Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Eddy Evenepoel]

On the men’s side, the field was unusually tight, with no standout. Even Preben Horven, a young Norwegian first‑year senior usually nowhere near the best, was up second on Sunday’s skate race — something that suggests the level in that field may not have been very high.

Horven is starting his 4th season among the elites now, and even if he's had some problems his talent is definitiviely there. You dont get to do Junior Worlds or U23 Worlds as a Norwegian male without a good level and in 2023 he was 16th at Norwegian Champs in 15 skate, ahead of for example Nyenget, Mörk and Moseby.

Last year he was around position 30 in several races in Norwegian Championship, Norwegian Cup and Scandinavian Cup, and from 30th in these races you dont have to make a huge step up to be competitive in the field where except Moch no one should be really close to a top 6 in a World Cup race over 10 km skate.

 

[OJRvE]

Horven is starting his 4th season among the elites now, and even if he's had some problems his talent is definitiviely there. You dont get to do Junior Worlds or U23 Worlds as a Norwegian male without a good level and in 2023 he was 16th at Norwegian Champs in 15 skate, ahead of for example Nyenget, Mörk and Moseby.

Last year he was around position 30 in several races in Norwegian Championship, Norwegian Cup and Scandinavian Cup, and from 30th in these races you dont have to make a huge step up to be competitive in the field where except Moch no one should be really close to a top 6 in a World Cup race over 10 km skate.

Thanks must have mixed him up with someone else

 

[QueenStagiaire]

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LS has to be partying at the moment.

 

[Sciatic]

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LS has to be partying at the moment.

Had the same thought. Of course, she'll probably come back as a broadcaster . . .

 

[OJRvE]

Dahlqvist looked convincing in the sprint yesterday in Gällivare. On the mens side U23-champion Grahn who is taller than Anger won ahead of Anger but he had better skis.

Skistad and Myhlback looks good but they have had arguments with the jury. Not sure if Myhlback will be in Ruka

Klaebo looks good as usual won both sprint and distance with ease.

 

[OJRvE]

Karlsson looked absolutely awful both today and in the sprint. She has not been on snow since WCH which is a bit strange but it’s gonna be interesting to see how she will build her form. Andersson and Sundling good but not great. But all things considered Andersson will be huge favorite in Ruka where the Swedish women always performs

 

[dobrien]

Karlsson looked absolutely awful both today and in the sprint. She has not been on snow since WCH which is a bit strange but it’s gonna be interesting to see how she will build her form. Andersson and Sundling good but not great. But all things considered Andersson will be huge favorite in Ruka where the Swedish women always performs

All the Norwegians flying as expected in the vicious bloodsport otherwise known as "Competition For Norwegian World Cup Starts". Most interesting result of the weekend for me was converted biathlete Einar Hedegart taking the Beitestolen Mens Skate today; pretty big win considering the insane level of Norwegian racing and it will be interesting to follow his progression this year. Guys like Toenseth finishing 27th, Moseby in 45th, might as well be finishing 300th. That isn't going to get them there.

Laukli at 16th today, not amazing but again, the Norwegians are flying and Sophia is, after Diggins, arguably the second best US skier so she doesn't need to be awesome at the moment.

Poromaa back in 19th for the men and also did not look particularly great but I think the Swedes have guaranteed certain men and women places on the national team for the Olympics so he may be a little further back in his training. I think Andersson is going to be monstrous this year, just a feeling. Looking forward to Ruka; opening WC weekend is always fun.

 

[OJRvE]

Andersson, Sundling, Karlsson, Anger and Poromaa are preselected for the Olympics. Poromaa was supposed to start today but opted out cause he wasn’t feeling alright.

Halfvarsson and Burman really bad but Burman might get a Ruka spot anyway.

Hedegart is impressive, he is not the fastest biathlete but he says he doesn’t like to ski with the rifle on his back and doesn’t love the “shooting breaks” either. Also he think he prefers the fast conditions of today.

 

[dobrien]

Of interest also (to US Ski fans at least) is the return to ski racing of Hailey Swirbul. Apparently she has been killing it up in Alaska and has decided to try a comeback to World Cup racing; her pathway to potential WC and Olympic starts goes through the US National Super Tour and US National Championships. Given the pretty hideous level of US women's domestic skiing at the moment, if she's at the level people are saying she is it is not far fetched she'll be leading that competition and in with a good shot at being national champion right out of the gate. Outside of Diggins, Brennan, Laukli, and Kern, Swirbul could be more than a match for any other US skier getting Period 1 WC starts; the coaches are familiar with her and know her potential and more than any other skier currently not on the US National team she would be the one to receive special consideration if her results warranted it. Will be interesting to see what level she can achieve this year and if she is better able to handle the pressure of WC racing this time around.

 

[BullsFan22]

Coming back after missing two seasons. Interesting.

