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Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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Apart from all the contenders being Norwegians, I think the race itself was kind of fun with Holund and Kreuger putting on a show halfways. The moment when Kläbo list contact downhill is also something you rarely sees. Then Tönseth managed to gain on them after the bunch changed skis and for a time it seemed it would all comeback together before Kläbo blow up in the steep climb.
 
Apart from all the contenders being Norwegians, I think the race itself was kind of fun with Holund and Kreuger putting on a show halfways. The moment when Kläbo list contact downhill is also something you rarely sees. Then Tönseth managed to gain on them after the bunch changed skis and for a time it seemed it would all comeback together before Kläbo blow up in the steep climb.
Still, if Lorenzo Romano finishes 15th, sprinting for 13th the overall level is pretty low...
His best world cup result is 27th in Toblach and he doesn't even win italian fis races. Guys like Dapra, Barp and Graz are all clearly better than him.
 
This isn’t a ‘world’ cup, this is an absolute joke, but predicting anything else would have been wrong, given the competition.

Andersson and Karlsson have pulled out. This means an easy win for Diggins. Libertine, if I were you, I would not watch tomorrow’s race.
They were already going on about her a few times during today's race, lol. I don't know about an easy victory as she's had her ups and downs in 30ks and seems to be best in the middle distance, but certainly with no Andersson and Karlsson she has to be a favourite especially as it's skate which will count against the Finns and Hennig. She did get silver in Beijing, which is the last major 30k free I believe, and some of the distance specialists who are good at skate like Stadlober are on pretty bad form lately. People like Claudel might be of interest alongside some of the distance specialists, it's probably too soon for the likes of Laukli and Eiduka who also like distance skate. Plus for possibly the first time ever, the Americans actually did some sensible workload management with her at Planica so she should be better rested than most of the non-Norwegian field. Any news on Heidi, she'd be an intriguing wildcard because she is proven over longer distances and fresh, but the circumstances of her withdrawal from Planica would make suggest that she's not likely to contend.
 
They were already going on about her a few times during today's race, lol. I don't know about an easy victory as she's had her ups and downs in 30ks and seems to be best in the middle distance, but certainly with no Andersson and Karlsson she has to be a favourite especially as it's skate which will count against the Finns and Hennig. She did get silver in Beijing, which is the last major 30k free I believe, and some of the distance specialists who are good at skate like Stadlober are on pretty bad form lately. People like Claudel might be of interest alongside some of the distance specialists, it's probably too soon for the likes of Laukli and Eiduka who also like distance skate. Plus for possibly the first time ever, the Americans actually did some sensible workload management with her at Planica so she should be better rested than most of the non-Norwegian field. Any news on Heidi, she'd be an intriguing wildcard because she is proven over longer distances and fresh, but the circumstances of her withdrawal from Planica would make suggest that she's not likely to contend.
ThebFinns and Hennig aren't even racing. You'll have to hope for the Norwegians, Claudel, Franchi and Stadlober.

Kinda ironic how everyone seems to boycott the big race in Norway.
 
They were already going on about her a few times during today's race, lol. I don't know about an easy victory as she's had her ups and downs in 30ks and seems to be best in the middle distance, but certainly with no Andersson and Karlsson she has to be a favourite especially as it's skate which will count against the Finns and Hennig. She did get silver in Beijing, which is the last major 30k free I believe, and some of the distance specialists who are good at skate like Stadlober are on pretty bad form lately. People like Claudel might be of interest alongside some of the distance specialists, it's probably too soon for the likes of Laukli and Eiduka who also like distance skate. Plus for possibly the first time ever, the Americans actually did some sensible workload management with her at Planica so she should be better rested than most of the non-Norwegian field. Any news on Heidi, she'd be an intriguing wildcard because she is proven over longer distances and fresh, but the circumstances of her withdrawal from Planica would make suggest that she's not likely to contend.

Well, it’s a 50, not a 30. Laukli is not in Europe, she’s racing at the NCAA’s.

And another scratch, Østberg drops out.

Given the already small women’s field, today’s news may mean less than 30 racers.
 
In the biathlon then, Soerum who is probably the 9th or 10th Norwegian option just beat everyone else on his relay leg.

I'm pretty amazed their level of dominance doesn't extend to the women's really considering what they do on the men's side.
Yeah, this was almost their B team and still won.

They do have arguably the 2 best female biathletes if Eckoff is fit, plus another top 10. It's not too shabby.

So this weekend, they walked the 2 biathlon relays, top 10 in the 50km, Riiber won by 2mins,Hansen has won about 100 races in a row and starts with a minute lead tomorrow. What is the answer?

Thank god they don't have the Bjoergen, Johaug, Oestberg, Weng level of dominance in the women's CC.
 
32 on the official startlist, but that includes Kerttu. And Heidi. Slind would be a threat as obviously we know she has the engine for the distance, but after last weekend's exploits?

On the plus side, if Diggins does win, Winterton will hail 50k races as what the sport needs to see more of...
 
32 on the official startlist, but that includes Kerttu. And Heidi. Slind would be a threat as obviously we know she has the engine for the distance, but after last weekend's exploits?

On the plus side, if Diggins does win, Winterton will hail 50k races as what the sport needs to see more of...

Niskanen won’t challenge, this is skate. Not sure if the longer distance helps her or not. Weng is an enigma, and who knows what her shape is like.
 
Jan 4, 2023
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This will be the easiest victory of the season for Diggins....a 2 .5 hour love fest on Eurosport. Fresh, in great shape whilst the others(with exception of Heidi), skied the 30k last week. The only trap is the bonus points that she'll be chasing against Tiril(who will be thrilled by the weak field) but she will have plenty of time to ski slowly with the pack before making her move(which wouldn't have happened with Ebba in the race)

Keep an eye on Franchi
 
This will be the easiest victory of the season for Diggins....a 2 .5 hour love fest on Eurosport. Fresh, in great shape whilst the others(with exception of Heidi), skied the 30k last week. The only trap is the bonus points that she'll be chasing against Tiril(who will be thrilled by the weak field) but she will have plenty of time to ski slowly with the pack before making her move(which wouldn't have happened with Ebba in the race)

Having a 50k for the women is great, but it should be an individual start. Now they will just make it a warm up to a 30k.
 
Diggins looks in trouble to me, chasing those bonus points have a big impact on the body.
I was thinking the same thing; she's got great skis and that's helping but I wouldn't be shocked to see her pay for these efforts in the last 10k. Totally different race today.

It's just sad how watered down this field is. When I saw the schedule at the start of the year I shook my head but figured "Hey, it's Holmenkollen. The winner of the first ever 50k there goes down in history...". To me, after a WC gold this was the race to win this year; to see it happening without the WC gold and bronze medalists, among many others, is just tragic and is a perfect representation of the death-spiral in which XC finds itself. It's true you can only beat the people who show up but it's a shame such a historic event for the sport doesn't have the best of the best fighting for the win.

Bergane still looking pretty snappy; it would be really fun to see her pull off the huge upset.
 

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