Official xc skiing world cup thread

[Bavarianrider]

Wow, that's a once in a lifetime chance for Birnbacher now.
I hopes he take it

 

[Bavarianrider]

Damn, that sucks

 

[hoerpi]

Damn, that sucks

Feel you, nice being a swede though.

The ladies coming up now. Not sure that Neuner will win this after her poor shooting in the relay. I hope Mäkkäreinen shows some better form today, not likely though.

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

2009 called, it wants its Neuner back. Awful shooting form.

A dirty win for Norway. Solemdal deliberately tripped Brunet on the 2nd lap to give Tora her second gold.

 

[LouieLouie]

Nah, it's because of Northug. Ever since Northug started owning the mass starts, there have been many more mass starts. Especially in Norway, they want it, because they want to have their own racers win at home.

Huh?!? You must be crazy. Norwegians absolutely hate mass starts. To be honest, I switched channels as soon as I discovered the 50k was mass start. Didn't bother watching it at all.

Quite a few of us don't like Northug all that much either. I'd gladly swap him for Olsson any day.

 

[jsem94]

I don't really know for sure, but that's the perception I'm getting. Take my words with a boatload of salt .

 

[jsem94]

Too bad Emil Jönsson had to stop in the middle due to injury.

Great win for Brandsdal in my city! I was about 20m from the finish line, was probably on the telly a few times. It was a great race. Björgen has basically sealed the deal by now, and Marcus Hellner has got a GREAT chance at taking home the entire thing in Falun.

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

Best performers in Ruhpolding
http://realbiathlon.blogspot.com/2012/03/best-performers-in-ruhpolding.html

The best and worst WCH peakers in the WC top-20

Difference in percentage over field's average course time compared to World Cups 1-8

I should state that since the sprints and individuals are much more inclusive (and they're even more inclusive at the WCH than in the WC) than pursuits and mass starts, the average course time is weaker in the former races. Therefore, missing a race will mess up an athletes percentage. The highlighted ones are thus rather meaningless.

Women

BURDYGA Natalya -4.4 DNS/F in Pursuit and Mass start
BRUNET Marie Laure -4.2
NOWAKOWSKA Weronika -2.2
GREGORIN Teja -1.9
SEMERENKO Vita -1.7
BERGER Tora -1.6
DORIN HABERT Marie -1.6
DOMRACHEVA Darya -1.3
EKHOLM Helena -1.3
BACHMANN Tina -1.2
NEUNER Magdalena -0.9
ZAITSEVA Olga -0.9
KUZMINA Anastasiya -0.8
VILUKHINA Olga -0.7
SLEPTSOVA Svetlana -0.4
HENKEL Andrea -0.1
PONZA Michela -0.1
PALKA Krystyna 0.0
SOLEMDAL Synnoeve 0.0
MÄKÄRÄINEN Kaisa +0.5

Men

MESOTITSCH Daniel -4.1
LINDSTRÖM Fredrik -3.7
BOEUF Alexis -3.3
FAK Jakov -3.3 DNS/F M
WEGER Benjamin -3.2 DNS/F M
FOURCADE Martin -3.0
FOURCADE Simon -3.0
BOE Tarjei -2.6
BJOERNDALEN Ole Einar -2.4
PEIFFER Arnd -2.3
USTYUGOV Evgeny -2.2 DNS/F P
FERRY Björn -1.9
SLESINGR Michal -1.7
SVENDSEN Emil Hegle -1.7
BIRNBACHER Andreas -1.3
BAILEY Lowell -1.2
BERGMAN Carl Johan -1.2 DNS/F I
MAKOVEEV Andrei +0.4 DNS/F I
GARANICHEV Evgeniy +0.9 DNS/F I
SHIPULIN Anton +0.9 DNS/F I

The russians complained about bad skis and their ski prep team blamed the manufacturer.

