Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[python]

the classic race was so interesting that i decided to try reading more into its results...for that i watched the action again, reviewed the official splits and finally just read the nordic and english media.

what jumped at me right away, was that in addition to a soft, fresh energy-sipping track it was really windy --- blistering windy. this was visible in the video, plus the wind was a consistent comment from all the north americans the portal fasterskier.com interviewed (btw, i find their post race comments the most informative, even compared to the scandinavian media, including the norges).

what else was sticking out ? the amount of herringboning the elite is seldom seen doing.

the 3 factors - soft conditions, wind and the excessive usage of the sports 'granny gear' essentially shaped the results. it was important to be in front b/c the bottlenecks on the steep sections forced some skiers literally grind to a halt. also, the style of herringboning is so taxing and inefficient, that a skier with the generally superior classic technique would be reduced to the raw strength of his aerobic engine, sort of like running instead of skiing uphill. where does this all lead me ? perhaps, i am reading too much but it could partly explain why poltoranin and sundby - both excellent technicians - had struggled to close their gaps. the same consideration may explain why ustiogov, whose classic technique is visibly similar to a hunched-over, inefficient legkov style, why his raw aerobic power and strength allowed the incredible feat of leading for so long.

the same can be said of the iversen and northug superb engines, perhaps to a lesser degree (all 3 are btw big guys who would sink in the soft snow), b/c they did enjoy the shelter of ustiugov's back in a blistering windy conditions. it is true that in skiing the advantage of drafting is nowhere near as important as in cycling, but a lot of energy was saved yesterday behind a pacesetter. not to mention the energy savings due to the slight effect of compressing the snow by the front runners...

so much more impressive looks what ustiugov did yesterday !

now, about the splits...sundby was about 12-13 second behind the front trio for some kilometers. he fought valiantly. then, the gap started to increase to 18,19..and finally 40 sec at the finish. clearly, he was running out of steam, he was at the absolute limit. not so the trio in front, including even ustiugov. they were able to up the tempo in the last 1.5 -2 km.

that ustiugov lost so few seconds tells me he was the strongest yesterday. northug actually said just that...

imagine where this monster could be if he polished his striding

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

the classic race was so interesting that i decided to try reading more into its results...for that i watched the action again, reviewed the official splits and finally just read the nordic and english media.

what jumped at me right away, was that in addition to a soft, fresh energy-sipping track it was really windy --- blistering windy. this was visible in the video, plus the wind was a consistent comment from all the north americans the portal fasterskier.com interviewed (btw, i find their post race comments the most informative, even compared to the scandinavian media, including the norges).

what else was sticking out ? the amount of herringboning the elite is seldom seen doing.

the 3 factors - soft conditions, wind and the excessive usage of the sports 'granny gear' essentially shaped the results. it was important to be in front b/c the bottlenecks on the steep sections forced some skiers literally grind to a halt. also, the style of herringboning is so taxing and inefficient, that a skier with the generally superior classic technique would be reduced to the raw strength of his aerobic engine, sort of like running instead of skiing uphill. where does this all lead me ? perhaps, i am reading too much but it could partly explain why poltoranin and sundby - both excellent technicians - had struggled to close their gaps. the same consideration may explain why ustiogov, whose classic technique is visibly similar to a hunched-over, inefficient legkov style, why his raw aerobic power and strength allowed the incredible feat of leading for so long.

the same can be said of the iversen and northug superb engines, perhaps to a lesser degree (all 3 are btw big guys who would sink in the soft snow), b/c they did enjoy the shelter of ustiugov's back in a blistering windy conditions. it is true that in skiing the advantage of drafting is nowhere near as important as in cycling, but a lot of energy was saved yesterday behind a pacesetter. not to mention the energy savings due to the slight effect of compressing the snow by the front runners...

so much more impressive looks what ustiugov did yesterday !

