Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[python]

..the elite men finished minutes ago...holund won solidly ahead of everyone. krueger was 2nd and matti "only' 3d.
as i said above, i could not find any live streams, except the nrk1 will have a recording in some 6 hours.

well, i marked holund in a post above, but he still surprised by over a minute on a runner-up...

Kalla was only 12-13 seconds slower than johoug last year !!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

..the elite men finished minutes ago...holund won solidly ahead of everyone. krueger was 2nd and matti "only' 3d.
as i said above, i could not find any live streams, except the nrk1 will have a recording in some 6 hours.

well, i marked holund in a post above, but he still surprised by over a minute on a runner-up...

Kalla was only 12-13 seconds slower than johoug last year !!

I get the feeling the live streams are blocked in the USA IP addresses maybe I might be wrong. but I try all the time to watch almost any x-country event and never any luck. Then again my internet skills are not that refined.

 

[meat puppet]

Re:

..the elite men finished minutes ago...holund won solidly ahead of everyone. krueger was 2nd and matti "only' 3d.
as i said above, i could not find any live streams, except the nrk1 will have a recording in some 6 hours.

well, i marked holund in a post above, but he still surprised by over a minute on a runner-up...

Kalla was only 12-13 seconds slower than johoug last year !!

Wow, holund was super impressive, then!

 

[BullsFan22]

Despite being over a minute behind Holund, Krueger was perhaps just as impressive. He ground it out with Sundby yesterday and almost won. I just wonder if he is in too good a shape too early.

 

[meat puppet]

Good point, bulls.

I would wager that most skiers raced pretty much with a base form only, with training volumes and fatigue near the high water mark of the year and the focus of training on endurance stuff. Some high intensity, such as this race, yes, but mostly volume at low intensity.

That said, it is of course possible that some skiers are a bit or two "ahead" of what would be optimal. I guess we will see.

 

[python]

Re: Re:

..the elite men finished minutes ago...holund won solidly ahead of everyone. krueger was 2nd and matti "only' 3d.
as i said above, i could not find any live streams, except the nrk1 will have a recording in some 6 hours.

well, i marked holund in a post above, but he still surprised by over a minute on a runner-up...

Kalla was only 12-13 seconds slower than johoug last year !!

I get the feeling the live streams are blocked in the USA IP addresses maybe I might be wrong. but I try all the time to watch almost any x-country event and never any luck. Then again my internet skills are not that refined.

semper, i am too much of a fanatic of xc skiing to be stopped by geo-restrictions more likely, i did not search thoroughly enough b/c i am in the middle of last preps for a vacation (we are again traveling south-west...)

indeed most european xc skiing events, just like the tdf or a giro (with some exceptions) are blocked if the broadcasting server observed a non-native ip. but fanatics like myself bypass them...i use restraint and common sense when occasionally tapping the content i am not suppose to. abusing it, would backfire...

when the winter season gets closer, i will pm you on the subject. for the most part, i watch the norwegian nrk (60+%), the swedish svt and the british eurosport (which i hate but use when there's no other option).

 

[meat puppet]

Mens race available here: https://youtu.be/30ijUzuw5fI

womens here: https://youtu.be/pzgi2NCdvBU

Holund is basically solo after the first tunnel. Very brutal start, as the climb only starts at a couple minutes. Before the race heikkinen jokes that he is so tired a crane is needed to lift him up in the morning so this is the chance for a Norwegian to beat him.

Weng tried the same but Kalla resisted and beat her.

 

[ToreBear]

Just saw Lysebotn opp. Kalla took part in this race for the first time and she won. Damn impressive! Perhaps she has reached another level. It will be interesting in November.

 

[python]

i am priming myself for the season by more roller skiing in local parks and... youtubing the best races of the last season.

my fave - by far - was the team relay in lahti. then, krogh ' lost all his teeth', but held of the bear..the conditions were visibly slushy, real soft, which i reckon if frostier would have the norge team in silver...that's why i got to think about the tds stage 5 in toblach. it was a 10 k free individual. not sure how cold it was, but seeing some skiers wearing scarfs over their ears, it looked well into the minus.

anyways, sundby basically lost the overall in that one, single race. he was only 40 something seconds behind before to lose the additional 50 seconds after.

does anyone recall the media explanations as to why ?

i dont recall martin complaining of any crisis or bad skis. methinks, though, b/c the conditions were hard, ustiougov may have been far more efficient in his skate (than sundby) given his enormousness frame would sink in a slush. like it was in a team relay in lahti...

anyone's memory ?

 

[May0maniac]

The Toblach stage was on one of the coldest days of the year, around -20°C in the morning and still between -14 and -12 durning the race and you also had a cold northwind (ok, the lap is sheltered from wind, but it was a really cold day).

 

[Bavarianrider]

Well some interesting changes are about to happen.
The skiathlon will be dumped and the pursuit will return in main Events.
The sprint will only be Freestyle in the future.
The Team sprint will be a mixed Event.

 

[kingjr]

Sounds all good to me.

 

[roundabout]

Well some interesting changes are about to happen.
The skiathlon will be dumped and the pursuit will return in main Events.
The sprint will only be Freestyle in the future.
The Team sprint will be a mixed Event.

Even if this proposal is approved, implementing it is going to take at least a couple of years.

 

[python]

i saw the news of the proposed changes a while back. don't care one way or another, though, the ski cross is another sport imo all together...will enjoy the vc ski sport in whatever expression it is available. that is, until it remains a xc ski sport.

 

[jsem94]

Removing classic sprints makes me want to kill myself.

