There was a sensation in the first World Cup race in Oberhof.
After the end of the Tour de Ski, where some of the top skiers were absent, many fans were waiting for the resumption of the World Cup.
Still, a sprint with and without Klebo are completely different things. At least that was the case until today. In Germany, a real disaster happened to the “king of sprint”.
Klebo failed in his best way, not even reaching the finals.
Swedes without clothes and check for Shanav
As much as the Swedish team criticized the holding of the ski stage in Oberhof, they suffered just as much from fate on the eve of the start of the race. Most of the team flying out of Sweden on Wednesday were faced with flight cancellations, rebookings and, as a result, missing luggage.
Lucky Frida Karlsson, Lynn Swan and Johanna Hagström traveled to Oberhof from a vacation in Italy, so they did not experience such problems. As a result, the rest of the team borrowed things from this trio:
“If I give anything else away now, then tomorrow I’ll go to the start line naked,” admitted Frida Karlsson.
In Friday’s prologue, this hitch did not affect the Swedes at all: the trio in white overalls staked out the best positions, and the Norwegian Skistad, who remains the only competitor for her neighbors, lost as much as 9 seconds and advanced to the playoffs with only 16 times.
Frida Karlsson, Lynn Swan / Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.ru
In the men’s sprint, the entire focus was on Klebo. The five-time Olympic champion missed the stage race due to illness, but seemed ready for the race in Oberhof. In qualifying, Johannes confirmed this, becoming second with a minimal gap from the season leader Amundsen. For the Frenchman Chanave, who won the Tour de Ski sprint twice in a row, difficult times have come with the return of Klebo. Luke qualified fifth.
A huge failure
The first stage of the relegation race did not foretell any special sensations. Among the women, the Swedes routinely took first and second places and made their way to the semi-finals almost without losses. Skistad, for whom she was afraid after the prologue, was also able to avoid nerves in the first race with Sundling, taking second place.
In the semi-finals, the first serious loss occurred – the never-discouraging American Diggins could not cope and was left out of the decisive race. However, the most delicious intrigue of the women’s sprint did not disappear anywhere: Skistad passed, which means there was a chance to see her furious showdown with the Swedes again.
Where there were more sensations was among men. Klebo chose the first race and did not surprise anyone: he easily took first place together with his Olympic sprint relay teammate Erik Valnes.
Actually, the main shock happened in the next round. Can you remember the last time Klebo did not reach the sprint final at the World Cup? Very difficult. It was six whole years ago in Lillehammer. After that 11th place, he won 34 times in 39 races, was second four times and third once.
And so, in the 40th race after failure in 2018, the Norwegian, believing in his invincibility, did not finish the race to the end and finished third. Shanava, who was considered one of the main competitors, ended up in the same six after Klebo. Both were stuck waiting for the time of the second semi-final. But there, the reckless Ogden and the company accelerated so much that the whole quartet flew into the final.
Johannes Klebo / Photo: © Federico Modica/NordicFocus / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Johannes, albeit after illness, is the main newsmaker of the starting day in Oberhof.
Swedish-Norwegian holiday
The main races were idyllic. Skistad, always striving to find a cure for the Swedes, was unable to show anything. Perhaps this was the first race of the season when the Norwegian did not have a chance to even cling to a medal.
Svan, Karlsson and Sundling beat everyone to complete the Swedish podium. Frida’s place here is a real revelation. Previously, she stubbornly lost the finishing spurt to her competitors, but, apparently, she was rewarded for her generosity towards her partners.
Frida Carlsson (left), Lynn Swan and Jonna Sundling / Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.ru
For men, the main discovery of the stage is Ansgar Evensen. The 23-year-old Norwegian qualified for the playoffs from 28th place, but not only survived to the final, but beat Klebo himself in the previous race. Together with him, three more “Vikings”, as well as the American Ogden and the Swiss Grond, competed for sprint medals in the classical style.
Ansgar Evensen (left), Erik Valnes and Even Northug / Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.ru
The team tactics worked, and Norway secured another mononational podium that day. The long-suffering Valnes won, for whom not everything worked out in previous sprint races. Evensen is second, Evan Northug took bronze. The winner of this year’s Tour de Ski, Amundsen, came fourth and, it seems, put an end to the question of the winner of the overall World Cup this season.
Norwegians have a lot to be happy about. After the team’s incomprehensible performance in the stage race, they responded powerfully to criticism, but the whole ski world will still only discuss Klebo’s failure. It turned out that Johannes can still surprise.
2024-01-19 18:00:02
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