The Finns’ great day at Salpauselkä was continued, even though Iivo Niskanen was unable to win the long-awaited race.
Anni Jämsä,
Mika Halonen
The great Finnish success of the Lahti World Cup continued when Iivo Niskanen finished second in the 20-kilometer traditional skiing intermediate start race.
Earlier on Saturday Krista Pärmäkoski won the women’s race over the same distance, and Kerttu Niskanen was third. While Finland took second and third places in pair sprints on Friday, Finland has five podium finishes from four ski trips from the weekend in Salpausselkä.
Iivo Niskanen’s pace was wild, but Norway’s Johannes Hösflot Kläbo roared to overwhelming victory. Kläbo won the race with a difference of 24 seconds to Niskase, who came in second.
The differences in the top three grew big, as the third-placed Martin Löwström Nyenget missed the lead by 58 seconds.
Niskanen’s season has been a little successful due to, among other things, illnesses. Although his fitness has been a mystery, Niskanen has emphasized his two main goals throughout the season: this Lahti race and next weekend’s Holmenkollen 50 km race.
Niskanen has also been in the middle of several uproars this season. In the Ruka World Cup at the beginning of the season, Niskanen finished second at 10 kilometers. Then Nyenget took the win. In the goal area, Niskanen surprised by slamming his sticks on the ground with force.
Now Niskanen performed the complete opposite. He waited in the finish area for a long time with his arms outstretched when Kläbo was arriving at the finish line. Then the Finn embraced the Norwegian superstar.
Remember the Finns Lauri Vuorinen was the 12th and Ville Ahonen reached 14th place. Niko Anttola 19th and Cross mat Hakola 20’s Perttu Hyvärinen interrupted.
This is how the race progressed
Iivo Niskanen started the race with explosive speed, when he took the lead at 3.4 kilometers with a difference of up to 17.1 seconds to the second Norwegian Henrik to Dönnestad. The other Norwegians also fell behind Niskanen already in the first kilometers of the race, when Martin Löwström Nyenget was the closest to the front of the five Norwegian men, 6.1 seconds away.
At 9.1 kilometers, Kläbo took the lead. The gap to Niskasen was 3.2 seconds, but the Finn managed to increase the gap to the other Norwegians. Paul Golberg was 14 seconds away from the leader and Nyenget dropped to fourth.
After 13.4 kilometers the race was a trade of two. Niskanen forged an overwhelming top time at the stoppage point, but Kläbo did better. The difference between the top two increased to almost 12 seconds in favor of Kläbo. After this, the rankings did not change significantly, but the differences grew even more.
Perttu Hyvärinen, who was ill after the North American World Cup, had said in advance that his condition is a complete mystery. On Friday, Hyvärinen said that you can expect anything from him between suspension and top places.
The end result was suspension.
The story is updated…