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Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

Page 146 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Sep 25, 2009
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just finished watching the drammen sprint qulas (thnk you, nrk)

the results are not dull. in the ladies, parma won. stina was in solid 4th just behind oestberg that seems to find her season-end form. interestingly the norge girls did not dominate at all with falla -surprisingly - just outside top 30.

in men, klaebo literally clobbered everyone. pun intended. gaining almost 4 sec on a runner up...and this was a 2.5 +/- min effort...ustiuogov was 'only' 10th. northug made it but just. pelle was the best non-norge in 5th. kriukov - out, hamilton- out, poltoranin -out...a couple of russian young-bloods - in. the best swede - peterson to comprise a total 3 swedes in the finals..

i did not see anyone using the double poling, though the conditions were posted as hard packed. not cold though.

klaebo is the likeliest winner...perhaps all 3 podiums to the norge boys. not likely the same in the ladies...
 
Sep 25, 2009
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a little surprising to see klaebo bested by brandsdal after the huge gaps he inflicted on everyone in each of his heats..
the only non-norge in the final, ustiougov used a smart tactic and it gave him another podium. objectively, i don't think he could expect anything better today. not the right course, not his fave skating style, too many super motivated norwegians. i was relieved seeing petter outside the podium.

the ladies final could not have ended better - well, nothing against parma, but ingermarsdotter would have completed a nice 100% swedish podium. stina ruled and still rules. it was almost too easy after seeing her struggles in lahti.

once again, ustiougov continued his reputation of the norwegian upsetter.
 
Re:

python said:
a little surprising to see klaebo bested by brandsdal after the huge gaps he inflicted on everyone in each of his heats..
the only non-norge in the final, ustiougov used a smart tactic and it gave him another podium. objectively, i don't think he could expect anything better today. not the right course, not his fave skating style, too many super motivated norwegians. i was relieved seeing petter outside the podium.

the ladies final could not have ended better - well, nothing against parma, but ingermarsdotter would have completed a nice 100% swedish podium. stina ruled and still rules. it was almost too easy after seeing her struggles in lahti.

once again, ustiougov continued his reputation of the norwegian upsetter.

Brandsdal had a point to prove after being left out of the sprint team in Lahti. Though to be fair, the other 5 guys that races at World's deserved it more, as Brandsdal didn't ski well enough nor did he win at the nationals, where that was essentially his last chance to qualify. This Drammen course really suits him well with the gradual climb to the finish, where he can do damage with either diagonal striding or double poling, but he blasted past Klaebo fairly impressively.

These podium finishes are just bonuses for Ustiugov. This is the 7th straight race (world championships + world cups) in which he has taken part in and has gotten on the podium. Impressive stuff. The only bummer is that he may not be going to Canada for the world cup finals in a couple weeks. He moved up in the sprint rankings, is now in third and within striking distance of the lead. It would be a major downer if he didn't travel to Quebec and go for the overall sprint win. There is a skate sprint on the first day of the mini tour. He is three hundred points behind Sundbyi in the overall, so that's tough. He skied tactically well today and like you said, maximized his result.

Nilsson apparently was almost disqualified for double poling in a double pole free zone. The jury met with her and decided not to DQ her.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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at sworks
all my posts were placed just minutes after the races or during. i watch while any commentary is muted. what i commented on is what i saw. it is reflected based on my - usually up-to-date - knowledge of the sport. thus, the special zones in drammen, if their markings were not visible on the screen, which they weren't, remained unknown to me. frankly, the special zones are not the way i would protect the classic style.

at bullsfan
ustiuogov had a long and very successful season. his performance at lahti was historic. if i was the coach of the 24 yo prodigy, having in mind his achievements this season vs the remaining goals to be husbanded carefully, i'd say your season is over. go home play and relax. all the minor worldcup goal s you mentioned imo would be excessively strenuous given the stress of traveling to canada.

the world cup victories can be scheduled for the seasons not containing the world championships or the lympics. at 24 it would be more than a reasonable long shot. no ? btw, it is almost a certainty serhey wont go to canada. per him. per vialbe too.
 
I really really am sick of Fourcade now. I get that in a pursuit or mass start he should be able to win with 1 miss, but not a sprint, everyone else needs to seriously up their game. Pleased for Eckhoff, she was looking good last week as well, hopefully she can carry this over to next season.

Holmenkollen 50, both biathlon pursuits and the queen stages of Tirreno and Paris Nice on the same day. My wife isn't going to be impressed.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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niskanen looks struggling but i did see the grimace on the sundby face too...interesting if niskanen will go for a ski change. he has too given he missed the previous one. will sundby pass the change ?

interesting the tractic behind. bess and harvey tried to activate the group of chasers full of norges but the gap is not shrinking. ustiougov was never gonna be a factor today. not his style, not his fave distance.
 
Apr 22, 2012
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Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
Yea, I think Sundby has this, think Iivo had to go pretty deep to stay with the beard on his old skis to the end of lap 4. I doubt he'll gamble on a second pair of new skis for the last lap because these ones look to be gliding well downhill at least.
Sundby had to go pretty deep to catch Niskanen after ski change though ;) I think you are just excusing Niskanen for eventual loss.

Sundby looks alwas bit faster downhill somehow. Niskanen should finish from first position.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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the way i read the race, sundby was trying to drop livo, but could not. either he is getting tired, or trying to leave some strength for one final burst... i do not see a downside for either of the 2 leaders to change the skis last time - they have plenty of time - over 1 min over the chasers. the one open question is who is going 3d. harvey right now is preferred, but there is still 8km to go and anyone of the chasers can still die...
 
Re: Re:

Kokoso said:
Libertine Seguros said:
Yea, I think Sundby has this, think Iivo had to go pretty deep to stay with the beard on his old skis to the end of lap 4. I doubt he'll gamble on a second pair of new skis for the last lap because these ones look to be gliding well downhill at least.
Sundby had to go pretty deep to catch Niskanen after ski change though ;) I think you are just excusing Niskanen for eventual loss.

Sundby looks alwas bit faster downhill somehow. Niskanen should finish from first position.
Sundby went hard to catch Iivo and pull out the gap, Iivo went hard to stay with him, but Iivo's deep effort was later in the race (and was before we got to the part of the race where he's started taking the pacemaking duties) and I kind of think Sundby is stronger and also his efficiency of technique is an advantage, so anticipate Sundby winning.

The last few kilometres since I wrote that have redressed that a bit, as Niskanen having been able to tuck in behind has come into play.
 
Apr 22, 2012
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Re: Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
Sundby went hard to catch Iivo and pull out the gap, Iivo went hard to stay with him, but Iivo's deep effort was later in the race
Sundyb stretching the gap and trying to get rid of Niskanen coincides with time Livo had to go deep to stay with Sundby though ;)
 
Sep 25, 2009
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there could not have been a more deserving podium the entire season than bessmertych. congrats man ! he was dying, he was dead but out sprinted a much better sprinter harvey.

great race !
 

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