The opening of the Ruka World Cup saw a rare moment when the Norwegian superstar Johannes Hösflot Kläbo was left only third in the sprint.
Kläbo has been just as “bad” last time in the World Cup sprint in March 2018 at the Salpausselkä World Cup.
Kläbo has been in the headlines before the start of the season. He fell ill with the corona virus on the eve of the World Cup season. The summer and early autumn, on the other hand, were grinded by the pressure of Kläbo and the Norwegian Ski Association. Kläbo was left out of the national team.
The victory was taken by another Norwegian Erik Valnes before France Richard Jouvea.
– Valnes has been skiing well since the beginning of the season. He was convincing in every set today. Valnes was the best on the last climb and the final flat every time, Urheilu’s expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen said.
– Johannes can see the effect of the corona. It was a seemingly impossible thing to do. He’s not in his prime yet, but it’s likely yet to come.
According to Saarinen, Jouve shows that the Norwegians can be shaken in the sprints this season.
– We will definitely get good sprint races and surprising results. It is certainly not only Norwegians who are at the top, Saarinen stated.
2. Plenty of new Finns in batches – still not a top result
In the heats of the sprint, i.e. among the top thirty, 16 Finns were seen in Ruka. Only one reached the final. Jasmi Joensuu was sixth. Last year, Rukala Joensuu was fourth in the sprint.
The expert did not expect more than one place in the final from this day. Only four Finns were seen in the semi-final: Joensuu, Katri Lylynperä, Joni Mäki and Lauri Vuorinen.
Another qualifier was the Finnish youth fireworks. Emil Liekari was as high as third in the qualifying round and defeated Kläbonk. In the women’s qualifying, there were three Finns among the top six. Joensuu was number one, Tiia Olkkonen Fifth and Amanda Saari sixth.
Among them, Olkkonen and Saari bowed out in the preliminaries. Olkkonen had a fatal fall, which forced him to go to a weaker track. Because of that, he no longer got up to fight for further places.
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen considered Olkkonen’s situation to be a classic example of lack of experience.
Olkkonen himself admitted after the race that he should have been more brazen when fighting for positions on the downhill.
However, Saarinen was happy with the new young names in the heats and the World Cup points.
– There was an open-minded approach and a lot of positive signals. In the semifinals, there were experienced fighters. The track showed that you have to be in good shape, but you have to know how to ski in a group. It comes through experience, Saarinen said.
– Of course we saw mistakes, but they happen to all of us the first few times.
Finland’s men’s responsible coach Ville Oksanen stated that an expanded level has already been seen in the early season games of the Finnish Cup. However, according to the coach, the main thing in raising the level would be that the domestic sprint races were as hard as possible.
– It wouldn’t be the case that in the World Cup the quarter-finals would be the only place to fight. Even now it was noticed that the heats are a different world, even if the time trial is good. These are needed. I am satisfied that we got new friends to join us, Oksanen described.
The Finns were the best of the men Lauri Vuorinen seventh and Joni Mäki in the ninth.
Mäki was very critical of himself and scolded himself for “falling asleep” before the last climb. The World Cup and Olympic medalist in Parisprint had to avoid the others and fell out of the fight for a place in the final.
– Joni surprised me positively today. Even last weekend in the Suomen Cup, it was difficult for Ruka. Now there was a different man at the fire. Falling asleep was because he is not in the best shape yet. The idea doesn’t work crystal clear yet. If Joni is at his best, he doesn’t make mistakes like that, Saarinen described.
3. Kerttu Niskanen’s situation for the better
On Saturday, a big Finnish super day is expected in Ruka, when there will be ten kilometer time trials in traditional skiing. The eyes are directed Ivo and Kerttu Niskase mixed Krista Pärmäkoski. Iivo Niskanen’s victory has been talked about for a long time. Krista Pärmäkoski the striking ability has also been considered good after last weekend’s Ruka Suomen Cup, but Kerttu Niskanen’s situation has been a question mark.
Kerttu Niskanen was the only one of the trio who competed in the sprint on Friday. He reached the set stage.
After qualifying, Niskanen made a harsh comment and stated directly that the pace is still not found. After the heat stage, he was a little more confident about his situation and believed that the sprint race would help.
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen saw Kerttu Niskanen’s performance as much better than a week ago in Ruka in the Suomen Cup or in the season opener in Olos Artillery Games.
– Kertu’s skiing was already faster, although in his opinion the speed is still not enough. It’s probably not enough, but progress has been made. I believe that Kertu’s direction is upwards. We’ll see tomorrow what Kertu’s ranking is, Saarinen estimates.
Ruka’s World Cup day starts on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. on the combined hill section. broadcasts the events of the Ruka World Cup live on its channels.
Saturday 25.11.