Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Bavarianrider]

Only the Russians are probably bad enough to force some of their skiers to race the (horrible) Tour if they want to get selected for the Olympics...
Bolshunov will probably be allowed to skip the Tour, but I fear for someone like Ustiugov. Someone like Spitsov could probably gamble a bit and try to win the Tour de Ski.

I see your point, of course. Still I think the Russland wont be as stupid as to blow the Olympics for the TDS. I think they will online send their second tier guys to the TDS. Ustiugov missed the Olympics in 2018, so I think he wants to be there at his best, this time.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I don't know if it has been reported outside of Italy, but Pellegrino and De Fabiani are no longer working with the Italian team. They are now training under Markus Cramer and part of his training group with the Russians (Ustiugov, Maltsev, Belov and Retivych).
I can't blame them for wanting to get away from the Italian skiing federation...
Watch out for them now having their best season ever.

 

[BigCoward]

Watched some highlights of summer biathlon the other day. It made me think maybe I don't like biathlon and only like the snow covered scenery. I couldn't get into it at all.

 

[Bavarianrider]

I don't know if it has been reported outside of Italy, but Pellegrino and De Fabiani are no longer working with the Italian team. They are now training under Markus Cramer and part of his training group with the Russians (Ustiugov, Maltsev, Belov and Retivych).
I can't blame them for wanting to get away from the Italian skiing federation...
Watch out for them now having their best season ever.

I really hope you are right and they will ahve a good season. XC skiing desperately needs otheers nations to catch up a little bit again. That total Norwegian - Bolshunov domination is getting a bit frustrating. I hope Sweden, Finnland, Italy catch up a little again. There are no real indications for this happening so far, though. So Fabiani and Pelligrini getting a good boost from joining the Krammer group would really be welcome.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I really hope you are right and they will ahve a good season. XC skiing desperately needs otheers nations to catch up a little bit again. That total Norwegian - Bolshunov domination is getting a bit frustrating. I hope Sweden, Finnland, Italy catch up a little again. There are no real indications for this happening so far, though. So Fabiani and Pelligrini getting a good boost from joining the Krammer group would really be welcome.

Sweden has a few younger athletes who could improve and become a factor.
I think that De Fabiani and Pellegrini should improve in their new training group, the Italian skiing federation is a mess. If things don't go well the higher ups usually start throwing their athletes under the bus instead of being critical of their own approach and some coaches...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Watched some highlights of summer biathlon the other day. It made me think maybe I don't like biathlon and only like the snow covered scenery. I couldn't get into it at all.

The problem with summer biathlon is manifold, starting with the fact that it's obviously out of season. I find that for the most part people don't treat it as anything more than kilometres in the legs, there aren't really any athletes who target them, pretty much none of the western European or Scandinavian teams compete, and everybody is in different stages in their summer training so they're just a chance to get some training in competition in, and most people are being assessed relative to their teammates and to their expected form, rather than against the active competition, so there doesn't feel like there's any genuine jeopardy in the range or any real pressure on the trails.

 

[Bavarianrider]

No suprise at all. Klaebo has announced he wont be at the TDS.

 

[search]

Dresden will not be part of the world cup calender on from the 2022/23 winter anymore. On from the year after, Oberhof is planed be included as a new addition, though

Wintersport | Skilanglauf: Dresdner Langlauf-Weltcup endet vorerst nach fünfter Auflage

Der Langlauf-Weltcup in Dresden im Dezember wird vorerst der letzte in der Elbmetropole sein. Wie die Veranstalter am Donnerstag mitteilten, endet mit der fünften Auflage der Vertrag des DSV mit dem Weltverband Fis.

www.sportschau.de

Wintersport: Langlauf-Weltcup kehrt nach Oberhof zurück | MDR.DE

Oberhof kann sich ab 2023/2024 auf einen neuen Höhepunkt in der Wintersaison freuen. Die weltbesten Skilanglangläufer machen dann wieder Station. Ob Dresden als Weltcupstandort eine Zukunft hat, ist dagegen offen.

www.mdr.de

 

[Bavarianrider]

Dresden will not be part of the world cup calender on from the 2022/23 winter anymore. On from the year after, Oberhof is planed be included as a new addition, though

Wintersport | Skilanglauf: Dresdner Langlauf-Weltcup endet vorerst nach fünfter Auflage

Der Langlauf-Weltcup in Dresden im Dezember wird vorerst der letzte in der Elbmetropole sein. Wie die Veranstalter am Donnerstag mitteilten, endet mit der fünften Auflage der Vertrag des DSV mit dem Weltverband Fis.

www.sportschau.de

Wintersport: Langlauf-Weltcup kehrt nach Oberhof zurück | MDR.DE

Oberhof kann sich ab 2023/2024 auf einen neuen Höhepunkt in der Wintersaison freuen. Die weltbesten Skilanglangläufer machen dann wieder Station. Ob Dresden als Weltcupstandort eine Zukunft hat, ist dagegen offen.

www.mdr.de

Well Dresden gone is obviously good news. But lord have merci, no Oberhof please. While the tracks are good, 9 out of 10 times weather and snow conditions are absolutely astrocious there.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Some news on the olympic tracks. It appears as if they are quite demanding. For eample, the 50km race has an elevation gain of 2040m, which is close to the maximum allowed elevation of 2100m.
Of course, that alone is not tellling the whole story, but it is a good start at least.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Some news on the olympic tracks. It appears as if they are quite demanding. For eample, the 50km race has an elevation gain of 2040m, which is close to the maximum allowed elevation of 2100m.
Of course, that alone is not tellling the whole story, but it is a good start at least.