now, about the splits...sundby was about 12-13 second behind the front trio for some kilometers. he fought valiantly. then, the gap started to increase to 18,19..and finally 40 sec at the finish. clearly, he was running out of steam, he was at the absolute limit. not so the trio in front, including even ustiugov. they were able to up the tempo in the last 1.5 -2 km.

that ustiugov lost so few seconds tells me he was the strongest yesterday. northug actually said just that...

imagine where this monster could be if he polished his striding

The course was fairly narrow. The weather seemed colder on the screen and most of the skiers wearing balaclavas and warmer gloves made it seem like it was polar. It was close to -10 celsius, which is actually almost perfect conditions for skiing, it's just that the snow was soft and broken. Yes, herringbone was used about as much as I've seen at a world cup for years. The steeper climbs along with the sloppy and windblown snow really was the reason. The top 10 or so guys had the advantage and if you were lucky enough to avoid crashes, bumps and pushing around, you'd be doing yourself a lot of good. There were crashes from the top guys as well. Sundby actually crashed in the middle of lap two, I believe. He was trying to hook up to the front three but caught some ice (according to him) and then was passed by a few skiers, then had to work to either catch up and ultimately, to limit his losses. That fall may have cost him the overall tour. He is 1:49 behind Ustiugov now. If he doesn't make it into the heats, and the top three make it to the final or even the semifinal, he is in deep trouble. Those front guys seem to be in excellent form right now and as good as Sundby is, he's gonna need some real luck going his way and some amazing skiing to win the tour.

Ustiugov's technique is not the greatest, that's for sure, but he gets much more glide than Legkov or even the two Norwegians that were with him up front. On Eurosport, Posy Musgrave (Andrew Musgrave's sister) said that his strides are long and actually relaxed and that actually it doesn't seem like he is working hard at all. I have to agree with her assessment. He does look hunched and stiff, but somehow he gets the glide and is able to relax. Legkov looks much more hunched and rushed. These conditions actually suit Legkov, but he fell on the fastest downhill, on a right hand, sweeping turn before one of the steeper hills. He was about to make contact with the top 10, but fell and lost 30 seconds to the top 10 because of that. Shame, because I think his form is pretty good at the moment as well. Another sprint tomorrow isn't gonna help him.

Tomorrow's sprint is gonna be crucial. Like I said, the front three will be looking to gain as much time over Sundby as possible, and this time, Sundby doesn't have the luxury of a big lead. He has to first make it into the heats and then make it to the final.

Harvey is the first non Russian/Norwegian. He is another good all-round skier and it's on his home territory, in Quebec, so I expect him to continue to ski well. He's two minutes behind, but stage wins are possible if he skis smart. Everyone else, including the hordes of Russians and Norwegians are gonna be fighting for 5th to 20th place. That's gonna be a tight battle, though it would be great to see someone catch fire and challenge for the top 3, or at least make it close. You rarely see the front three being established after only two stages of a tour on the men's side.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Really good mixed relay here to kick off the Worlds. Ukraine, France, Germany and hosts Norway in the lead group with the last leg to go!

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Really good mixed relay here to kick off the Worlds. Ukraine, France, Germany and hosts Norway in the lead group with the last leg to go!

Yes, although I have to say, that Johannes didn't look too good on the 3rd leg. Surely the french have the best skis and with Fourcade out there, I'm afraid we will have a french victory

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

Really good mixed relay here to kick off the Worlds. Ukraine, France, Germany and hosts Norway in the lead group with the last leg to go!

Yes, although I have to say, that Johannes didn't look too good on the 3rd leg. Surely the french have the best skis and with Fourcade out there, I'm afraid we will have a french victory

Tarjei didn't look particularly great either. Fourcade basically toyed with the other three teams. The only guy that could have beaten him on the final leg was Shipulin, but the Russian women are not fast and Shumilova (why is she on this world's team??) essentially cost them a medal already in the first leg. Good comeback for them by challenging for fifth and sixth after almost getting out last after the first shoot.

