Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[titan31]

Klaebo and Iversen done for here now and look wrecked. Roethe looks incredible but not sure he can beat Bolshunov

And Roethe just blew badly there. Hit the wall completely

 

[titan31]

Pretty deserved winner. He's an ass but was the best today. If Norway had played more of a team game, they could probably have kept Klaebo in there I think but Bolshunov was too strong for Holund and Krueger

 

[Silhouette]

Well deserved win, Bolshunov did all the work.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Fitting of Bolshunov to do a Stannard on the day of Omloop.

 

[Mayomaniac]

The Norge-slayer delivered and got a well deserved Gold medal.

 

[Norbea]

Well done by Bolshunov. He was in control all the way.

 

[roundabout]

Probably as close to a dominant non-breakaway mass-start win as it gets.

Great job.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Perfect race by Bolshunov. Fighting off the Norwegian army. Besides Bolshunov, no one who did something meaningful in the Tour de Ski was to be seen today. I think that is a blueprint for the future. Wha a disaster for the German team. Not that i am suprised, though. Schlickenrieder should resign today.

 

[BullsFan22]

Yeah I read that even within his own team he doesn’t get along well with some. He’s too cold for my liking but I am glad to see him beat the Norwegians. Five against one and he beat all of them. Sad that no other Russian could stick in and help him, or that no other racer from France, Sweden, Niskanen or Cologna could fight for the top places. Not good for the sport, IMO.

 

[BullsFan22]

Perfect race by Bolshunov. Fighting off the Norwegian army. Besides Bolshunov, no one who did something meaningful in the Tour de Ski was to be seen today. I think that is a blueprint for the future. Wha a disaster for the German team. Not that i am suprised, though. Schlickenrieder should resign today.

Poor skis for the Germans or simply terrible preparation? It’s one thing for the German men to be off the pace, but Hennig finishing in 29th when she’s had a pretty good season so far is very troublesome. Her only shot now is the 30km but at this rate she would be fortunate with a top 15.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yeah I read that even within his own team he doesn’t get along well with some. He’s too cold for my liking but I am glad to see him beat the Norwegians. Five against one and he beat all of them. Sad that no other Russian could stick in and help him, or that no other racer from France, Sweden, Niskanen or Cologna could fight for the top places. Not good for the sport, IMO.

He gets on well enough with Zherebryateva, though

 

[Mayomaniac]

Poor skis for the Germans or simply terrible preparation? It’s one thing for the German men to be off the pace, but Hennig finishing in 29th when she’s had a pretty good season so far is very troublesome. Her only shot now is the 30km but at this rate she would be fortunate with a top 15.

The athletes complained about their skis after the sprint, maybe that was the problem.
Moch was 10th in the last Skiathlon before the WC, but he's young and also did the U23 WC, so you shouldn't have super high exectations for him. Hennig was also really good in the last few races, so I find it hard to put all the blame on their preparation, overall they seemed to get better and better during the season.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Such a beautiful race. It was really a 30km competition, and Bolle blew them all away. I think he was the leader across the stadium in every lap. Skis worked perfectly for him too, so shout out to the servicemen as well.

 

[Bavarianrider]

The athletes complained about their skis after the sprint, maybe that was the problem.
Moch was 10th in the last Skiathlon before the WC, but he's young and also did the U23 WC, so you shouldn't have super high exectations for him. Hennig was also really good in the last few races, so I find it hard to put all the blame on their preparation, overall they seemed to get better and better during the season.

Well, in my option the truth shows when everyone brings their A game. I have a hard time believing that this was all on the skies. Conditions like that are pretty common in middle Europe. Can not see that the waxing crew was caught off guard by this.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Well, in my option the truth shows when everyone brings their A game. I have a hard time believing that this was all on the skies. Conditions like that are pretty common in middle Europe. Can not see that the waxing crew was caught off guard by this.

Yeah, you have a point when it comes to those conditions. Hennig usually a lot better than today and Moch is still mainly a prospect at this point.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

All Norway podium impending in the NoCo. Svenja Würth skis like, well, a ski jumper who only recently converted to doing both and knows that work needs doing on that side of her game. Tara Geraghty-Moats was the obvious favourite but she flubbed the jump completely, problem for her is you only get to be the inaugural champion once so even though she's been the dominant athlete in the sport in its formative years (not surprising as she went to ski jumping from biathlon so she had a headstart on training for doing both competitive XC times and ski jumping as hopp is NOT a skill you just pick up one day in your early 20s and go to the World Cup, so she must have been training it while she was active as a biathlete), she's nowhere today. Gaps from the jump too big for any real suspense in the skiiing over just 5km, I'm afraid. This is a sport in its infancy so they can weather some mis-steps, but feel the points-to-time accrued in the standard Gundersen method is too wide for such a short skiing distance on current calculation method, and given most of the inaugural World Cup season has had to be cancelled it's really hurt the ability for them to really showcase themselves too much. The crash for Marte Leinan Lund costing her the silver was the only real point of drama when it came to the medals, unfortunately. They'll get there - the ski jumpers are now getting a better calendar, more large hills and a proper World Championships program that matches the men's, so should be taken as the example in terms of timescales to follow, I feel - and the majority of the athletes are really young so as they get more experienced the standard will improve too. Once there are enough women to make it viable, a mixed relay could be a great addition to NoCo to shake things up a bit.

