It doesn’t make sense for Bolshunov to now go for the overall World Cup, even the distance cup which he is leading at the moment. It’s going to be hard to get to that top level in a months time, with or without races. I do think that more training and less races between now and February 6 is what he needs. Racing more would just stall his improvement in form.
Now it seems even more important for Ustiugov to stay in good form and healthy, because they need both of them racing in that relay if they want to beat the Norwegians. And they also need everyone to be better than Oberstdorf last season, otherwise they won’t be winning. It’s great news that Spitsov is coming into form. He had one of his best ever classic races yesterday, maybe his best, and today he was predictably good on the climb. Yakimushkin should get a Mira medal today. He was at the back of the pack after he couldn’t avoid De Fabiani. He finished 14th, catching up a ton of places and I saw he jump skated a couple times middle of the climb. He actually improved from 7th to 6th overall. He may have challenged for the stage today. Perhaps even the overall podium.
The Norwegian distance team didn’t have a great tour, Golberg in Lenzerheide and Røthe today were the only non Klæbo distance podiums for them. The Russians should take note of that and think that perhaps trying to go hard from the start in the relay is the best option.