You could see who is gonna be good at these world's. Fourcade and the french in general look good, and the Germans as well. The Ukrainians will be tough, as will the Czechs and the Russian men. I have a sneaky feeling that Bjoerndalen is going to win an individual medal here, maybe even a gold.

 

[Kokoso]

Re:

the classic race was so interesting that i decided to try reading more into its results...for that i watched the action again, reviewed the official splits and finally just read the nordic and english media.

what jumped at me right away, was that in addition to a soft, fresh energy-sipping track it was really windy --- blistering windy. this was visible in the video, plus the wind was a consistent comment from all the north americans the portal fasterskier.com interviewed (btw, i find their post race comments the most informative, even compared to the scandinavian media, including the norges).

what else was sticking out ? the amount of herringboning the elite is seldom seen doing.

the 3 factors - soft conditions, wind and the excessive usage of the sports 'granny gear' essentially shaped the results. it was important to be in front b/c the bottlenecks on the steep sections forced some skiers literally grind to a halt. also, the style of herringboning is so taxing and inefficient, that a skier with the generally superior classic technique would be reduced to the raw strength of his aerobic engine, sort of like running instead of skiing uphill. where does this all lead me ? perhaps, i am reading too much but it could partly explain why poltoranin and sundby - both excellent technicians - had struggled to close their gaps. the same consideration may explain why ustiogov, whose classic technique is visibly similar to a hunched-over, inefficient legkov style, why his raw aerobic power and strength allowed the incredible feat of leading for so long.

the same can be said of the iversen and northug superb engines, perhaps to a lesser degree (all 3 are btw big guys who would sink in the soft snow), b/c they did enjoy the shelter of ustiugov's back in a blistering windy conditions. it is true that in skiing the advantage of drafting is nowhere near as important as in cycling, but a lot of energy was saved yesterday behind a pacesetter. not to mention the energy savings due to the slight effect of compressing the snow by the front runners...

so much more impressive looks what ustiugov did yesterday !

now, about the splits...sundby was about 12-13 second behind the front trio for some kilometers. he fought valiantly. then, the gap started to increase to 18,19..and finally 40 sec at the finish. clearly, he was running out of steam, he was at the absolute limit. not so the trio in front, including even ustiugov. they were able to up the tempo in the last 1.5 -2 km.

that ustiugov lost so few seconds tells me he was the strongest yesterday. northug actually said just that...

imagine where this monster could be if he polished his striding

Superb engine is exactly what is not Northug known for. Usťugov did well in races where conditions were different as he did yesterday. He didn't look to me as straight as Sundby, who is more of exception, but looked probably less hunched than Northug or Iversen actually, his style looks just fine.Yesterday was more about power, than aerobic perfromance IMO.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Really good mixed relay here to kick off the Worlds. Ukraine, France, Germany and hosts Norway in the lead group with the last leg to go!

Yes, although I have to say, that Johannes didn't look too good on the 3rd leg. Surely the french have the best skis and with Fourcade out there, I'm afraid we will have a french victory

Tarjei didn't look particularly great either. Fourcade basically toyed with the other three teams. The only guy that could have beaten him on the final leg was Shipulin, but the Russian women are not fast and Shumilova (why is she on this world's team??) essentially cost them a medal already in the first leg. Good comeback for them by challenging for fifth and sixth after almost getting out last after the first shoot.

You could see who is gonna be good at these world's. Fourcade and the french in general look good, and the Germans as well. The Ukrainians will be tough, as will the Czechs and the Russian men. I have a sneaky feeling that Bjoerndalen is going to win an individual medal here, maybe even a gold.

I agree that Podchufarova would have been a much safer choice, although she's also quite a slow skier. Yurlova has been very good in Antholz and the North American races, but she underperformed today. Russia could have fought for gold medal, but I'm not sure the inclusion of Podchufarova would guarantee that.
I still don't think we got any answers as to who's going to dominate the individual races. It's a very open competition for both genders.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

I have a sneaky feeling that Bjoerndalen is going to win an individual medal here, maybe even a gold.

