It's part of the charm lack of tactics, an inability to keep cool heads. Cologna, who I love, always wasted energy closing small gaps that were never going to lead to anything. Bolshunov used to fall for the Norweigian tactic of taking turns with a fake break before he realised what was going. Poroma is another one who can't relax. We know the next time Frida Karlsson skies a relay she's going to go charging to the front...as I said it's all part of the charm.
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there's reason to criticize Diggins of course, but yesterday I really had the impression that bad skis were her main problem, not so much tactics. She even lost ground when descending, which usually is one of her main strenghts.
Sure, she could/should have taken it easier once she noticed, but with the gap in the World Cup standings now down to under 100 points, it's not like there was no reason to go for those sprints
Sure, she could/should have taken it easier once she noticed, but with the gap in the World Cup standings now down to under 100 points, it's not like there was no reason to go for those sprints
Interestingly, two people - neither of whom are me or Bulls, who you'd say are the most vocal in terms of cheering actively against Come On Jess - suggested she had the best skis. I think DonAragona pointing out that it was only the second pair of skis that had issues is a bit closer to the mark.
Personally, I thought they were pretty good skis at first but they clearly lost their glide more quickly than the Norwegians' skis and were noticeably less good toward the end of the race, which is probably to be expected with the Norwegian wax budget and home snow. But how much of her battling at the end was the product of the tactics vis-à-vis the repeated efforts of the sprints taking it out of Jess' legs, and how much of it was technical, vis-à-vis the additional work she had to do because of the skis running less well than Haga or Slind in the closing stages, we'll never know for sure.
A lot of women's races have over the last several years been won more on size of engine than on technique and tactics. I mean, there were obvious technical weaknesses in Justyna Kowalczyk's skiing (she never figured out descending even by her retirement), and Therese Johaug was a blur of high turnover arms and legs and never the most elegant of skiers either, but both won a stratospheric number of races. Diggins certainly fits into that kind of category to some extent, because (especially in classic) there are clear deficiencies in technique across pretty much the whole American team (who are clearly stronger in skate, but even in skate she's not the most elegant out there). But I don't think anybody can doubt that in terms of the size of her engine, the power she has to put down combined with how long she's capable of putting it out for, that she's absolutely elite.
I read in Norwegian media Pellegrino blamed the skis today. So apparently its not only Swedish skiers…
Of course the Swedish men were complaining as well, Grate said he doesn’t like to throw the wax men under the bus, and then he did it.
It appears as rugg was the winning move in the qualifying though and the Norwegians of course got it right. But conditions will change till the heats.
Of course the Swedish men were complaining as well, Grate said he doesn’t like to throw the wax men under the bus, and then he did it.
It appears as rugg was the winning move in the qualifying though and the Norwegians of course got it right. But conditions will change till the heats.
Honestly, with Mocellini doing great I doubt they can really blame the skis. That said, this course is perfect for him and bad for Pellegrino, so who knows.
The italians have to do lots of the testing themselfs, so they are lot less quick to throw the waxing team under the bus because they are involved in the process.
So both Chiochetti and Monsorno had to borrow a pair of skis because their own got lost by the airline.
The italians say that the conditions really changed during the 2nd half of the men's qualifier.
Also a really bad day for the German women...
The italians say that the conditions really changed during the 2nd half of the men's qualifier.
Also a really bad day for the German women...
He's going to be absolutely wrecked for the semi final. Though I'd love to see him try that again, he'll be going backwards in the final 100m.that certainly was an interesting approach from Ogden!
Now imagine if he'd start going full gas a bit later, he wouldn't fade as badly in the end. Start to go full gas after 1/3 of the run, not right out of the gate.that certainly was an interesting approach from Ogden!
Anger made a rookie mistake by getting boxed in behind Klaebo who eased up and changing lanes too late.
Christ, that was pretty dominant for someone who isn't on the national team.
Odgen's tactic always seems to be "just go yolo and watch the world burn". Great for Prologues, not so much for multiple heats.
I don't want to sound rude or tasteless, but Skistad is built like a dreadnought. Great for her to win in her own backyard, in a race organized by her own ski club.
I don't want to sound rude or tasteless, but Skistad is built like a dreadnought. Great for her to win in her own backyard, in a race organized by her own ski club.
She was on the national team before, but had physical and mental problems and choose to go back to a smaller regional team. She has always been a monster talent.
Each to there own. I thought she was pretty fabulous, and charmingly shy when being interviewed.
Jouve made a mistake trying to go early. If you don’t get a good enough gap on that downhill, you’ll be caught, especially with the sort of skis that wonder boy has.
So Halfvarsson blames the coaches because they didn’t have a tactical briefing. You would think such a seasoned guy would take own responsibility some time…
That was the most I've seen her smile, for her that was being extroverted.
It was more about her being tall and rather imposing compared to the other girls.
She comes off as a quiet girl and seems charming, I agree. On the tracks she's second to none when it comes to fighting for positions.
Blame them for what, not being strong enough today? Not his first race in Drammen either...
The one who would have needed a briefing was Anger, he made a stupid rookie mistake and is still really young.
The Swedes always blame everybody and everything but themselves. Calle and co persist in choosing heat 1 with Klaebo despite growing evidence that it's never a fast heat and you know that Klaebo will qualify. also once again Sweden failed to fill their allocation once again yet continues to host the prestigious end-of-season finale in Falun...time for FIS to take that off them.
Interesting that Diggins leaves Norway even further behind TUW in overall, those sprint surges for the 50k were utterly pointless, than when she arrived. She's only got out of 1 classic sprint heat in the last 2 years and isn't good enough to win the overall anymore(despite throwing her waxers under the bus on the tour), focus on winning races than bonus points is always my advice.
Interesting that Diggins leaves Norway even further behind TUW in overall, those sprint surges for the 50k were utterly pointless, than when she arrived. She's only got out of 1 classic sprint heat in the last 2 years and isn't good enough to win the overall anymore(despite throwing her waxers under the bus on the tour), focus on winning races than bonus points is always my advice.
Just read Calle's comments on Expressen via google translate.
Complaining about no tactics advice from his coaches, he's what?34, it's Drammen!...what exactly are they supposed to teach him?
Complaining about no tactics advice from his coaches, he's what?34, it's Drammen!...what exactly are they supposed to teach him?
The Norwegian women don't have a dedicated sprint team, so she joined the team with distance skiers and didn't respond well to the training regime.
Personally I think this is one of the reasons why we end up with a lot of skiers that are pretty good at both sprints and longer races, but if you see a Norwegian vs a Swede in a sprint finish the Swede will nearly always win.
I'd like to see some more specialization, especially for the athletes that end up around 15th to 25th in most races.
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