash in September, but it still doesn't explain the poor performances today. Stupak actually trained in Davos, prior to the first world cups to get some more altitude training in. I wonder if they did a bit too much of that this pre-season. Qualified in 9th and finished in 11th yesterday. Today, well below that. Very strange what's happening from one race to another. The next period of WC racing, up until the French WC's in mid January will say a lot, IMO. If they are still struggling, either with consistency, where they are top 10 one race, and outside the top 20 or even 30 in another, then I am afraid they've messed up their training for this season. Stepanova is very talented, but there's no way Stupak should be 50 seconds behind her in any distance race, certainly not now, when Stepanova is just beginning her world cup career.
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