The Tour de Ski moved to Val di Fiemme on Friday and was immediately buzzing. The sprint track was criticized a lot. Johanna Matintalo, Lauri Mountainous and ‘s skiing experts Ville Nousiainen were very critical of the track. Also about coaching in Finland Ville Oksanen stated that he would not like to see such a track in the Olympics a year from now, as was intended.
Urheilu’s experts Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was also not happy about standing and its benefits. The most terrifying sight for him was skiing Sweden in the same heat with Vuorinen Marcus Great.
– Grate was last on the list and begged to come. He continued with a terrible lingo, said Saarinen.
Even in the final, he benefited from the pees and came third ahead of Italy Federico A pilgrim.
– It would be nice if in sprint skiing fitness factors were the deciding factor, and not just tactics. You have to know how to ski, but you also have to be in good shape, Saarinen said.
In Saarinen’s opinion, the track could still work on the women’s side, because there are still differences between women due to the slower downhill speed. In men, he sees that at next year’s Olympics there could be a similar standoff on this track as at the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld.
– It would be good to have a chicane or other bend on that track, so that it doesn’t turn into tactics, Saarinen thinks.
Saarinen pointed out that even the skiing king of Norway, known for his skilful skiing John Hösflot Kläbo was in trouble. The men’s winner of the day was once able to go downhill in the lead and come to the finish line in the lead. However, even Kläboka was only able to do that in the first round. In the final, Kläbo came from behind to win.
Jasmin Kähärä has a clear plan, the Finnish men do not
However, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen doesn’t just caress the Finns who opened up a lot.
The Finnish men’s best was ranked ninth Nile Moilanen. He was still third in qualifying. Only Norwegian stars Kläbo and Eric Valnes.
In an interview with , Moilanen regretted that the day’s race was spent on tactics. Earlier this season in Ruka, he grabbed the podium place in the traditional sprint Lauri Mountainous on the other hand, called the track “the worst in history.”
Saarinen characterized the duo’s race day as a bygone day.
– However, it was known that there could be a standoff. Maybe they didn’t have a clear idea of how to act in a standing situation. Of course, it is possible to come to the situation in a different position than was thought or there is some other hassle. Maybe they have not been in this kind of situation before, and there was no tactic to act in the situation, Saarinen criticized.
The most positive performance was seen from the Finnish team Jasmin From the edge. He even fought for a podium place and was fourth. It is the best personal result of Kähärät’s career in the World Cup.
Saarinen praised Kähärä’s day as a top performance.
– He had a clear plan during the competition. He could follow it. When in good shape, the head works well. You have to have a clear mind in such a tactical competition. Of course, Jasmin had a hard time, but when you’re in good shape, you don’t just drift somewhere, Saarinen said.
Only the Finnish team directly expressed satisfaction with the track Jasmine Joensuu. He was supposed to be in the winning fight, but he stated that the decision of the race was his own stupidity. Joensuu said he should have just hit the uphill and run away. Joensuu was eliminated from the final in third place in its own semifinal.
– I agree with him that skiing should have been done differently. When Jasmi went along for the ride, they came even harder from behind, Saarinen recalled.
This is where Kerttu Niskanen’s chances in the top fight lie
Kerttu Niskanen also suffered a setback in the battle for victory at the Tour de Ski after missing the heat. He admitted he made a mistake when he went downhill. Niskanen fell behind the others after choosing the wrong place on the downhill. The others ran away from him.
When Niskanen missed the heats, the Finn was not able to push the Norwegians much. Astrid A mole Slind now leads the Tour by 8 seconds to Therese JohaugNiskanen is 29 seconds behind and Jessie Diggins a minute. In the sprint, he surprisingly reached third place Heidi Weng approached the top quickly and is only 1 minute 29 seconds behind Slind in fifth place in the overall battle.
The race continues on Saturday with combined races, i.e. 10 kilometers of traditional and 10 kilometers of freestyle skiing.
– Kertu should be able to do a really super performance in order to close the gap to the top, Saarinen said.
The battle for victory is already tough if Johaug stays with the same number of seconds after Saturday after the combined race. Saarinen still believes in Niskanen’s fight for the podium. He also reminds that the nature of the Tour includes big swings. According to the expert, anything can happen.
– I remember when we went once I’m buzzing with a bang (Sarasvuoborn Fibrous) and won the next minute. I don’t know what happened to the others then, Saarinen recalled.