No way.

 

[python]

Re: Re:

the classic race was so interesting that i decided to try reading more into its results...for that i watched the action again, reviewed the official splits and finally just read the nordic and english media.

what jumped at me right away, was that in addition to a soft, fresh energy-sipping track it was really windy --- blistering windy. this was visible in the video, plus the wind was a consistent comment from all the north americans the portal fasterskier.com interviewed (btw, i find their post race comments the most informative, even compared to the scandinavian media, including the norges).

what else was sticking out ? the amount of herringboning the elite is seldom seen doing.

the 3 factors - soft conditions, wind and the excessive usage of the sports 'granny gear' essentially shaped the results. it was important to be in front b/c the bottlenecks on the steep sections forced some skiers literally grind to a halt. also, the style of herringboning is so taxing and inefficient, that a skier with the generally superior classic technique would be reduced to the raw strength of his aerobic engine, sort of like running instead of skiing uphill. where does this all lead me ? perhaps, i am reading too much but it could partly explain why poltoranin and sundby - both excellent technicians - had struggled to close their gaps. the same consideration may explain why ustiogov, whose classic technique is visibly similar to a hunched-over, inefficient legkov style, why his raw aerobic power and strength allowed the incredible feat of leading for so long.

the same can be said of the iversen and northug superb engines, perhaps to a lesser degree (all 3 are btw big guys who would sink in the soft snow), b/c they did enjoy the shelter of ustiugov's back in a blistering windy conditions. it is true that in skiing the advantage of drafting is nowhere near as important as in cycling, but a lot of energy was saved yesterday behind a pacesetter. not to mention the energy savings due to the slight effect of compressing the snow by the front runners...

so much more impressive looks what ustiugov did yesterday !

now, about the splits...sundby was about 12-13 second behind the front trio for some kilometers. he fought valiantly. then, the gap started to increase to 18,19..and finally 40 sec at the finish. clearly, he was running out of steam, he was at the absolute limit. not so the trio in front, including even ustiugov. they were able to up the tempo in the last 1.5 -2 km.

that ustiugov lost so few seconds tells me he was the strongest yesterday. northug actually said just that...

imagine where this monster could be if he polished his striding

The course was fairly narrow. The weather seemed colder on the screen and most of the skiers wearing balaclavas and warmer gloves made it seem like it was polar. It was close to -10 celsius, which is actually almost perfect conditions for skiing, it's just that the snow was soft and broken. Yes, herringbone was used about as much as I've seen at a world cup for years. The steeper climbs along with the sloppy and windblown snow really was the reason. The top 10 or so guys had the advantage and if you were lucky enough to avoid crashes, bumps and pushing around, you'd be doing yourself a lot of good. There were crashes from the top guys as well. Sundby actually crashed in the middle of lap two, I believe. He was trying to hook up to the front three but caught some ice (according to him) and then was passed by a few skiers, then had to work to either catch up and ultimately, to limit his losses. That fall may have cost him the overall tour. He is 1:49 behind Ustiugov now. If he doesn't make it into the heats, and the top three make it to the final or even the semifinal, he is in deep trouble. Those front guys seem to be in excellent form right now and as good as Sundby is, he's gonna need some real luck going his way and some amazing skiing to win the tour.

Ustiugov's technique is not the greatest, that's for sure, but he gets much more glide than Legkov or even the two Norwegians that were with him up front. On Eurosport, Posy Musgrave (Andrew Musgrave's sister) said that his strides are long and actually relaxed and that actually it doesn't seem like he is working hard at all. I have to agree with her assessment. He does look hunched and stiff, but somehow he gets the glide and is able to relax. Legkov looks much more hunched and rushed. These conditions actually suit Legkov, but he fell on the fastest downhill, on a right hand, sweeping turn before one of the steeper hills. He was about to make contact with the top 10, but fell and lost 30 seconds to the top 10 because of that. Shame, because I think his form is pretty good at the moment as well. Another sprint tomorrow isn't gonna help him.