Though I still favour an individual start ski race followed by the jump as a means to change the format up once in a while, get the weaker jumpers jumping under pressure rather than always the weaker skiers trying to hang on.

 

[BullsFan22]

I know it’s been 13 months, but at the 30km skiathlon on this same course, with better ski conditions, the German men had a great race, three of them in the top 15, if I remember correctly. None of those were even close to that today, and I actually think these warm, wet conditions actually suit them better. As Bavarian noted, this sort of weather and snow is what Central European racers are used to, I think more than the Scandinavians and Russians, so it’s probably not the skis or the waxing that was the issue for them, but peaking early. In Seefeld two years ago it was more or less the same conditions, and the Germans had some of the best skis in the field. I specifically remember Andreas Katz glide from the teens into the top positions during the skiathlon, in the classic portion. Eisenlauer had the best skis out of all the lead off men in the relay, only losing a few seconds to Larkov and Iversen.

Fast track to today. Well, unfortunately Eurosport didn’t bother with the women’s skiathlon and only started showing the men’s race after the pit stop, so I don’t know how anybody besides the leaders looked, or where the pack broke apart.

Klæbo easily stayed with the pace, well into the skate leg, so while the pace wasn’t slow at the front, it wasn’t brutally hard. Niskanen skied at the front but he’s not in shape, perhaps. He had a much better skiathlon in Seefeld.

Do the Russians put Bolshunov in the team sprint tomorrow?? After this sort of effort, I am not sure it’s a good idea. Ustiugov is in good shape. The only worry for him is the injury he sustained two days before the sprint. If he has control over that he should be put in the team. After that it’s Retivykh. A very good, very consistent sprinter who won two medals in Seefeld, but sometimes falls asleep during the heats and leaves himself too much to make up. In Ulricehamn three weeks ago he was taken out by Suhonen during the team sprint semifinal. Then there’s the senior rookie, Terentjev, who dominated the u23 sprint and has had several semifinal appearances at the WC. Young and fresh legs, but no experience. After him it’s Maltsev, more of a distance skier but has the speed and made the finals in Val Müstair and Val Di Fiemme and was 7th in Davos, granted without the Norwegians. The Swedes, French, Italians and Finns will have much more fresh men, and tbt Italians and French are better in skating, so maybe keeping Bolshunov fresh for other races would be smart than just forcing the issue every race.

 

[KZD]

Very impressive win for Bolshunov. Clearly the strongest today and finally gets his fight gold in big Championships. I expect him to win medals in every other race, maybe even five golds although that is almost impossible because the rest of the team doesn't look as good.
Among the Norwegians, Roethe had a bad day and he will probably be out of the relay, while Klaebo surprised me with the fourth place, clearly his best dstance race in a big Championships and beating his friend Iversen. The downside of these is that both spent too much energy and that's why I give and almost equal chance to Russia tomorrow.

In the women Johaug won as expected, I remain curious to see if she could have dropped Karlsson and Andersson in a straight up fight but nonetheless she was the strongest. Sorina really good in the classic but blew up in the skating part. Incredible how Kalla is still in the mix in these races, she can still grab an individual medal here. Diggins comically bad today but the Americans will still be dangerous tomorrow although I can't see anyone beating the Swedes in normal circumstances.

 

[BullsFan22]

He gets on well enough with Zherebryateva, though

Well I should hope so

 

[zarnack]

Quite big gaps in skiathlon races today. Obviously the conditions were difficult (as they usually are with + degrees) and probably some had less-than-optimal wax. Diggins? Hennig? You better wish they had trouble with skis, otherwise their championship prospects don't look good.

Johaug didn't decide the race in the first 5 minutes as in Seefeld, but still a comfortable win. In terms of team strength of Sweden showed its hand. And just like MC Falla in sprint - almost similarly named Kalla times her form perfectly for the major championships again. Meanwhile other Norwegian women apart from Johaug weren't particularly convincing. Though Fossesholm is good in skating, but H.Weng has traditionally had trouble peaking her form championships anyway.

