Jessica Diggins took her second Tour de Ski overall win without the drama of the final climb. Kerttu Niskanen’s prize ranking is Finland’s ninth all-time at the Tour de Ski.
Sports expert, skiing legend Aino-Kaisa Saarinen stated that the overall victory of the Tour de Ski after Saturday was played and betrayed by the USA To Jessica Digginsbut he predicted a strong reception for the second state by Heidi Weng and Kerttu Niskanen between. That’s how it went; Diggins, who piped badly in the final climb, kept Weng safely 31.6 seconds away, and Niskanen, who skied nicely to fourth in the final stage, lost second place to the Norwegian by only eight seconds.
– Although I tried to look at it through blue and white glasses on Saturday, I did consider Weng as the second favorite and Kerttu as the third. Weng is so tough on the Tour on the final Sundays.
The Norwegian has now been among the top three in the Tour overall eight times, two of which have been victories. During his Tour history, he has been the fastest three times in the section times of the final climb and eight times in the top three.
Pärmäkoski surprised
– Kerttu manages to grind the final climb with a good rhythm even with a tired muscle, so yes, the preliminary setup was quite clear. Krista (Pärmäkoski7th in the overall competition) was a big positive surprise at the end of the Tour, when there had been some illness, says Saarinen.
She says she considered Diggins to be practically the only early favorite in the women’s race.
– Based on the early season and his experience, I just couldn’t figure out who could beat him and how. At the end of the climb, I got very tired, and Jessie’s skiing looked terrible. But that’s his trademark. His skiing has often looked terrible, but he can go hard even at the borderline of consciousness. Jessie is only able to operate even better than the others in that dark space. Style points are not awarded in cross-country skiing.
Race conditions were excellent on Sunday compared to Saturday’s sleet. Then the top women in the 15 kilometer (p) mass start reached 10 kilometers about two minutes faster than Sunday’s winner Sophia Laukli with free technique to the finish line in a race where, after all, about a third goes up a steep downhill slope.
Format is a big problem
According to Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, the big problem with the final part is the mass start format.
– The narrow initial section before the climb is absolutely impossible for overtaking, but it also worked better when there was a chase, in my opinion the only right way to decide the overall race. Of course, the beginning was more relaxed then. I can’t figure out the logic behind this mass departure.
Finland has now achieved nine prize places in the overall Tour de Ski competition, eight of which are women. Virpi Kuitunen (now Sarasvuo) took two wins and one second place. Pärmäkoski and Niskanen have won the award twice and Saarinen once. Iivo Niskanen has been third once.
The World Cup continues on January 19 in Oberhof, Germany. Athletes who performed well in the Tour are waiting there for the so-called performance supercompensation after a difficult start.
– If things have gone well on the Tour, and the athlete is healthy, that condition will come naturally. Rest, light aerobic training and more normal training again under the next Cup. Things can now only be ruined by being fussy and stressing about whether the compensation will come from there, Saarinen reflects.