Difference in non-team shooting percentage compared to World Cups 1-8

Women

DORIN HABERT Marie +8.6
VILUKHINA Olga +8.4
SEMERENKO Vita +7.8
NOWAKOWSKA Weronika +6.8
BERGER Tora +6.4
SLEPTSOVA Svetlana +5.9
KUZMINA Anastasiya +5.4
GREGORIN Teja +5.1
ZAITSEVA Olga +2.8
PONZA Michela +2.3
EKHOLM Helena +1.5
BACHMANN Tina +1.4
SOLEMDAL Synnoeve +1.0
BRUNET Marie Laure +0.6
MÄKÄRÄINEN Kaisa +0.0
BURDYGA Natalya -0.3
DOMRACHEVA Darya -1.9
HENKEL Andrea -3.3
PALKA Krystyna -3.7
NEUNER Magdalena -5.7

Men

BERGMAN Carl Johan +9.6
FAK Jakov +7.8
SLESINGR Michal +5.0
GARANICHEV Evgeniy +5.0
MESOTITSCH Daniel +4.5
FERRY Björn +2.8
BIRNBACHER Andreas +2.2
LINDSTRÖM Fredrik +1.9
SHIPULIN Anton +1.2
FOURCADE Simon +0.6
BAILEY Lowell -0.8
BOE Tarjei -1.0
USTYUGOV Evgeny -1.2
PEIFFER Arnd -1.5
BOEUF Alexis -1.8
SVENDSEN Emil Hegle -1.9
WEGER Benjamin -3.7
BJOERNDALEN Ole Einar -5.4
FOURCADE Martin -6.2
MAKOVEEV Andrei -6.6

http://realbiathlon.blogspot.com/2012/03/world-championship-performance-men.html
http://realbiathlon.blogspot.com/2012/03/world-championships-performance-women.html

 

[Bavarianrider]

Holy ****, what a beasting running performance by Neuner

 

[meat puppet]

Shooting times excluded, I think Lena was some seconds quicker than Kaisa. Domracheva was a bit off today, I guess, but that just makes her more likeable. And the elegance of her skiing, so great!

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

Shooting times excluded, I think Lena was some seconds quicker than Kaisa. Domracheva was a bit off today, I guess, but that just makes her more likeable. And the elegance of her skiing, so great!

Yep, one second faster than Kaisa. Darya, Kuzmina and Solemdal were perhaps a bit off, while Vita, Kocher and Dunklee are in quite good form.

That final lap was pretty special though. Almost makes Tora Berger look like the female version of Simon Fourcade by comparision.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Maikarranen was lightning quick too, today. :eek Seems like she's refinding her legs just a little bit too late.
Domracheva with the 3rd best time already 30 seconds down.

I wonder what's up with Gössners running. In 2009 and 2010 at age 18/19 she clocked some very good times in the xc skiing events she took part. Last year she was cosnatntly among the best in running in biathlon This year she's a mediocere runner, at best. Quiet a disappopoitment.

 

[meat puppet]

An off year perhaps, they do happen, or maybe Gössner has over-focused on shooting? Not that this focus has been very apparent while shooting though, but one can only guess.

Mäkäräinen was ill just before the WC, so no wonder she found the legs now and lacked them back then. In addition she herself said that skiing in the slush / warm conditions in general would have been a handicap for her even with a tiptop form. I tend to agree, as power skiers such Tora Berger benefited from those conditions. Today, on the other hand, it seemed colder (perhaps minus 10C or more, havent looked it up). Also I bet Kaisa remained very hungry after the games - one bronze and a couple of also rans must have been a big disappointment.

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

I wonder what's up with Gössners running. In 2009 and 2010 at age 18/19 she clocked some very good times in the xc skiing events she took part. Last year she was cosnatntly among the best in running in biathlon This year she's a mediocere runner, at best. Quiet a disappopoitment.

This season is pretty similar to -09 and -10 in that she has a number of good performances but more mediocre ones. A step back from last season. But her shooting has been improving lately and she's still young.

Both Kaisa and Lena seem to have hit that super-form a week to late, although the conditions might indeed play a role.

 

[TomasC]

...
That final lap was pretty special though. Almost makes Tora Berger look like the female version of Simon Fourcade by comparision.