Tomorrow's sprint is gonna be crucial. Like I said, the front three will be looking to gain as much time over Sundby as possible, and this time, Sundby doesn't have the luxury of a big lead. He has to first make it into the heats and then make it to the final.

Harvey is the first non Russian/Norwegian. He is another good all-round skier and it's on his home territory, in Quebec, so I expect him to continue to ski well. He's two minutes behind, but stage wins are possible if he skis smart. Everyone else, including the hordes of Russians and Norwegians are gonna be fighting for 5th to 20th place. That's gonna be a tight battle, though it would be great to see someone catch fire and challenge for the top 3, or at least make it close. You rarely see the front three being established after only two stages of a tour on the men's side.

i am running around..will address some of your good points concisely (sorry about omitting the specific quotes)

...on the gaps. imo, the current sprint bonuses of 60 seconds (and down) are excessively generous. thus the huge gaps after just 2 races. either reduce the points or the number of sprints to stimulate a more representative wc elite, which is less sprint prone in its majority.

...on the sundby/legkov falling. yeah, i noticed that though it wasn't filmed. it did cost them time,true, but in the final analysis, they lost more time to the leaders AFTER their falls as the race intensified.

...on the ustiugov classic technique. i agree, he was stride gliding well where it was available to see. but the prevailing classic style technique that mattered most was double poling, not striding. that's where he was very good. the longer duration of his gliding phase during striding could by itself be interpreted variously. while it could be more efficient (energy wise), it's far from a consensus in terms of the most optimum racing style. the traditional classic school says maximize the glide, but then, the 'duracell' comes along to destroy the concept with its insane cadence at the expense of incomplete glide...go figure at the end of the day, serhey, like most elite skiers, will find the stride/glide combination that's best suited to his individual physique, which SHOULD favour his powerful shoulders/backs/ upper bod.

still not clear if the race tomorrow will take place at all

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I agree that Podchufarova would have been a much safer choice, although she's also quite a slow skier. Yurlova has been very good in Antholz and the North American races, but she underperformed today. Russia could have fought for gold medal, but I'm not sure the inclusion of Podchufarova would guarantee that.
I still don't think we got any answers as to who's going to dominate the individual races. It's a very open competition for both genders.

Podchufarova's not that slow though, and the 2km loop is the shortest one which would limit the amount of timeloss she could make; if Yurlova was on the form she had recently they could reasonably have been close enough to the front to capitalise if the big guns at the front made mistakes at least, or at least have handed over to Shipulin close enough for him to be able to put pressure on those in front.

 

[Rider]

Konovalov (women team head coach) told in an interview before the race that Podchufarova was even in a worse condition than Shumilova. So they decided to give more time to her to get into a better shape before individual events.

During US races Podchufarova complained that she was tired with too many races during the season. This is actually her first full season and it was Konovalov's mistake to make her compete in Canada and US.

 

[BullsFan22]

There are only two Russian women that are able to compete for medals here, Podchufarova and Yurlova. They both have podiums this year, and a win a piece. Yurlova won the world's individual title last year. Podchufarova is the 'rising talent.' I hardly noticed her in North America. I think they should have re-thinked the strategy of going overseas and racing. Even the Boe brothers, who only raced in Presque Isle, didn't look that great in the mixed relay. Obviously things could change, but I think we might see those that didn't race in North America have more success. That's just my prediction. If I were to go to NA and race right before world's, I would have done what the Boe brothers did. It's closer, it's only a 6 hour time difference as opposed to 8, even though it's closer to the world championships. Still, people had close to 3 weeks of recover in between. The Russian women have struggled in the last couple years. Vilukhina has been on a break (pregnancy, I believe), Zaitseva retired after Sochi, Sleptsova still races, but it's on the IBU cup and she raced the European Championships last week in Tyumen, and didn't look impressive. They are always gonna have a large pool of talent, and they already have some young women coming through, but at this time, they are gonna be lucky to win a medal in Oslo. The men will be the ones that will win medals.

