Iivo Niskanen was 14th as the best Finn and eighth in time trials. If the ranking is not better in Tuesday’s split start, Niskanen will hardly continue the tour after three stages.
Emma Hyuppa,
Laura Arffman
He just started his skiing World Cup season on Saturday Iivo Niskanen rose from starting position 57 to fifteenth in the men’s 10km pursuit race at the second stage of the Tour de Ski in Switzerland.
Niskanen’s early season has gone exceptionally well. The three-time Olympic champion fell ill with the disease caused by the coronavirus just before the opening of the World Cup in Ruka at the end of November and announced the birth of his first child a week later.
The competition break stretched to almost a month and a half and that, combined with the thin mountain air, was felt in the body.
– After 2.5 kilometers, I felt like a fish on dry land. It was a minor shock, when for the first time you pull to the max in the cold. I felt for a long time that it’s a different thing to compete in skiing (than to practice). Surely the height does, since I came from low. Of course, the training and competition break is an even more significant reason, Niskanen told in an interview.
In the stage races, Niskanen was the eighth fastest.
– It’s really far away. There’s plenty to do. The main thing is that we are still skiing in a race and two weeks ago it would have been much lower than eighth.
Niskanen was disappointed that he fell out of the Norwegians’ lead in the last round.
– I noticed that the last puck had a bit of grip on the limit, and when I was tired it went into a twist. Couldn’t keep up with the group at all.
The tour continues on Tuesday in Oberstdorf, where a 10 km intermediate start will be skied in the traditional way. Niskanen already announced before the start of the tour that he would ski the first three races of the tour and evaluate the continuation after that.
– Let’s see how the body works the day after tomorrow. I hope you recover from this. It’s a hell of a situation. If it’s so bad that we’re eighth, I won’t continue (after Tuesday).
Norway was the first to leave Johannes Hösflot Kläbo kept the pursuers behind him. Countryman Paul Golberg defeated Federico Pellegrino in the battle for second place only by a thousandth. Niskanen lost to the winner by 52 seconds.
Perttu Hyvärinen was only four seconds behind Niskas and finished in 16th place.
– I’m starting to be in a good mood, that’s how it’s been all the beginning of the season. It’s sad when you’re always offered ten sacks, but it wasn’t a successful performance today either. It was a bit slippery on the uphill sections today. It’s still an okay race, said Hyvärinen, who started in 28th place.
Men’s 10km Pursuit (p), Val Müstair:
1. Johannes H. Kläbo NOR 25.55,0
2. Pål Golberg NOR + 10.2
3. Federico Pellegrino ITA + 10.2
4. Simen Hegstad Krüger NOR + 28.0
5. Sindre B. Skar NOR + 29.6
6. Martin L. Nyenget NOR + 33.4
7. William Poromaa SWE + 33.8
8. Michal Novak CZE + 34.1
9. Hans Christer Holund NOR + 34.7
10. Didrik Tönseth NOR + 35.2
……
14. Iivo Niskanen FIN + 52.3
16. Perttu Hyvärinen FIN + 56.0
33. Markus Vuorela FIN +1.45.9
55. Lauri Lepistö FIN +2.20.5
56. Ville Ahonen FIN +2.25,0