Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[jsem94]

Well, Northug isn't in any decent shape as of yet. But it was great seeing him lose a finale for once.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Felt sad for the germans after this defeat, but it was funny to see that Norways b-team could beat the french a-team today in the relay. Fourcade just gave up after he realised he lacked the ski speed to close the gap to Bergman/Boe

 

[Nastyy]

Felt sad for the germans after this defeat, but it was funny to see that Norways b-team could beat the french a-team today in the relay. Fourcade just gave up after he realised he lacked the ski speed to close the gap to Bergman/Boe

The whole French team had poor skis today and that's why they were so far off the pace. Funny though how Martin's shooting is always worse in the relays than in the individual races. Seems to shoot a bit faster and probably that is what makes him miss.

Annecy seems to be a nice place to hold these events. Scenery is stunning, decent crowd and the fact that the track is on a very small area makes for a nice race. The track could be a little bit harder so some gaps could be made easier.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

The whole French team had poor skis today and that's why they were so far off the pace. Funny though how Martin's shooting is always worse in the relays than in the individual races. Seems to shoot a bit faster and probably that is what makes him miss.

Annecy seems to be a nice place to hold these events. Scenery is stunning, decent crowd and the fact that the track is on a very small area makes for a nice race. The track could be a little bit harder so some gaps could be made easier.

So you're blaming the equipment.. Seems there's always a technical explanation for Fourcade not performing

 

[Bavarianrider]

So the only real cross country skiing race of the season takes place tomorrow. And when do they shedule it? Freakin 9 o clock in the morning, oh boy

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The whole French team had poor skis today and that's why they were so far off the pace. Funny though how Martin's shooting is always worse in the relays than in the individual races. Seems to shoot a bit faster and probably that is what makes him miss.

Annecy seems to be a nice place to hold these events. Scenery is stunning, decent crowd and the fact that the track is on a very small area makes for a nice race. The track could be a little bit harder so some gaps could be made easier.

I don't really like the course tbh. It's Le-Grand-Bornand actually, though it's getting marketed as Annecy, a bit like Brezno-Osrblie I guess. The stadium section is very compact, which makes it look cramped, and the wide open end of the uphill section is very bland-looking, but it looks like a great venue to watch the race from in person.

Synnøve Solemdal said the course wasn't as easy as people were saying, because it is very fast, there's little real respite. Erik Lesser said the range was quite easy to shoot in, as the run-in to it is very flat and the range is sheltered.

The finish over a road obviously limits them for space, which explains the cramped stadium area, and will obviously restrict what they can do with regards to toughening up the run-in to the range. Maybe they can make that final uphill about 250m out a bit steeper or longer and try to copy Antholz's formula, with a fairly easy skiing course but a very tough run-in to the range?

 

[roundabout]

So the only real cross country skiing race of the season takes place tomorrow. And when do they shedule it? Freakin 9 o clock in the morning, oh boy

I think it's pretty reasonable as no FIS event apart from the GS first run is on at the same time.

Could they have switched times with the women? Have to check the schedule, but I trust FIS to give the 30 as much exposure as possible in a weekend full of skiing events

 

[Bavarianrider]

No it colides with the men's giant slalom.
Not even eurosport shows it. It's hidden on Eurosport 2. Really bad time managment by Fis. Or maybe that's exactly what they wanted. So that afterwards they can say TV ratings were bad and they can blame the individual start.

 

[python]

russia beating norway at their home, joy to my heart.

can't wait for sochi!

congrats, but hold your joy till sochi...

it appears a norge frode estil prepped vyleg's skis against his compatriots.
http://www.t-a.no/sport/article8775777.ece#.UquoOic2tH3

if you watched the race you'd notice that vyleg was gliding downhill better than anyone, THAT plus his tactically smart attack a kilo before the finish, was the substance of the russian victory.

as to a davos 30k sktating itt today, i give it MORE THAN 50% legkoff will win.

the basis for a prediction is his skating 6 days ago in a team relay dropping almost every one and the fact that davos is located high in the alps exactly where lego was training most of the summer.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Incredibly fast conditions. 30 km in 1:05

 

[Bavarianrider]

Again the density is crazy.
You would have seen those kinds of gaps in a 15km race 15 years ago.
Northug trashed

 

[jsem94]

Slightly surprised by Manificat's win. Didn't see it coming. Sundby was the pre-race favorite for me, but he couldn't manage the pace the last 5km.

Northug's performance was pretty unsurprising to me. Come Olympics though, he's going to bring his A game. Probably at least.

This was great, exciting and entertaining. ITT Cycling producers, take note on biathlon and cross country individual races to figure out how to properly produce ITT races.

 

[jens_attacks]

quite the thriller, sundby started (too) fast
good race

 

[Nastyy]

Unsurprisingly my man Maurice takes the win on the one race that I can't see! But really happy that he won and now he seems to be to his best and fulfilling his potential. Always had great promise and after his first WC win I thought he'd reach the top guys but that didn't quite happen until now! Already great performances in Kuusamo and now this, hopefully his form lasts all the way to the Olympics. Such a shame the 15k is in classic and the 50k is mass start and he has no sprint whatsoever so the chances for a medal are very slim. Maybe in the combination race he can put in a decent classic leg and fight for the win there. On a second thought, the course in Sochi is quite hard so maybe in the 50k some strong skaters can make the race selective.

Russians quite weak today, which came as a surprise to me atleast. Norwegians strong as a team again, they're a gonna have a hard time picking their guys for the Olympics.

Need more races like these though, much much better than the mass starts.

 

[Bavarianrider]

By the the way where the hell was Hellner?

 

[Bavarianrider]

Slightly surprised by Manificat's win. Didn't see it coming. Sundby was the pre-race favorite for me, but he couldn't manage the pace the last 5km.

Northug's performance was pretty unsurprising to me. Come Olympics though, he's going to bring his A game. Probably at least.

This was great, exciting and entertaining. ITT Cycling producers, take note on biathlon and cross country individual races to figure out how to properly produce ITT races.

Northug would be smart if he focused on sprint and team sprint in Sotchi.
No way he'll win a medal in the 15km, 30km and 50km. Not with that ultra long climb before the finish.

 

[jsem94]

By the the way where the hell was Hellner?

He caught a cold.

 

[Nastyy]

Does anyone else think it's really stupid that women's equivalent to men's 30k is only 15k? Men's distance is double what the normal is, but the women's is only 5k longer. Should be 20k in my opinion.

 

[roundabout]

Fair point about the distance.

Strange how 15 gets 90 minutes of live coverage while the GS 2nd run is delayed.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Women's distances are a joke anyway. Generally al of their races are awfully short.

The Davos track really isn't selective. Even the women's gaps are not as big as usually.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Thank God, Allah, Jehovah, and all nine million deities of Shinto for Johannes Thingnes Bø.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Thank God, Allah, Jehovah, and all nine million deities of Shinto for Johannes Thingnes Bø.

haha. Its sooo funny, that Fourcade might miss the podium

 

[Bavarianrider]

Holy ****

 

[Bubban]

haha. Its sooo funny, that Fourcade might miss the podium

The rules are crystal clear he should be DQ for that.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Fourcade just held on, but it's notable that the other French are struggling to hold on to the top 20 (only Bœuf has made it, the others outside), and no French woman made the top 20 (Brunet only just qualified for the pursuit!!!). Home pressure seems to be hitting them, perhaps as they're not used to it.