The area is also at around 1,700m of altitude and with the Nordic events taking place in the Chongli District up in the mountains it should be cold (the area is close to the inner Mongolia), so I expect proper winter weather.
The Russians usually love those conditions.

 

[Bavarianrider]

The area is also at around 1,700m of altitude and with the Nordic events taking place in the Chongli District up in the mountains it should be cold (the area is close to the inner Mongolia), so I expect proper winter weather.
The Russians usually love those conditions.

It is already winter there.

 

[BullsFan22]

They already changed the sprint course though, making it shorter for the men. It’ll be the same distance for men and women. They said they needed to make it more ‘dynamic,’ for TV…it’s still a tough course for a sprint, but could have been tougher.

After the last two world championships, where they raced in 10-15 degree weather almost every race, it’ll be nice to have a proper winter again.

As far as the Dresden and Oberhof WC are concerned, I think it’s good they are scrapping Dresden. They need to have a course in the old town, not on a little patch of grass tucked behind the hotel. Oberhof has tough tracks, but as Bavarian said, the conditions there are often miserable, sometimes rain, sometimes fog, sometimes wind, ice, slush, heavy wet snow, rarely nice weather.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Kalle Halverson has dropped two kilos of muscle mass. He wants to drop another two kilos for the Olympics. He hopes this will enhance his performance in distance races.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Cologna has announced his retirement after this season.

 

[BullsFan22]

Linn Svahn out for the season. Had surgery for the injury she suffered in Ulricehamn in February. Not able to recover yet. Big loss for the Swedes, even if their sprint team is still the best in the women’s division.

 

[Bavarianrider]

So the season startet total with the first FIS sprint in Muonio. Valnes destroyed everyone in the Quali but came in only forth in the end. Trentev won in front of Ustiugov and Pellegrino.

 

[BullsFan22]

To me it seemed like Ustiugov won, at least watching the video clips. The results and website still had him as the winner. That must have been the longest analysis of a photo finish ever.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Niskanen wins the 15km classic in Muonio 5 seconds in front of Chervotkin. Ustiugov loses almost a minute. Yet another piss poor performance by the German men.

 

[BullsFan22]

So Ustiugov did in fact win the sprint, as originally posted on the results. Took a while for them to clear that out.

Niskanen looking as fluid as ever. Chervotkin also looking better technically than he ever has. 52 seconds for Ustiugov in 15km might sound like a lot, but Niskanen has always skied very well at home and in the early races, while Ustiugov traditionally hasn’t. This is actually good for him. If he can stay healthy there’s no doubt he’ll be a threat later in the season.

Yeah the German men not looking good. They have no sprinters and their distance skiers are subpar at the moment. The women on the other hand are looking good. That said, it is the first race weekend of the year and who knows how everyone is reacting to the training they’ve had, particularly as a lot of them have been at altitude this Summer and Fall. Only Hennig was able to ski well during most of the season last year, whereas Gimmler came strong in the last month of the season, and Carl started well, then didn’t ski as well in the middle, then skied well again in the last few weeks of the season. If they can all hit their peak at the Olympics, I think they can fight for a medal. Last year they were in contention for bronze until Diggins and Pärmäkoski accelerated on the toughest hill in Oberstdorf.

 

[BigCoward]

Anyone know why the races aren't on eurosport (or at least aren't in the UK).

 

[Mayomaniac]

Niskanen wins the 15km classic in Muonio 5 seconds in front of Chervotkin. Ustiugov loses almost a minute. Yet another piss poor performance by the German men.

Today Bing finished 8th and Moch 10th, that's already a lot better.
I expected more from the Italians, De Fa and Pellegrino finished 23rd and 22nd, but it's still pre-season and they are now training with Cramer, so I'll wait and see how they do at the big events. Sucks for the young guys on the Italian team because they no longer have good reference points in training, but I can't blame those 2 for wanting to be in a better traning group...

 

[Bavarianrider]

Anyone know why the races aren't on eurosport (or at least aren't in the UK).

These are Just Fis test races, no World Cups.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Today Bing finished 8th and Moch 10th, that's already a lot better.
I expected more from the Italians, De Fa and Pellegrino finished 23rd and 22nd, but it's still pre-season and they are now training with Cramer, so I'll wait and see how they do at the big events. Sucks for the young guys on the Italian team because they no longer have good reference points in training, but I can't blame those 2 for wanting to be in a better traning group...

Well, I was really disapointed when I saw de Fabiani and Pellegrinos results. I hope this is not a bad sign. Ustiugov did pretty well today. He seems to be heading into the right direction, at least.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Interesting result in Gälivari. Johansson a 21 year old Swedish guy one in front of Cologna. Maybe Sweden has a New prospect for the future?