Nobody's mentioned Jakov fak yet. Understandable, he's had a down year, with sickness and just hasn't been able to string a few good races together. He had one of the fastest times during his leg today, particularly the last lap, so watch out for him. He know's how to peak for big races (two time world champion, five overall, and an olympic medal as well). He wasn't really in a pressure situation, with Slovenia outside the top ten for much of the race, but I think he'll come through in at least one individual race.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

I agree that Podchufarova would have been a much safer choice, although she's also quite a slow skier. Yurlova has been very good in Antholz and the North American races, but she underperformed today. Russia could have fought for gold medal, but I'm not sure the inclusion of Podchufarova would guarantee that.
I still don't think we got any answers as to who's going to dominate the individual races. It's a very open competition for both genders.

Podchufarova's not that slow though, and the 2km loop is the shortest one which would limit the amount of timeloss she could make; if Yurlova was on the form she had recently they could reasonably have been close enough to the front to capitalise if the big guns at the front made mistakes at least, or at least have handed over to Shipulin close enough for him to be able to put pressure on those in front.

She's not reasonably faster than Shumilova (half a percentage or so). While she's a much better shooter, I'd imagine she'd have lost ~35 seconds even with a perfect 10/10 shooting. Considering that Yurlova lost even more time and that Garanichev didn't close much, if any time at all, it still appears that Shipulin would start a minute down.

 

[python]

so, the quebec skating sprints are NOT cancelled due to cold weather...god news.

here're the start lists:

the ladies:
http://www.fis-ski.com/cross-country/events-and-places/calendar/

men:
http://www.fis-ski.com/cross-country/events-and-places/calendar/

the loop is again longish 1.7 km (more details available in the links pdf's att'd)

i look forward to the red army another defeat

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The steep climb being so close to the end of the sprint is producing some interesting racing, but it's even more of a demolition derby than normal. This is pure carnival sprint racing - entertaining it may be, but it's a bit too much of a lottery with all these crashes taking out major contenders.

 

[May0maniac]

Yeah, at least Pellegrino was still able to win the sprint WC.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And Jouve and Krogh tangling as well took out the latter. The big shock is that after several crash-affected races in a row, the one that gets to the end with everybody upright in it is the one with Strandvall!

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

And Jouve and Krogh tangling as well took out the latter. The big shock is that after several crash-affected races in a row, the one that gets to the end with everybody upright in it is the one with Strandvall!

LOL

 

[Kokoso]

Sweet jesus cancel this tragedy caled sprints.

 

[Kokoso]

Iversen...what the heck???

 

[python]

iversen, krogh and sundby under performing in THIS sprint, means the tour gc is likely eventually btwn ustiugov and northug. of course, the canmore can turn everything around...

today iverson paid the price for a poor selection of of a quarterfinal he had the freedom to exploit according to the new fis sprint rules...

so much better for for ustiugov.

based on what i've seen so far, i feel a 99% certainty ustiugov will winn the quebec sprint final. we should know in just 5 mins....

still, the several seconds gaps will mean nothing given the pursuit race we have tomorrow...

the gap needs to be 30+ seconds for any chaser to strain...tomorrow.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

iversen, krogh and sundby under performing in THIS sprint, means the tour gc is likely eventually btwn ustiugov and northug. of course, the canmore can turn everything around...

today iverson paid the price for a poor selection of of a quarterfinal he had the freedom to exploit according to the new fis sprint rules...

so much better for for ustiugov.

based on what i've seen so far, i feel a 99% certainty ustiugov will winn the quebec sprint final. we should know in just 5 mins....

still, the several seconds gaps will mean nothing given the pursuit race we have tomorrow...

the gap needs to be 30+ seconds for any chaser to strain...tomorrow.

