LENZERHEIDE / OSLO (VG) Six of the ten Norwegian women runners ran out in the prologue in the first Tour de Ski race. For the overall hope Heidi Weng (30) there was once again a stop before the quarterfinals.
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It is the third time this season (out of three possible) that Heidi Weng has smoked out in the prologue in a sprint. Weng, who won the Tour de Ski in the 2016/17 season and the 2017/18 season, finished the prologue 8.42 seconds behind Nadine Fähndrich.
When all the runners had reached the finish line, it held to a 36th place. Thus, Weng broke out, a fate she shared with other big overall favorites such as Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson and Katharina Hennig. Things went much better with last season’s Tour de Ski winner, Jessie Diggins, who finished third in the prologue.
– I do not bother, says Heidi Weng and leaves when VG tries to stop her in the press zone.
– I would almost say it is a shock prologue, says TV 2 commentator Petter Skinstad about the many overall favorites that came out.
–Of the ten Norwegian women who took part in the prologue, only four of them ended up among the top 30. Mathilde Myhrvold impressed and came second, while Tiril Udnes Weng (number ten), Anne Kjersti Kalvå (number 19) and Helene Marie Fossesholm (number 29) all advanced.
In addition to Heidi Weng, Lotta Udnes Weng, Ane Appelkvist Stenseth, Ragnhild Haga, Silje Theodorsen and Anna Svendsen all ran out in the prologue.
Lotta Udnes Weng also did not talk to the press when she passed the interview zone. At that moment, she smoked out.
“Shit,” said Udnes Weng, throwing a cup of liquid.
Shortly afterwards, she had a bad conscience, went back and picked up the cup.
–Ragnhild Haga says the following about the Norwegian result:
– It shows that we do not perform well enough as a team in the sprint. We have to see how we will train on this, says Haga to VG.
Cross-country manager Espen Bjervig is pleased with how the four who went on performed, but adds:
– We had hoped to have more than four in the quarterfinals, Bjervig says to VG.
– We deliver a little below par in total as a team today. It is the first stage of the Tour de Ski, and then we will see how it goes.
National team coach Ola Viggen Hattestad describes it as “a little too weak”.
– It is too bad calculation with only four further, he says to VG.
– I’m not sure how serious one should take the criticism when Mathilde clinks and becomes number two. But it is a fact that a couple of the sprint girls perform too poorly, says Vigen Hattestad.
In the gentlemen’s prologue, there was one great victory for Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Even Northug, Pål Golberg, Erik Valnes and Harald Østberg Amundsen all moved on, while Emil Iversen, Sjur Røthe, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Didrik Tønseth and Simen Hegstad Krüger smoked out.
Like Heidi Weng, this is the third time Emil Iversen has been knocked out in the prologue of a World Cup sprint this season.
– It is a disastrous start to the Tour de Ski for me, says Iversen to TV 2, and is clear that it means that he will not sprint in the Olympics in February.
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