Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Fast conditions and certain courses help Barp. According to himself his uphill v1 is still lacking.

There is a lot of V1 skiing in that last part of the race today where he did fantastically well being the only one being able to bridge up from 17,5 to the finish, so maybe hes already clearly improved.

 

[Mayomaniac]

There is a lot of V1 skiing in that last part of the race today where he did fantastically well being the only one being able to bridge up from 17,5 to the finish, so maybe hes already clearly improved.

Maybe he was talking more about high intensity sprint v1? The conditions probably also suited him.
Clearly a huge talent.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Maybe he was talking more about high intensity sprint v1?

That could make sense, that hes not good enough in high speed V1 in sprint races for example.

And hes also lacking in V1 in loooooong efforts like Alpe Cermis, but my take would be that his main problem here is VO2 max and threshold capacity, not necessarily V1 technique.

 

[KZD]

Pleasently surprised with Fähndrich third place in the women's race.

Krüger back in good shape and both Lapalus and Barp with great races. Klæbo is looking better in skating than classic, at the moment, which makes sense if he relly lost 5 kilos before the Tour de Ski.

 

[BullsFan22]

That was some proper racing. The first three laps went steadily fast, with decent skiers struggling at the back. Then Kruger really put the hammer down on the last loop, he’s pretty damn amazing when he decides to give it a go over a longer distance.

Klæbo back in good form. It says a lot when no one else is anywhere near keeping up with Krueger and he does it while looking pretty comfortable.

It’s a sign of a though race when Lapierre can drop Amundsen and Golberg in the last climb. Great result for him.

Very impressed also by Barp. He’s gonna be a key player the next 10 years!

Is it a tough race when Richard Jouve finishes in 8th place, only 17 seconds behind the winner?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Is it a tough race when Richard Jouve finishes in 8th place, only 17 seconds behind the winner?

Is it an easy race if Lapierre can drop Amundsen and Golberg in a small hill in the last 500 meters? Is it an easy race when Krueger can drop the entire field except 6 skiers on the pretty soft climbs on the early part of the loop?

Jouve was never in the race for the top results. He stayed back in the pack, he was nowhere when Krueger put the hammer down at the start of the last loop, stayed in the pack and he were able to finish strong from what was eventually group 3 in the final kilometers.

 

[BullsFan22]

Is it an easy race if Lapierre can drop Amundsen and Golberg in a small hill in the last 500 meters? Is it an easy race when Krueger can drop the entire field except 6 skiers on the pretty soft climbs on the early part of the loop?

Jouve was never in the race for the top results. He stayed back in the pack, he was nowhere when Krueger put the hammer down at the start of the last loop, stayed in the pack and he were able to finish strong from what was eventually group 3 in the final kilometers.

Yes it is, considering 30+ skiers stayed together for 3/4 of the race. If it was a hard race, things would have broken up much earlier.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Yes it is, considering 30+ skiers stayed together for 3/4 of the race. If it was a hard race, things would have broken up much earlier.

I disagree and in my opinion you are looking at it the wrong way by just assuming big group = slow pace. Often it is, but you can see when the speed gets turned up wheter it's been a hard effort or not. When it's been hard it blows up directly when someone put the hammer down, when it's not been hard a lot of them can keep up for a while after the speed goes to the next level and the splits are coming later and they are smaller.

If it had been one of those pretty standard "a bit cozy" masstarts, that we often saw back in the Northug days, those guys being in 10th to 25th would've likely been fresh enough to maintain the increased pace and kept in contact until the stadium hill at 17 km.

The fact it blew up in the easy part on the last loop shows in my opinion that it was a hard race from the start and that maybe more than 20 of those 31 guys in contact (within 13 seconds) after 3 laps were already at the limit or very close, meaning they had no chance to increase the speed when Krueger put the hammer down. Strong guys like Musgrave, Lapalus, Nyenget, Klee etc were in great position when Krueger went to the front, but they had no chance to step it up, because the total load of the race already had been high.

 

[BullsFan22]

I disagree and in my opinion you are looking at it the wrong way by just assuming big group = slow pace. Often it is, but you can see when the speed gets turned up wheter it's been a hard effort or not. When it's been hard it blows up directly when someone put the hammer down, when it's not been hard a lot of them can keep up for a while after the speed goes to the next level and the splits are coming later and they are smaller.

If it had been one of those pretty standard "a bit cozy" masstarts, that we often saw back in the Northug days, those guys being in 10th to 25th would've likely been fresh enough to maintain the increased pace and kept in contact until the stadium hill at 17 km.

The fact it blew up in the easy part on the last loop shows in my opinion that it was a hard race from the start and that maybe more than 20 of those 31 guys in contact (within 13 seconds) after 3 laps were already at the limit or very close, meaning they had no chance to increase the speed when Krueger put the hammer down. Strong guys like Musgrave, Lapalus, Nyenget, Klee etc were in great position when Krueger went to the front, but they had no chance to step it up, because the total load of the race already had been high.

What has xc skiing come to, when Beda Klee is now considered a ‘strong guy.’ Well, anyway, the fast conditions (39 minutes for a 20km, what in the world?) paints a big picture here.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

What has xc skiing come to, when Beda Klee is now considered a ‘strong guy.’

5th overall in Tour de Ski with being 77th and 44th in the two sprint races... He's been constantly putting out legit results in distance races this year. He was even good up Alpe Cermis. If you can't count him as a "strong guy", then how many can you really count? 8-10 guys?