It really was, Lena gained 22s on Darya in last lap only

 

[Bavarianrider]

This season is pretty similar to -09 and -10 in that she has a number of good performances but more mediocre ones. A step back from last season. But her shooting has been improving lately and she's still young.

Both Kaisa and Lena seem to have hit that super-form a week to late, although the conditions might indeed play a role.

In 2011 her running grade was 102,5 over the season
In 2012 it is 99,3 over the season so far.

That's a huge huge drop off. I just wonder what might be the reason for this.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Maikarranen was lightning quick too, today. :eek Seems like she's refinding her legs just a little bit too late.
Domracheva with the 3rd best time already 30 seconds down.

I wonder what's up with Gössners running. In 2009 and 2010 at age 18/19 she clocked some very good times in the xc skiing events she took part. Last year she was cosnatntly among the best in running in biathlon This year she's a mediocere runner, at best. Quiet a disappopoitment.

I recall something along the lines of her having had surgery in the summer to fix intestinal knotting, which affected her training. She's also done a lot of focusing on the shooting, since last year she was so good on the skis but so bad at shooting. But really, it seems like a confidence thing for her. Early on in the season she was skiing slower but shooting just as poorly, but a couple of good showings later on in the season (most notably the relay at the Worlds, but the 10-10 performance at Kontiolähti is particularly notable, though even then she only managed 6th) have restored her somewhat.

In 2010-11, she was always in a good spot in the WC with something to defend, as well, after her breakout performances in Östersund - this meant she got some better spots in the running order, and a spot in the Mass Starts, similar to what has happened to her polar opposite Franzi Hildebrand this year (Miri was also helped by the Fort Kent and Presque Isle rounds, where several contenders opted not to make the trip, and the Fort Kent tracks being very difficult meant it was an event that was really for the stronger skiers), whereas Gößner had a bad start to the season and has been playing catchup.

I think Project Gößner can, and should, continue. If they can revive her skiing speed from 2010-11 with her now-improved shooting (and continue to improve that), she's a contender. It's certainly possible. After all, Darya Domracheva was a quick skier when she hit the scene. Not as quick as she is now, but she was always very fast. Yet at Antholz last season she was unable to hold an advantage on the final lap and was passed by Marie-Laure Brunet, who isn't exactly known for eating up the snow. If Dasha can work out what went awry with her skiing form and get back up to speed, then surely Miri can too.

Edit:
Bavarianrider, surely there must be some kind of error in that table? How can Juliane Döll not have an average for 2011-12, when she's been in several races in both the IBU Cup and World Cup, and yet Kathrin Hitzer has got an average, when she's taken the year out to start a family?

 

[jsem94]

Alex Harvey so deserved that win in Falun today.

 

[Random Direction]

His Dad Pierre Harvey won his first world cup race in Falun in 1987

 

[Nielsa]

Pierre Harvey also won the Holmenkollen 50km, back in the 80's when it was interval and real man's test.

P.S. When talking about mass start vs interval 50km; anyone remember those times when start no.50 would spend 30km latched onto the back of no.51, who would go then on to win the race.

No. 50 would be 30 secs behind, but sometimes this would be good enough for a podium position, or even 2nd place. At least with mass starts, this element of unfair chance is gone.

 

[Nielsa]

Maikarranen

Kaisa Mäkäräinen wonders: "What is this post on cyclingnews, they don't have ä in Bayern?"

 

[Pazuzu]

greatest cross-county skier ever

Marit Bjoergen continues to amaze. She's won more world cup races than anyone else in the history of the sport. And the scary thing is she's not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon.

 

[Random Direction]

Yeah, I remember doing that a few times.

Not anywhere close to WC level, but it was fun sticking with the faster guys for 20km straight. As for 50s, they were always bonk zone for me.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

After being outskied by Peiffer yesterday I had hopes that the Fourcade domination was going to tone down for a bit, but I was wrong.

I hope Bø regains some of his form from 2010-11 next year, or it could be a really dull couple of years with Martin riding off into the sunset.

 

[python]

we're 7 minutes into men's mass start 15K. first it was red norge wall in the front and now it's the red train strung along. what is their tactic ?

oopsie, an italian attack just went on pellegrino...