For some reason the feeds I was trying to watch the races on didn't work. How was the race? The final? Apparently, from the NRK ticker, they said that Hattestad wasn't happy with Ustiugov's aggressive skiing in the quarters. Luckily they both advanced. Then Hattestad was 'obstructed' by one of the French in the semi. Also looks like a number of big crashes in the men's field. Read that Ustiugov took the lead but ran out of gas a little bit and wasn't able to keep it going for the win. Is that about what happened? Wrong tactics? What about Northug? Didn't want to expend energy as he saw the Ustiugov wasn't going to gain many seconds, even if he won?

To me, it's now Ustiugov vs Northug. Of course, that could all change as soon as tomorrow. Iversen missed out and Sundby and Krogh tangled up and Krogh crashed. Those are important developments for Ustiugov and Northug.

You must be as thrilled as I am for Stina!!

 

[kingjr]

Ustiugov did what he often does, go hard on the uphills and get overtaken by someone who managed to stay in his slipstream. Usually it's Pellegrino, today it was Gros and Harvey. For Northug, 4th place was about the best he could do today, didn't look like he would win anything here neither in the quarter's or semi's. Hattestad might have been off balance for a moment in that incident with the French, but he didn't have anything left in the tank on that last uphill, and that's what cost him. Ustiugov and Hattestad got tangled up for a moment, because Ustiugov tried hard to get through a gap that actually did look like it might be big enough to get through cleanly, only it wasn't. Nothing particularly interesting about that.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yea, most races had been about the steep final climb in the men's races, although several times there had been incidents on it or at the top of it (most notably Jouve clattering into Krogh, he also tangled with one of the Norwegians later on). In the final Ustiugov went hard on the climb before it (which was proving most decisive in the women's races) and gapped people but on the final steep climb he just ran out of steam so while he probably got what he was aiming for (to the top at the front without traffic) he'd expended too much energy on getting up that climb to have the strength for the sprint.

By the end of the day people seemed to have worked out what was what but in the initial heats, it was a complete lottery and a demolition derby. This course today was absolutely why I maintain my position on sprints: they are a carnival side-show attraction that can be very entertaining once in a while, but should not be allowed to proliferate to the extent that they have one at nearly every World Cup meet. They're artificial and introduce too much of an element of luck, plus too much of this type of racing means the chances for real distance specialists to win are hugely limited compared to the chances for the sprinters, so there's no motivation to become a distance specialist, so the distance races become more processional and they do more sprints because they're less predictable.

For the men there's still a reasonably good spread of competitors across the distances, but women's distance racing is all but dead. There is every reason for a young female skier to want to ape somebody like Kikkan Randall, and absolutely no reason for a young female skier to be inspired by somebody like Kristin Størmer Steira anymore, because there is nothing to do in women's cross country for the type of athlete she was now, except to see if they can stay with Johaug for more than a kilometre before Therese almost literally runs off into the distance, and that's sad.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Ustiugov did what he often does, go hard on the uphills and get overtaken by someone who managed to stay in his slipstream. Usually it's Pellegrino, today it was Gros and Harvey. For Northug, 4th place was about the best he could do today, didn't look like he would win anything here neither in the quarter's or semi's. Hattestad might have been off balance for a moment in that incident with the French, but he didn't have anything left in the tank on that last uphill, and that's what cost him. Ustiugov and Hattestad got tangled up for a moment, because Ustiugov tried hard to get through a gap that actually did look like it might be big enough to get through cleanly, only it wasn't. Nothing particularly interesting about that.

That doesn't usually happen. It happened twice in the tour de ski this year, in both finals he got 2nd in, but that was due to slower skis. Notice the tactic that he employed in winning in Falun and Montreal. I agree it's not the greatest tactic, but he is in really good shape right now and is confident.