Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Mayomaniac]

Klaebo actually defending Wang for being a bit reckless out there has to be the most likable thing he has done on years.

 

[dobrien]

Chanavat back to his best today but still only good enough for second.

That's a pretty high bar you have there! I would love to be 2nd after the best skier in the world and in front of 4 other Norwegians....

 

[frenchfry]

Something more civilised, did Lapalus get sick or something duri g the last weeks? He's nowhere near his Beitestoelen level.

I don't think that up to now Lapalus has been the most consistant, sometimes soon after exceptional performances he falls off the map. He did start very strong this year and is still getting good results, he is not a sprinter.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Skistad just so powerful; and very uncomfortable in the spotlight. I can think of better places to be an introvert than being the top ski star in Norway...

Chanavat very good today; nice to see.

Also the Norwegian press have now had several years of trying to prise media-friendliness out of Heidi Weng, so they're now a bit better versed in how to break through those defensive layers than they were a few years ago too.

Germany back on top in the men's biathlon, Doll was absolutely flying and Horn with a best ever result on his return to the World Cup. He's only here because Rees is ill. Still a bit of a concern for them that sticking four in the top 6 is great but they're 33, 30,29 and 32 (plus any team strategy dependent on Johannes Kühn shooting clean is an unreliable one) and even the young part of the team are 26 and 27. Next man up is 29yo Lucas Fratzscher, at least after that Kaiser and Riethmüller are the right side of 25.

 

[BigCoward]

I know there's been a lot of talk about her classic technique drastically improving. Still, surely some of the specialists try and make the classic portion difficult, otherwise Diggins is going to walk it.

 

[dobrien]

I know there's been a lot of talk about her classic technique drastically improving. Still, surely some of the specialists try and make the classic portion difficult, otherwise Diggins is going to walk it.

Agreed. Ebba also took the day off yesterday; her best tactic today seems unquestionably to drill the classic portion to try and get a gap. Waxing and structure are going to play a huge role too.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I know there's been a lot of talk about her classic technique drastically improving. Still, surely some of the specialists try and make the classic portion difficult, otherwise Diggins is going to walk it.

She's struggling with the classic technique today and is getting dropped by Ebba, Brennan and Slind, but gap isn't big so race definitively not over.

Frida Karlsson completely out of it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That endless downhill is absolutely horrible for the racing though, just negating all the gaps. May as well be a 10k skate race.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

That endless downhill is absolutely horrible for the racing though, just negating all the gaps. May as well be a 10k skate race.

According to the experts the skating course is even worse (much easier).

Hans Christer Holund said yesterday that the easy skating course here is one of the reasons he decided to retire, he doesn't think they are suitable for the skiers that need hard courses to make a difference.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

According to the experts the skating course is even worse (much easier).

Hans Christer Holund said yesterday that the easy skating course here is one of the reasons he decided to retire, he doesn't think they are suitable for the skiers that need hard courses to make a difference.

It's quite clear that FIS have hitched their wagon on Klæbo as basically Northug II. It might also be a result of the way they've chased away so much of the depth of competition so they don't want so many races to be settled within the first couple of kilometres, especially on the women's side where we had years of Johaug just accelerating as soon as she felt like it and dropping everybody immediately.

 

[dobrien]

If Jessie had it she'd be close by now; Ebba looking great, she's been really aggressive. Jessie feeling the sprint a bit I imagine

 

[Mayomaniac]

It's quite clear that FIS have hitched their wagon on Klæbo as basically Northug II. It might also be a result of the way they've chased away so much of the depth of competition so they don't want so many races to be settled within the first couple of kilometres, especially on the women's side where we had years of Johaug just accelerating as soon as she felt like it and dropping everybody immediately.

This, not to mention that they made the TdS as Klaebo friendly as possible...
Tbf, that started when Sundby was demolishing everyone in proper distance races.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

"Tactically brilliant, what a genius, 2nd place for Jessie Diggins"

Like, as soon as the win was off the cards, this was absolutely rudimentary tactics for Diggins. If she got outsprinted by Slind or Stadlober I'd instantly think something was very, very wrong with her.

 

[KZD]

That's a pretty high bar you have there! I would love to be 2nd after the best skier in the world and in front of 4 other Norwegians....

Well its debatable if Klæbo is the best skier in the world but he is the best sprinter. However I don't think Chanavat is exactly thrilled losing to Klæbo again even though he should be proud of the excellent race he did.

Andersson with a great win today. Weng confirms her upward trend and good to see Stadlober back to the good results. The course seems to be really good for Klæbo so I expect him to win in a sprint over Amundsen and Krüger.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Warm weather and the Finns have horrible skis. In other news, the sky is blue...

 

[Mayomaniac]

Musgrave is absurdly strong today.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Also lol about Toeseth getting a verbal warning while Klaebo, who was right behind him and picked the same line, doesn't get one.
Not that it was a big offence anyway, but the golden boy gets as special treatment, as usual.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Valnes top 15 and Wang top 30, tells you all you need to know about the corse and the conditions...

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Also lol about Toeseth getting a verbal warning while Klaebo, who was right behind him and picked the same line, doesn't get one.
Not that it was a big offence anyway, but the golden boy gets as special treatment, as usual.

I went back and looked the replay now and it’s actually quite a big difference between their lines. Tønseth is on the outside with both his feet in the ground and passes three of these wooden boards with both skis on the wrong side. Klæbo is on the outside with his ski in the air over one of the boards. It’s fair to not like Klæbo (I’m not a big fan myself) but you can’t seriously say they both did the same thing and that it’s special treatment.

 

[KZD]

Germans really inconsistent in biathlon, still better than in the last seasons though.

Strømsheim is in the shape of his life. I didn't look at ski times but he was probably the fastest on the course today. Well deserved podium especially after his trouble in the last shooting.

Braisaz looking really strong in the women's side. This could be her year.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I went back and looked the replay now and it’s actually quite a big difference between their lines. Tønseth is on the outside with both his feet in the ground and passes three of these wooden boards with both skis on the wrong side. Klæbo is on the outside with his ski in the air over one of the boards. It’s fair to not like Klæbo (I’m not a big fan myself) but you can’t seriously say they both did the same thing and that it’s special treatment.

Ok, I have to admit that I haven't rewatched it, wouldn't have been more than a verbal warning anyway.

It's just that Klaebo always gets away with 2-3 extra skating steps out of every relevant corner in classic races without any verbal warnings, so you assume the worst.

 

[BigCoward]

Tandrevold, after being the model of consistency so far had a terrible day (just watching on catch up).

 

[dobrien]

Ogden out solidly

 

[Mayomaniac]

That's actually a good performance for Graz in his worse technique, in a field with tons of Norwegians. A top 20 for Barp after he was sick most of the week is also nice.

Calle really good, so far Poromaa hasn't recovered from Covid.

 

[KZD]

Unless the Russians return I fear Klæbo will get at least 5 golds in next year's World Championships after what happened this weekend.

Halfvarsson with a really good race unlike Niskanen who got beaten by Vuorela so it can't be just bad skis.