Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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So Halfvarsson got to do the team sprint because he assured Byström he is in good shape despite the bad results….

now he fell sick and will be replaced by Svensson. It's Calle, after all

 

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Really tough conditions today. Will be a hard race for the pure sprinters if it stays like this.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Cassol with another monster qualifier after Toblach, less than 1sec behind Sundling.

 

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With those ski, the Finnish men will probably struggle to make the finale.

 

[DonAragona]

This prologue is a waste of time, more fun to have semis even if uncompetitive.

Not a great prologue from Dahlqvist, i can't help but feel Sweden are vulnerable if the tactic is for Sundling to send her out in the lead 3 times.

Patrick Winterton " we haven't had 5 or 6 women competing for victory in any event so far" - Has he been watching?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Not a great prologue from Dahlqvist, i can't help but feel Sweden are vulnerable if the tactic is for Sundling to send her out in the lead 3 times.

It will surprise me if Sundling goes full gas 3 times, i expect something like this:

Leg 1: Sundling controlled and then increases the speed a little bit in the last hill to start frying the others and stretching the field a bit to avoid a stressful exchange situation.
Leg 2: Dahlqvist just cruises in the pak.
Leg 3: Sundling goes really fast and drop a lot of people and creates small gaps.
Leg 4: Dahlqvist doesnt go all in, just a steady pace in the first hill to make people work hard to catch the gap. Then she takes it pretty easy in the second part, but tries to change over first.
Leg 5: Sundling goes all in, aim to get a gap of 5ish seconds?
Leg 6: Dahlqvist has to stay away.

But we will see, Lotta Weng looked great in the quali and she is a decent distance skier, so maybe she can limit the loss to below 4 seconds?

 

[DonAragona]

No Poromaa for Sweden? I don't understand skiers who hardly have any medals skipping races in Championships.

Will they even make the finals?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

No Poromaa for Sweden? I don't understand skiers who hardly have any medals skipping races in Championships.

It is pretty hard to race Skiathlon + 10km + Relay + 50km in 8 days. It would surprise me a lot if Poromaa would put equal value to a team sprint medal to a potential medal in the 50k, so to me it makes sense that he - as a distance skier - is focusing on the 4 distance races.

Will they even make the finals?

Yes. Anger just have to beat Latvia with like 0.4 seconds.

 

[DonAragona]

It is pretty hard to race Skiathlon + 10km + Relay + 50km in 8 days. It would surprise me a lot if Poromaa would put equal value to a team sprint medal to a potential medal in the 50k, so to me it makes sense that he - as a distance skier - is focusing on the 4 distance races.

Yes. Anger just have to beat Latvia with like 0.4 seconds.

Klaebo manages, Anger manages...I think Willie needs to toughen up

 

[BigCoward]

Klaebo manages, Anger manages...I think Willie needs to toughen up

It's got nothing to be with being 'tough', some people have better recovery than others.

 

[DonAragona]

It's got nothing to be woth being 'tough', some people have better recovery than others.

Some of these skiers are pampered beyond belief, Poromaa always complains when things don't go his way.

He needs to toughen up.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Klaebo manages, Anger manages...I think Willie needs to toughen up

It is not only about managing, it is about being able to perform and to prioritize based on that.

Of course Poromaa would be able to compete in all races in a World Champs, but if he thinks skiing the sprint relay could means that he will be slightly tired and not able to perform 100% at the 50k it is fully understandable that he is not going to be risking that.

We will see at the 50k how much it has taken out of Klæbo to do all 5 races. I dont think it is controverisal to say that one of the reasons Golberg beat him in the end of the 50k in Planica very well could be the difference that Golberg didnt race 15k and Skiathlon.

And who knows, maybe Anger would have been 4 seconds faster in the 10k if he did not race the skiathlon, we will never know.

 

[Salvarani]

Sundling too good for them!

Go Sweden

 

[DenisMenchov]

What Sundling did today is one for the history books. I've never seen such obliteration of the field three times in a row. Just wow

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Horrible result for the Norwegians

 

[Mayomaniac]

Sundling in another league, but wtf Kern?
Is Joensuu ok? She's still on the ground.

 

[DonAragona]

What a monster stretch from Anger, this kid is like a one man team for the Swedes. Will only get better once once he starts eating some steak.

 

[Mayomaniac]

What a monster stretch from Anger, this kid is like a one man team for the Swedes. Will only get better once once he starts eating some steak.

Yes, Svensson also did better than expected after starting the first lap slow. 4th place for Italy after Pellegrino closed the gap to Lauri and Graz did well is a bit dissapointing, but whatever. Pellegrino could now have a team sprint medal with 3 different teammates, born in 3 different decades, but he isn't that good in classic sprints vs skating ones.

 

[OJRvE]

I think it was a brilliant move from Svensson going so easy the first. He was on the limit in the end and doubt he would have followed if he spent more energy.

Anger is just a beast.

As always superimpressive from Fändrich.

 

[BullsFan22]

German women (likely due to fever) not in form. Likewise Finnish women. Italians had a great prologue, but as is often the case with Cassol, she doesn’t ski well in heats.

 

[Mayomaniac]

German women (likely due to fever) not in form. Likewise Finnish women. Italians had a great prologue, but as is often the case with Cassol, she doesn’t ski well in heats.

Cassol did a decent final lap, catching Skistad and outsprinting Germany but overall you're right about her. I expected a bit more from Ganz, but she probably felt yesterday's effort. Starting a not fit Gimmler who just had been ill might have costed Germany a medal here, but then again, resting Carl after 3 races might win them one in the relay.

 

[OJRvE]

Cassol did a decent final lap, catching Skistad and outsprinting Germany but overall you're right about her. I expected a bit more from Ganz, but she probably felt yesterday's effort. Starting a not fit Gimmler who just had been ill might have costed Germany a medal here, but then again, resting Carl after 3 races might win them one in the relay.

Hennig did not do very well either. I had no focus on Germany but perhaps their skis were bad again as previously in the championship

 

[Mayomaniac]

Hennig did not do very well either. I had no focus on Germany but perhaps their skis were bad again as previously in the championship

Half the German team was just ill, so that could also play a big part.

 

[BullsFan22]

Half the German team was just ill, so that could also play a big part.

They could have put Rydzek

 

[OJRvE]

I wonder if Switzerland could challenge for medal in the women’s relay. On paper with current form and skis
Kälin*2, Weber and Fähndrich feels like a stronger team than USA and there are questionmarks around the Finnish and German teams.