The Tour de Ski has now been skied 18 times. The trips have changed, the towns have changed, but so have the rules. At the Tour de Ski, bonus seconds and bonus points are distributed, among other things, which affect the overall situation or the prize money. Everything has been made very confusing.
– The bonus point system was really confusing even for the experts, so what was it for the viewers? Sports expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen states and says he needs clarity.
The activities of the International Ski Federation (FIS) were anything but clear at the Tour de Ski. It was visible, for example, after the Toblach 10 km traditional race, when the FIS stretched its rules. According to them, the finisher’s time must not be more than 15 percent slower than the winner’s, so 12 men and two women should have been disqualified after the second race. However, the competition jury allowed them to continue the tour.
– Why has such a rule even been made if it is viewed through the fingers?
Saarinen would like to think about competition formats as well. The 20-kilometer traditional skiing pursuit seen in Davos was downright sad, when the skiers left after the hardest peak almost as a single start.
– Of course it rained on us, but it would have been fairer if it had been skied as a joint start, Saarinen said.
Who surprised?
Perttu Hyvärinen made Aino-Kaisa Saarinen laugh at her luck a good week after the Finnish skier created a sensation at the Tour de Ski. Hyvärinen took the first World Cup victory of his career, when he was first in the Toblach 10 km traditional skiing race on New Year’s Eve.
Hyvärinen said that he would give the win to his manager Olli-Pekka “Lelu” for Ojansivu as a gift, because “Manazari” celebrated his birthday at that time.
– It was such a bomb that it made even an expert throw a somersault properly and surely brought laughter to every Finn’s face! I bet he surprised himself too, Saarinen guesses.
However, Hyvärinen did not surprise everyone. Evening News knew how to tell that one person had put the right line in Veikkaus’ super triple. He won more than 8,000 euros with a bet of 20 cents.
– He wasn’t surprised, but the rest of us were, Saarinen laughs.
What the hell?
Norway’s men’s team took a commanding victory in the Biathlon World Cup relay in Oberhof, although they messed up badly in thick fog in the second relay of the relay.
Sturla Holm Lägreid arrived at the exchange area with an overwhelming lead, but soon his expression changed to one of confusion. Going to the third leg Tarjei Bötä was not visible at all. Lägreid braked his pace and waited as Bö hurried to the scene.
– It felt strange that no one was there. I started thinking if I did something wrong or if I should go one more lap. We have previously talked about athletes who are not ready for a change, and Tarjei thinks it has been amusing. Now he is one of them, Lägreid said for NRK.
The heroic athlete Bö himself took the situation with humor.
– After all, we are in the entertainment industry, so we need to create as much excitement as possible. I blame it on the fog. I didn’t see Sturla until the very last minute. He suddenly came out of the fog. We can laugh about it now that everything went so well.
Who flopped?
Norway has dominated the Tour de Ski in recent years, especially on the men’s side, but the team experienced a bad setback even before the tour, when the biggest advance favorite Johannes Hösflot Kläbo had to miss the Tour. Sure Harald Östberg Amundsen won the men’s series and Heidi Weng came second in the women’s series, but the result was still poor.
– You would have thought that they would have had more success. Yes, Amundsen was superior, but they weren’t seen that much on the podium. Down the line they kind of flopped.
For example, on the women’s side, Norway did not win any competitions. Out of seven in the competition Linn Svahn won three, Kerttu Niskanen two, first overall Jessie Diggins and Sophia Laukli one. On the men’s side, Amundsen won two and Erik Valnes they also took one, but one competition victory Lucas ChanavatPerttu Hyvärinen and Jules Lapierre.
When 14 races were contested in the whole Tour, Norway achieved only 12 out of 42 prize places. In seven races, not a single Norwegian was seen on the podium.
What next?
The Tour de Ski is quite a wrinkle. Some got sick after that, but the tour has often served as a supercompensation for the athletes. Next weekend is a much-needed free weekend for skiers, and the World Cup will not return until two weeks later in Oberhof, Germany. At that time, the program includes traditional skiing sprints, 20 kilometer traditional skiing joint start races and relays.
– Now we’ll see who recovers and who doesn’t. And it will be very interesting to see at what intensity Ivo (Neck) and Kläbo return. Or interrupted the Tour Ebba (Andersson), Saarinen reflects.
Niskanen also had to miss the Tour due to illness.
– Some are returning to real action from the Tour, some from the sick bed. In two weeks we will see an interesting arrangement. I hope everyone is healthy on the line then.