Kerttu Niskanen is close to repeating Iivo Niskanen’s hard trick – these factors favor the Finn’s victory

Kerttu Niskanen is close to the first victory of his career in the normal distance races, i.e. the distance cup. Urheilu’s expert Ville Nousiainen explains how the value of the World Cup could be increased.

Kerttu in Niskase has a chance to repeat his brother this World Cup season Iivo Niskanen last year’s trick. The 34-year-old skier can win the distance cup.

He is at the top of that overall competition after collecting 853 points. of the USA Jessie Diggins is 63 points away in second.

A Finnish woman has won the distance cup twice, when Virpi Kuitunen collected the most points in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. In those seasons, Kuitunen also won the overall World Cup competition.

There are three distances left in the regular race. On Sunday, Holmenkollen will be skiing a 50-kilometer race on free skiing, a week later in Falun there will be a 10-kilometer intermediate start race on traditional skiing, and in two weeks there will be a 20-kilometer joint start on traditional skiing in Lahti.

Sports expert Ville Nousiainen considers Niskanen’s chances of winning good.

– If he doesn’t get sick and is able to participate, he will certainly be able to win. Diggins is good at 50 km free, but so is Kerttu. He doesn’t lose much in that.

Nousiainen reminds that with the new points system it will be difficult to close Niskanen’s lead. The importance of a win (100 points) in the light of points has decreased.

Today, tenth place gets no less than 63 points, while last season the corresponding number was 26. So it can be enough for Niskanes that he skis steadily into the top ten.

Niskanen’s chances of winning are supported by the fact that traditional is a more challenging area for Diggins.

– With this year’s points calculation, you can’t stay very far. Every skier in the top ten gets pretty close to the winner’s points.

The best of my career in the World Cup

In light of the statistics, Niskanen is skiing the best World Cup season of his career. He has celebrated a victory this season (10 kilometers in traditional Beitostölen), was twice second and once third.

Before this season, he had achieved a best of three podium places in the 2013-2014 season. In that season, he achieved his best ranking so far in the distance cup after being third.

In the World Cup, Niskanen has been at his best Fifth (2014). Niskanen, who finished second at the Tour de Ski, is currently third in the overall race.

The last time a Finnish woman was in the top three in the overall cup was in the 2016–17 season, when Krista Pärmäkoski was another.

He is 18 points ahead of second place Diggins. Norway, which leads by more than a hundred points, is on its way to victory in the World Cup Tiril Udnes Weng.

Before the season, hardly anyone could tell Weng a victory.

– He has consistently finished in the top ten in every race and from the beginning of the season he skied really good races. That’s enough there.

Winner of two world championships at the World Championships Ebba Andersson is only ranked 15th in the World Cup. He missed the Tour de Ski.

– When he hasn’t skied in every race, he hasn’t been able to close the gap.

Contract cup

In cross-country skiing, there is often a lot of talk about value competitions and the Tour de Ski. Nousiainen sees that winning the overall World Cup race is still highly valued, although this year its meaning has changed.

– This year it’s the urakkacup. You get less benefit from the top positions than before. I could see that the World Cup would be really appreciated if there were fewer games and everyone could participate.

– It has been seen that there have been a lot of omissions at, for example, the Tour de Ski. What I don’t like about the World Cup is that there are so many races.

Nousiainen suggests that the World Cup should have fewer races and, for example, clear sprint and normal distance weekends.

– The athletes would get a rest. Everyone would be able to participate and the level would remain better. The World Cup always tells more about the athlete’s level than the prestigious competitions. Doing well in the overall cup means that you are on top of the world and able to perform consistently.