Iivo Niskanen is chasing his big dream of winning the 50 km race at Holmenkollen on Sunday. The competition is the most prestigious of all on the World Cup tour.
Niskanen is an Olympic champion and world champion, but the third tough thing in the skiing world is missing from his resume. Niskanen has said in several different interviews over the years that his goal is to win at Holmenkollen.
The previous Holmenkollen’s fiftieth Finnish winner is Harri Kirvesniemi from 2000. Niskanen has come the closest in 2017, when he was second. Then Martin Johnsrud Sundby won the race by 9.9 seconds.
Two years ago, he was fourth and was in contention for a long time, but after the race he complained of cramps in his extensor muscles.
Norway a week ago Johannes Hösflot Kläbo crushed Niskanen’s Finn on the parade route at the Salpausselka Games. Kläbo defeated Iivo Niskanen’s 20 km traditional cross-country time trial by no less than 24 seconds.
According to his own words, Niskanen has prepared normally for Holmenkollen. He went skiing in his hometown Puijo lightly before traveling to Oslo.
– Now there is a nice competition rhythm, so there is pretty much feedback in between, Niskanen said.
Niskanen sees that this weekend the layout at Holmenkollen is different compared to many previous times. According to Niskanen, he has certainly been the early favorite for the iconic competition many times, but now he believes that he will come from behind compared to the others after a broken season.
– Of course, the level is wide. Joint departures are also tactically challenging. Everything has to fall into place for victory to come. This is the finest competition in the World Cup circus, he says.
Niskanen sees endurance as the decisive thing.
– For several years, the last three kilometers have been decisive. There have been questions about strength and writing ability. The bill is so piling up. The differences have usually come at the end, even though the track is one of the toughest, he described.
Norwegian experts: Niskasen has one advantage
However, according to the Norwegian experts interviewed by Urheilu, one thing can be in favor of Niskanen’s victory. Kläbo, who was ill this season and missed the Tour de Ski, has risen like a stealth to fight for the overall victory of the World Cup.
Kläbo is only 246 points away from the top name Harald Östberg from Amundsen. There are five races left in the World Cup season, two of which are very strong sprint races for Kläbo.
The winner of the Holmenkollen 50 km race gets 100 points. There are also six ice creams in the competition. The fastest in each ice cream gets 15 World Cup points. Additional points are awarded to the ten fastest in the race goals.
– Iivo may have an easier way to the finish line. He does not have to compete for bonus points. It will be interesting to see how Johannes performs in terms of the overall competition. That could be something that Iivo, Norway’s TV2 skiing expert, can benefit from Petter Soleng Skinstad evaluate.
Also NRK’s ski commentator Jan Post highlights the effect of bonus points.
– I don’t think that Kläbo would have given up on the overall World Cup. That means he has to chase candy and claim bonus points. Kläbo can take a total of 190 points on Sunday, Post rejoices.
He does not consider it impossible that Amundsen, who won the Tour de Ski, would still have to bow to Kläbo in the battle for the overall cup victory.
– He can catch up to 50 points in both sprint races. The difference would be only 100 points. However, Kläbo has to chase the World Cup points at Holmenkollen. If he doesn’t, the fight is over, Post reckons.
Niskanen does not think that the cream goals would play a significant role in terms of the final result of the competition.
– Amundsen seems to take the overall cup. I don’t think the candy colors will solve the problem. It’s apparently on top of the first hill of the course again. It’s after such a short period of work that we haven’t had to work hard on the points, says Niskanen.
Who or who all are marked men in Niskanen’s eyes?
– The red ones. There are quite a few…, Niskanen joked with a laugh, referring to the Norwegians.
does not have TV rights for the Holmenkollen weekend World Cup competitions. However, follows the competitions moment by moment in the popular winter sports live tracking of the application and Urheilu’s website. You can also see the highlights of the competitions on the app and Urheilu’s website after the competition. will show the World Cup finals in Falun, Sweden, live on TV and in Areena in a week.