Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Silhouette]

There's going to be a lot of debris from the trees in the tracks. I wouldn't want to ski in front for the first laps.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Do you have the full results?

https://flgr-results.ru/results/2283/9181

 

[search]

There's going to be a lot of debris from the trees in the tracks. I wouldn't want to ski in front for the first laps.

they have now delayed the start by another 30 minutes, which hopefully will help to clean the tracks

 

[search]

Behle is not happy at all with Schlicki lining up a pure freestyle specialist in position #1.

The coaching team must have had a couple of drinks, he says

 

[Salvarani]

Truls doing great so far.

Go Sweden!

 

[Salvarani]

Novak and Gisselman! Both great on the first leg here.

 

[No Excuses]

Sweden with crash?

 

[Salvarani]

Damn, he fell

 

[No Excuses]

Wonder whats going on with Burman this season

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I know the course is easy but could they not have just dropped Grond?

 

[Mayomaniac]

I know the course is easy but could they not have just dropped Grond?

France should have upped the pace early, Dapra just didn't have it, now you know why I was sceptical about his chances.
Carollo is probably a bit cooked atm, but put in Nöckler or even De Fabiani in the 2nd leg and Pellegrino takes a medal. I'm a bit salty right now, tbh...

 

[BigCoward]

The other 3 Norwegians should have taken it easy, to make klaebo have to put in a shift before the 50k.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Carollo is probably a bit cooked atm, but put in Nöckler or even De Fabiani in the 2nd leg and Pellegrino takes a medal. I'm a bit salty right now, tbh...

I don’t think Noeckler or Fabiani would’ve been close to keep up on the last part of the second loop. They would’ve been dropped together with Ketterson and never made it back. I don’t think there is any ways Italy medals this race without Barp in good form.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I don’t think Noeckler or Fabiani would’ve been close to keep up on the last part of the second loop. They would’ve been dropped together with Ketterson and never made it back. I don’t think there is any ways Italy medals this race without Barp in good form.

If Carollo was in good shape they'd still have a legit shot.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

If Carollo was in good shape they'd still have a legit shot.

Where would you put him to make a difference? Last leg? He still would get blasted by Grond and Anger. Third and Graz on last wouldn’t make any difference. Second leg? I don’t think it’s reasonalbe to expect him to keep up there.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Where would you put him to make a difference? Last leg? He still would get blasted by Grond and Anger. Third and Graz on last wouldn’t make any difference. Second leg? I don’t think it’s reasonalbe to expect him to keep up there.

Second leg, he's a good classic skier. Maybe Lorenzo Romano (if they nominated him) in the 3rd leg and Graz in the last one? But yeah, hard to argue against the fact that Italy really missed a healthy and in shape Elia Barp...

 

[DenisMenchov]

Sweden has a big question to answer right now. Where does Norway put Johaug? Obviously Sweden goes with Anderson vs Johaug and Sundling in the last leg. But will Johaug go first or second? Then you have to put Karlsson in classics because that's much harder part of the race, but that leaves you vulnerable in third leg.

And, what if Norway take a chance and put Johaug there?! You end up with your weakest athletes on a 7.5km loop against Johaug and the gold might just slip away. Obvously Norway have the firepower in Slind and Weng to at least match the top two Swedes in classics, and Fosnaes or Sanness can keep Sundling at bay.

So having said all that, I would risk it as Sweden with Ilar, Karlsson, Anderson and Sundling.

And if I were Norway I would go Slind, Johaug, Weng, Sanness

 

[BullsFan22]

Ilar will likely lose time vs either Slind or Johaug. She could end up losing 30 seconds or more, even if they have equally good skis. I highly doubt Norway will hang around at any point, considering the Swedes have Sundling on the anchor leg.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Obvisouly the easiest road to gold would be to nominate:

Ilar, Karlsson, Ribom , Sundling squad, and then just put Andersson where Johaug is, or if she's in second leg, put Andresson in first.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Sweden are going Ribom-Karlsson-Andersson-Sundling.

Seems reasonable. The plan before the WC was obvious this but with Svahn on the first leg.

 

[Silhouette]

Fosnæs on the final leg. Hmmm....

 

[BullsFan22]

So Fossesholm was only selected for the 50km?

Seems a bit of a risk to put Fosnæs on the anchor. She’s actually a solid sprinter and a good all rounder, but she won’t drop or outsprint Sundling, especially not in Sundling’s current form.

 

[BullsFan22]

Also, Pia Fink to ski the opening leg for Germany. Normally she’s a stronger skater, but with Gimmler impacted by illness more, and not being in form because of it, Fink takes over. Personally, I would have tried to put in your top two skiers on the first two legs, Hennig and Carl. They’ve been stronger in classic.

Finland going with the most obvious team and order.

Brennan and Kern, especially Brennan, will lose time on the opening two legs. And this is if the conditions are clear and not as soft, but it’ll be slushy and soft, as it won’t freeze overnight. I don’t think the Americans will get a break in the weather, as they did for the team sprint, so Mike and Patrick’s favorite skier likely won’t be in the mix come the final leg.

Sweden and Norway for gold, and Germany, Finland, Switzerland for bronze, with the US in there, if they don’t lose too much early. I actually think Italy could also be in the mix for a top 5, if they have good skis.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I actually think Italy could also be in the mix for a top 5, if they have good skis.

This sounds like an insane prediction, but its only like 7 decent teams in this field, so with a bit of luck it could happen.

 

[Mayomaniac]

So Fossesholm was only selected for the 50km?

Seems a bit of a risk to put Fosnæs on the anchor. She’s actually a solid sprinter and a good all rounder, but she won’t drop or outsprint Sundling, especially not in Sundling’s current form.

That said, bot Tiril Weng and Skistad imploded in the team sprint. That said, I would have switched Heidi Weng and Johaug around, I rate Weng higher in skating and IMO you want Johaug on the harder classic lap. Only other option would have been Johaug-Slind-Fossesholm(or Fosnaes) and then Heidi Weng. With this line-up I have to go with Sweden winning.
Looking at how good their skis have been so far Switzerland is my pick for the 3rd place. Italy actually has a somewhat decent team here, way better than what we have seen in the last decade.
Hoffmann is a good skater, so if everyone is in decent shape (big if) Germany also has a good chance. Imo the USA will be buried in the classic part and current Laukli is also not strong enough to crawl back time, not to mention that their skis are usually a lot better in fast, packed conditions.