 

[dobrien]

Coming back after missing two seasons. Interesting.

Care to be more specific in what you find interesting? If you are insinuating something, which knowing you you probably are, take it to the effing clinic ***. Everyone and their brother knew Hailey was finding the pressures of week in/week out WC racing to be unpleasant, and THAT is why she left. She is in a different place mentally right now, and that's what is happening, nothing more.

This forum is not worth having to read this f***ers spew all season; can't do it. Hope the decent posters on here have a nice winter.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Season underway at last! Karlsson takes the victory so her Gällivare performance looks like a misnomer or possibly sandbagging. In the more important things to note, Kaidy takes an early lead over Keidy in the always-fun-to-check-in-on battle of the Kaasikus, who tend to be even more closely tied to one another in the results sheet than the Semerenkos ever were (possibly due to lack of shooting to differentiate them), and the best news of the day, the mighty Patricija Eiduka is back!

Edit:
Hail Nyenget, saviour of mankind. And the monotony begins.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Season underway at last! Karlsson takes the victory so her Gällivare performance looks like a misnomer or possibly sandbagging. In the more important things to note, Kaidy takes an early lead over Keidy in the always-fun-to-check-in-on battle of the Kaasikus, who tend to be even more closely tied to one another in the results sheet than the Semerenkos ever were (possibly due to lack of shooting to differentiate them), and the best news of the day, the mighty Patricija Eiduka is back!

Edit:
Hail Nyenget, saviour of mankind. And the monotony begins.

I'd add "wtf Mika?!"
He went full Ramsau WC.

 

[search]

I'd add "wtf Mika?!"
He went full Ramsau WC.

the other day Vermeulen said that his main goals for the season were Ruka, Tour de Ski and Olympics.

I thought he'd be talking about Sunday at least, though .

 

[Mayomaniac]

the other day Vermeulen said that his main goals for the season were Ruka, Tour de Ski and Olympics.

I thought he'd be talking about Sunday at least, though .

I mean, the Austrians having good skis in Ruka can be explain by them poaching the head of the Finish waxing team (an Estonian guy) 1-2 years ago, but Vermeulen doing so well in a classic individual start is a big surprise.

 

[KZD]

Klæbo dominating the sprint ahead of Valnes and Evensen, Skistad also got herself a good win in the women's beating the Swedish girls.

Myhlback very impressive getting himself into the semis unlike Anger who didn't even manage to get there. Vermulen looked superb yesterday, hopefully he can pull an upset tomorrow.

 

[No Excuses]

Nr. 99 for Klaebo, what an athlete!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Winterton straight in with the nonsense, saying he was disappointed Preuß didn't wait for Jeanmonnot in the last race of last season so they could sprint the WC to the line when Jeanmonnot fell over her own feet.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Winterton straight in with the nonsense, saying he was disappointed Preuß didn't wait for Jeanmonnot in the last race of last season so they could sprint the WC to the line when Jeanmonnot fell over her own feet.

Among GC riders in cycling this happens, like when G Thomas crashed uphill at the 2024 Giro, so he‘s probably gone to the same weird school of ethics and morals.

 

[BigCoward]

Not watched yet, but we're Norway using rifles from the 50s?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not watched yet, but we're Norway using rifles from the 50s?

Nah, just Ingrid being Ingrid. Femsteinevik was always the most questionable member of the team, the other two did fine. Quite a few athletes there who either weren't up to speed yet or pushed themselves too hard and cost themselves in the range, the Norwegians were far from the only ones of the big teams to screw up, they just did so more comprehensively than the Swedes or Germans did; the Swedes got their screwups out of the way early and got the race together after that, the Germans did over half the race near the front so were at least very visible before it fell apart, but the Norwegians were just kinda there for the first leg without attracting much attention, Tandrevold shot a penalty that sent them back in the field, overstretched herself to make up for it and got even worse in standing, and then Femsteinevik was bad as well so they disappeared off the radar entirely.

 

[BigCoward]

I think the nordic combined is going to be A LOT more competitive this year without Riiber. Nobody likes to see illness take out an all time great, but he was just far far too good.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hedegart appears to have traded being a marginal IBU Cup biathlete (who was quick but not outrageously so at that level) for being a domestique World Cup skier, seeing as his main role here appears to be to snuff out breaks for Klæbo to deliver the sprint.

Edit: on the plus side, Amundsen seems to have no intention of allowing that and Hedegart somehow is outsprinting Edvin Anger too.

 

[Mayomaniac]

At least only 4 Norwegians in the top 10, but 2 Italians being there and none being Pellegrino is a bit of a surprise.

 

[KZD]

Amundsen is a real beast, Norway's closest skier to Bolshunov. Hedegart with a great second place, hopefully he focuses more on cross-country skiing because he may have a shot of getting himself selected to the Olympics for the 10k and relay.

Anger super strong today and the Italians looked really good as well.