Well, anyway, the fast conditions (39 minutes for a 20km, what in the world?) paints a big picture here.

Not that it matters much, but it was a short 20km. From different skiers on Strava in both women and mens class it seems to be around 18,4-18,5 km today, that makes a couple of minutes difference compared to a full 20 km.

And do you mean that fast conditions means it can't be a hard or a though race?

 

[dobrien]

Yeah it’s a shame. She’s always been there or thereabouts, since she started her World Cup career. Her classic technique is world class. For someone that’s not very tall she gets a lot of glide and she’s solid as a rock at her best. I think after the 2022 Olympics where she skied well, got a medal, her results have generally been underwhelming. She’s has some good results but mostly mediocre, by her standards.

The Finns could be in some trouble when she and Niskanen retire. Kähärä hasn’t yet made a big breakthrough, and Matintalo and Joenssu haven’t gotten on the podium, yet.

Matintalo has a couple world cup podiums but those are definite outliers it seems. Joensuu is a solid sprinter but I just don't get the sense that she's got that next level in her. Kahara is obviously their best young talent but right now that's all they seem to have in the pipeline. Kerttu is still very competitive but she's a short-timer at this point, 2 more seasons max. Could be some rough years ahead.

I will miss seeing Krista out there; she was a very tough customer and fun to watch race. Physiology is a strange thing; some like Roponen can keep bringing close to world class performances at a relatively advanced age, for others, once the lights go out they're out. KP looked to have had a solid summer of training but it didn't seem.like a good omen when she couldn't beat Roponen in the early races and we've seen that born out most of this season; a couple promising outings but that was about it. Ahh well, time comes for us all. She'll be missed.

 

[dobrien]

Pleasently surprised with Fähndrich third place in the women's race.

That was pretty awesome; highlight of the weekend for me.

 

[BullsFan22]

Matintalo has a couple world cup podiums but those are definite outliers it seems. Joensuu is a solid sprinter but I just don't get the sense that she's got that next level in her. Kahara is obviously their best young talent but right now that's all they seem to have in the pipeline. Kerttu is still very competitive but she's a short-timer at this point, 2 more seasons max. Could be some rough years ahead.

I will miss seeing Krista out there; she was a very tough customer and fun to watch race. Physiology is a strange thing; some like Roponen can keep bringing close to world class performances at a relatively advanced age, for others, once the lights go out they're out. KP looked to have had a solid summer of training but it didn't seem.like a good omen when she couldn't beat Roponen in the early races and we've seen that born out most of this season; a couple promising outings but that was about it. Ahh well, time comes for us all. She'll be missed.

Of course. I forgot Matintalo’s podiums. She’s still on the young side (27) but has already been on the tour for a while. Classic sprints and shorter to medium distance classic races are her forte, like it is for most Finns.

 

[dobrien]

Of course. I forgot Matintalo’s podiums. She’s still on the young side (27) but has already been on the tour for a while. Classic sprints and shorter to medium distance classic races are her forte, like it is for most Finns.

It's easy to forget that stuff because (IMHO) she's just not someone whose level makes you think 'podium'. Full disclosure, I double checked her results just prior to posting as I could not recall off the top of my head either! Easy to gap out.

 

[BigCoward]

Ffs I was sure the biathlon world champs started this week. I even took 2 days off work.

 

[search]

Ffs I was sure the biathlon world champs started this week. I even took 2 days off work.

XC has a weekend off as well, and four out of five alpine races was cancelled. Fortunately cycling season is slowly starting to get underway

 

[kingjr]

Ffs I was sure the biathlon world champs started this week. I even took 2 days off work.

This is one of my greatest fears, which is why I always triple check these things

 

[dobrien]

Fossesholm returns to competition.

Norwegian cup race this weekend; here's to a successful (meaning, she's happy, not overtraining, having fun to start) return to racing for her. A big talent, hope she has things figured out.

 

[BullsFan22]

Fossesholm returns to competition.

Norwegian cup race this weekend; here's to a successful (meaning, she's happy, not overtraining, having fun to start) return to racing for her. A big talent, hope she has things figured out.

And now she’s sick…😕

 

[Mayomaniac]

And now she’s sick…😕

The girl can't catch a break...

 

[KZD]

Good to see Fossesholm planning to comeback but the number of times Norwegian female skiers are getting sick this season should be a case study.

 

[OJRvE]

My understanding from Norwegian media is that Fossesholm not is ill but thought she is in too bad shape to compete. Looks like the pressure and media interest taken its toll. Feel sorry for her.

 

[BigCoward]

Biathlon predictions

Men,
Norway podium lock every race other than the individual, but they still win that.

Women
Sprint - Simon
Pursuit- Oeberg
Individual - Vitozzi
Mass start - Simon
Men's relay obvious
Mixed relay obvious
SMR Sweden
Women's relay - Germany

 

[Mayomaniac]

So Petter Northug just finished 2nd in a 20km classic individual start in Norway, ahead of guys like Doennestad and Moseby, that's actually an impressive result.

 

[dobrien]

So Petter Northug just finished 2nd in a 20km classic individual start in Norway, ahead of guys like Doennestad and Moseby, that's actually an impressive result.

Finn Hagen Krogh 39th in that same race, 3:14 back.