 

[BullsFan22]

What Mignerey and FIS want to do with cross country skiing is disgusting. Taking away classic sprints and installing ski cross??? Have they gone totally mental?!? They've been saying how they wanted to 'save classic skiing' the last couple seasons....well....not exactly saving it anymore, are they? I think they've given up on it. They are also probably pressured because of ratings, TV, etc.

 

[python]

dont miss the seasonopener in beitostölen ! in just over an hour...

not sure about the eurosport, but nrk will show all 3 days. almost all best is there

 

[BullsFan22]

I'll get criticized for writing this, but hats off to Belov for winning the Gaellivare 10km skate today. The Russians brought a TON of skiers and they are making their selections for the opening world cups which start next week in Ruka/Kuusamo, Finland. Belov didn't win by a lot, but he skied a perfectly paced race and beat the skier of last season, Ustiugov and Cologna, who is always a threat in distance races. The Russians had 8 in the top 10 and 18 out of the first 24. I think all, or most of them have to be in shape to make the world cup squad. It'll be interesting who they take. Of course, it all depends on what FIS will do with the Belov and the other of those suspended by the IOC. If FIS suspends them, then their team get noticeably weaker, but they did well last year to cope with a weaker team. The Russians still have a big pool of skiers to choose from, and I think they have the suspensions in mind, otherwise they wouldn't have brought that many skiers to Sweden. In case those four men: Belov, Legkov, Petukhov and Vylegzhanin don't start the WC season, they have very talented youngsters Chervotkin, Bolshunov (probably the most talented of the upcoming bunch for the Russians), they still have Larkov, Bessmertnykh, Sedov, Kriukov, Retivykh, Gafarov, Parfenov, a host of U23/25 men, and obviously the ace card, Ustiugov, who I think will have another top season this winter, if the Russians are allowed to compete beyond the opening races.

Cologna was good, finished strong. He'll be good the whole year, and there's something about the Olympics that brings out the best in him. I don't know if he's as good as he was 2009-2015, but he should be consistent enough to be a player in any distance race in Pyeongchang.

The Swedes were probably a bit shell shocked after today's races. Hellner was soundly beaten in the style that he prefers, especially the 10-15km races where he does good work. No Halfvarsson, skipping today to race tomorrow. Rickardsson was ok and Burman was behind him. That's probably their Olympic relay team right there. Burman, Rickardsson, Halfvarsson and Hellner. They don't seem to have the depth, and missing Olsson is huge, even if his best days are behind him.

 

[jsem94]

Our national team is a joke nowadays anyway on the men's side. Even Halfvarsson is 28 now. We don't have depth, we don't have a peak, we don't have that many young people coming through. It's going to be some rough years.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Our national team is a joke nowadays anyway on the men's side. Even Halfvarsson is 28 now. We don't have depth, we don't have a peak, we don't have that many young people coming through. It's going to be some rough years.

Halfvarsson's problem is that he's had health issues and so he can't seem to string together a full season where he can compete on a regular basis and not lose form or get sick. Of course when you are in as good of a shape as all of these top guys are, there's often a fine line between top shape and getting ill. Your immune system weakens and you have to be careful, you have to make sure you rest even when you have symptoms of a cold or something else. I know he's had other issues as well, but just pointing that out. When he has been in good form, he's done well, but I always question his tactics. He often worries too much about his opponents than trusting his own tactics (whatever they may be on a particular race). He often looks around to see where Northug is, or Krogh or whoever else he is going up against. It often happens that he is outdone at the finish. He is 28, but that's at or very near someone's peak in xc skiing. Late 20's-early 30's is when racers peak. So I think he can ski for another olympic cycle and still be competitive, and if there are not a lot of top junior or u23's coming up to challenge his place on the national team, then he should be ok, but he should be making a run at medals now. He doesn't have individual medals from any major championship. Rickardsson is probably on his way down. I can't see him skiing past this season. Hellner could ski for another olympic cycle. Burman and Svensson are probably the top U25 prospects for the Swedes right now. Burman in distance races, Svensson in sprints, mostly. The Norwegians and Russians have the luxury of having a large pool of athletes, so they never have a lack of good quality or a lack of numbers, especially the Norwegians. The other nations, even Sweden and Finland, can go through peaks and valleys. Perhaps the Swedes are going through that now. It's probably transition time after the Olympics.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Sundby looked extremely strong, so nothing new here, sadly he'll be the man to beat was again.
Russians have an incredible Talent pool. So many great guys coming up. They'll be giving Norway a run for their money in he years to come it seems.
Well, the Swedes looked hideous but let's not Forget, it's an Qlympic season and guys are taking very different aproaches to reach their Peak in February.
Oh and Björgen well nothing Needs to be said about that i guess.

 

[python]

dont miss gällivare ! the ladies 10k classik interval just started, men 15 k C starts in 1H...

 

[Bavarianrider]

Damn the Rssians have one huge tea, so many good atheletes, incredible :surprised:
And dthat Bolushnev guy might very well be the next cross coutry super star.
Does anyone know why Northug didn't compete in Beitöstölen yesterday?

 

[jsem94]

Russian domination in Sweden. Maybe this just pushes Putin to invade smh.

 

[python]

...so much more relaxing to watch svt and listen to their commentators compared to the nrk's who sream way too much for my ears .
re. bolshunov and chervotkin...these 2 have been sweeping world's junior and u23 for a while now. almost as dominantly as ustiougov at his time...obviously both are huge talents and i'd bet that chervo may go even further than bolshunov. he's a bulldog !

it was no invasion but an obvious chance for their wider team to take advantage of the excellent swedish conditions and hospitality. that they looked a lot better than the home crowd may have a bit to do with what's going on and some stronger motivation. only calle was comparable...my twin danny was so so...hellner ? no one should expect him to shine in a classic.