Ruka was confused by the poor performance of the two national teams – the expert found the reasons

Urheilu will broadcast live and follow the opening of the World Cup in Ruka next weekend online.

Last winter sports weekend included the Finnish Cup skiing in Easter. Internationally, the hustle and bustle starts this week, when the cross-country skiing, ski jumping and combined World Cup season starts in Ruka. The Biathlon World Cup also starts in Östersund.

In this article, the most interesting events and topics of conversation of the past weekend are broken down.

What are we talking about?

This week’s Finnish Cup races, which took place in the World Cup scenery, were somewhat surprisingly unsurprising. With a few exceptions, the top athletes kept their itches.

Urheilu’s skiing expert Ville Nousiainen makes the weekend the hottest topic of conversation Cross mat Hakolan great tune. He was clearly second by only 18 seconds in the traditional ten-kilometer split start race Iivo Niskanen lost.

Say goodbye to the one who was third and one of the top 30 skiers in the World Cup Markus to Vuorela was almost half a minute.

Hakola has started the season with often ragged starting points. When has there been an illness in the background, when has he been injured after falling in a race.

Formerly known as a hard sprinter, Hakola has become more of a normal distance skier in recent years. The intermediate start races held in the traditional skiing way have been popular for Hakola from time to time. In the World Cup, he has reached places 9–10 twice in that competition format.

For men, 15 kilometers was shortened to ten kilometers in the last World Cup season. Hakola shone in the spring, being sixth in Sweden’s Falun. Although Iivo Niskanen and some other top names were missing from the competition.

The traditional ten-kilometer intermediate start race is scheduled for Saturday.

– We have to see how the good pace is reflected on the international field. The difference to Iivo was small enough, but did Iivo have all areas in order? Nousiainen thinks there weren’t any terrible problems when skiing the hill.

For Hakola, can we talk about a top 10 place on Saturday?

– I could roughly guess like this. Hakola can promise the speed that Iivo bombed the previous weekend in Olos. Vuorela and his partners are ranked 25–30 skiers, whom Ristomatti won by a wide margin.

Hakola’s shares can be improved by the difficulties of the Norwegian skiers. Recently, many of the top names in the country have fallen ill.

– Top 10 skiers are usually Norwegian or Iivo. If they have difficulties, Ristomat’s chance will improve.

Who surprised?

In the Finnish Cup, sprints and intermediate start races were contested. The top three in both the men’s and women’s races were highly anticipated.

Behind the front were some surprises in the men’s 10-kilometer intermediate start race of the Imatra Athletes Miro Karpanen and Haapajärvi’s Kiilojen in the women’s corresponding competition Tiia Olkkonen.

Karpanen was fourth, only three seconds away from the podium place. Olkkonen, who is better known as a sprint skier, was fifth, winning, among other things, the national team skiers Anne Kyllönen and Jasmin Kähärän.

Much was expected from the 23-year-old Olkkose in Saturday’s traditional sprint race, but the speed was not enough for the final race dominated by experienced athletes.

– In sprints, he is all about speed distribution. He showed on Sunday that he has endurance and that he can do well in sprints, Nousiainen sees.

Karppanen, who will turn 24 on Wednesday, is a good all-around skier who is often left in the dark.

– Sometimes he skis really good skis and then we go from side to side. Hopefully this will be the season when he gets his swing under control. In the sprint, he is not a good enough sprint skier, but he has a really good grip. He can become an okay skier on a normal trip.

Who flopped?

Nousiainen makes the weekend the worst disappointment Perttu Hyvärinenwho was only ninth in Sunday’s normal distance.

Nousiainen marveled at Hyvärinen’s quiet finish in the race.

– What is he doing? Nousiainen was amazed in the commentary.

– We are question marks, narrator Kimmo Porttila in turn said.

– I don’t know what caused it, but his result was not double. He must be Finland’s number two skier, who skis in the top ten. This was not a top 10 ski. There is another one Remi LindholmNousiainen refers to a national team skier who was only 11th.

Nousiainen finds a reason for the duo’s laziness.

– When you train a lot, skiing is not necessarily at its peak during the first weekends. Needs a few good pushes. And when the training load is lightened and the muscle recovers, you can ski harder and harder.

– National team skiers do not have the same rush as national level skiers. They can do a little warm-up before the Ruka World Cup, when the fitness base will last better over the course of the season.

What the hell?

The biggest wonder of the winter sports weekend came from outside cross-country skiing. The Alpine Skiing Men’s World Cup competition in Gurgli, Austria was interrupted when the Last Generation protest group spread orange paint on the finish area.

In their sheets, the protesters demand that people listen better to climate issues. In the episode that happened in the second round, Norway Henrik Kristoffersen enraged by the climate protestors’ ploy. He rushed towards the protesters, but the police intervened.

After the race, Kristoffersen let it burn in an interview with the Norwegian NRK. He was ready to beat activists.

– Damn idiots. That kind of person doesn’t pull. There must be consequences for this.

– I told them that I don’t respect them at all. I would have hit if I had the chance, said the Norwegian, one of the most successful alpine skiers of recent years.

What next?

Next is the opening of the World Cup season. After Olos’ crushing victory, Niska was considered the biggest favorite to win the Ruka ten-kilometer race.

Niskanen was unsure of his condition after Ruka’s race on Sunday, but Nousiainen believes that the Finnish star will be in good shape this weekend.

Niskanen has won in Ruka four times, all of them as a 15 kilometer intermediate start.

– The work was durable and sharp even on the uphill. The time difference to Hakola is not one to fight for the victory in the World Cup if all the tough Norwegians are there. Iivo skied a sprint the day before, which could affect the course of Sunday.

According to Nousiainen, the real situation of Niskanen’s fiercest opponents is still a big mystery. Many top names have fallen ill.

Finished second after Niskanen in the race in Olos Mattis Stenshagen was far from the top pace at the games held in Norway at the weekend. He was only seventh, losing 43 seconds to the race winner To Erik Valnes.

– It is difficult to name anyone. The Norwegians who were in Olos didn’t do well for Iivo. If another batch of healthy arrivals comes from there, the situation may be different, Nousiainen reflects.

In addition to Iivo Niskanen, from Finns Krista from Pärmäkoski you can expect a podium place from Ruka. Overall, the Finns are contenders in their home race.

– There is nothing brilliant, but still a pretty balanced situation behind Iivo and Krista. I believe that some of the athletes will lighten up their training next week, which is why the big step can happen in a few days. In sprints, there is the most level expansion, Nousiainen says.