And of course noteworthy surprise is Claudel's performance. How far back do we need to go to find a French woman that competitive? Sophie Villeneuve?

Men's race was interestingly similar to last year's skiathlon in the same place (Oberstdorf) except the gap between Bolshunov+Norwegians and the rest was far bigger today than then. But I guess that's an accurate representation of the situation today. The rest of the world is lightyears behind the elite. Neither Pärmäkoski nor Niskanen made it into top10, so Finland doesn't look too good either at the moment.

 

[BullsFan22]

Quite big gaps in skiathlon races today. Obviously the conditions were difficult (as they usually are with + degrees) and probably some had less-than-optimal wax. Diggins? Hennig? You better wish they had trouble with skis, otherwise their championship prospects don't look good.

Johaug didn't decide the race in the first 5 minutes as in Seefeld, but still a comfortable win. In terms of team strength of Sweden showed its hand. And just like MC Falla in sprint - almost similarly named Kalla times her form perfectly for the major championships again. Meanwhile other Norwegian women apart from Johaug weren't particularly convincing. Though Fossesholm is good in skating, but H.Weng has traditionally had trouble peaking her form championships anyway.

And of course noteworthy surprise is Claudel's performance. How far back do we need to go to find a French woman that competitive? Sophie Villeneuve?

Men's race was interestingly similar to last year's skiathlon in the same place (Oberstdorf) except the gap between Bolshunov+Norwegians and the rest was far bigger today than then. But I guess that's an accurate representation of the situation today. The rest of the world is lightyears behind the elite. Neither Pärmäkoski nor Niskanen made it into top10, so Finland doesn't look too good either at the moment.

Diggins is fortunate they salted the tracks before the race. The conditions, despite being 5, 6 degrees held up reasonably well and going up the hills the snow seemed quite hard. Can’t be skis. It’s form. She and Brennan peaked in January. We’ll see what the next races bring. She’s got a skate team sprint tomorrow, 10km skate on Tuesday and the relay on Thursday.

 

[zarnack]

Line-ups for team sprints are out.

So no Ustiugov. I thought he was rested from skiathlon with that purpose in mind, so does that mean his form isn't really good enough? Then Russia will need to make changes for 15 km given that behind Bolshunov others struggled. Belov will be left out of 15 km, I assume.

USA has no Diggins and has Brennan/Bjornsen instead (both of who rested today). A somewhat surprising turn of events. Also no Svahn for Sweden (which was perhaps expected based on sprint), which means that Sundling is probably likely to take the anchor leg of 4x5 km relay as well.

Anyway, quite a lot of team sprints have seen group finishes on world cup due to easy courses. Also Seefeld WCH was effectively a group finish. Given the conditions, I wonder if tomorrow gives the opportunity to create some gaps? As in Lahti '17/Pyeongchang '18 at least.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Do the Russians put Bolshunov in the team sprint tomorrow?? After this sort of effort, I am not seguros it’s a good idea.

Startlist for now has him on with Retivykh against Klaebo/Valnes. Italians with De Fabiani and Pellegrino.

 

[roundabout]

Line-ups for team sprints are out.

So no Ustiugov. I thought he was rested from skiathlon with that purpose in mind, so does that mean his form isn't really good enough? Then Russia will need to make changes for 15 km given that behind Bolshunov others struggled. Belov will be left out of 15 km, I assume.

USA has no Diggins and has Brennan/Bjornsen instead (both of who rested today). A somewhat surprising turn of events. Also no Svahn for Sweden (which was perhaps expected based on sprint), which means that Sundling is probably likely to take the anchor leg of 4x5 km relay as well.

Anyway, quite a lot of team sprints have seen group finishes on world cup due to easy courses. Also Seefeld WCH was effectively a group finish. Given the conditions, I wonder if tomorrow gives the opportunity to create some gaps? As in Lahti '17/Pyeongchang '18 at least.

Ustiugov said that he aggravated the injury that he sustained in the pre-Worlds test race in the individual sprint.

This looks like a harder than an average team sprint course, so I am guessing that it won't be a group finish for once.

Edit: although it seems that the summit of the last climb is further from the finish line than I initially remembered - circa 400 meters and it's about 170 meters uphill to make enough of a difference which may be too little

https://tramino.s3.amazonaws.com/s/oberstdorf-2021/1080983/ger-oberstdorf-wc20-17-02-1-2.pdf

 

[DenisMenchov]

37 teams in the men sprint tomorrow and 28 teams in women's race. Some interesting teams (Brazil, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Greece, Australia, Hungary, Mongolia). In your face biathlon! (you can only support 30 teams)

I wonder how many of those will be lapped in qualifications