The Finnish team for Friday’s men’s relay race at the World Ski Championships in Planica has been announced. Cross mat Hakola is in the opening section, Iivo Niskanen on the second leg, Perttu Hyvärinen the third and final section has Niko Anttola.
Anttola’s choice for the relay team has been speculated a lot in recent days. The 20-year-old Finnish promise gave strong performances during the free normal trip on Wednesday.
– Niko was in a good mood at 15 kilometers. This is a tough track, Finland’s head coach Teemu Pasanen justified the choice.
– It is most important that the group is already on the anchor section when it is small. Then you have to be able to ski with the group.
For Hakola, the relay is the first race in Planica World Cup skiing.
– It’s been quite a long week and a half. Now you can let go, Hakola described to Urheilu fresh after the selection at a hotel in Finland.
According to Hakola, while waiting for his turn at the World Championships, he has been skiing “sometimes quietly and sometimes a little harder”. In the sprint, he finished tenth in the sprint Ville Ahonen with a small training competition on Monday.
– The results are not published, but both did well, Hakola said.
– Feeling is a bit of a question mark. Let’s do our best and see what’s enough.
According to Pasanen, it is important to change at the same time as the rest of the group on the opening leg.
– Ristomatti has skied the opening section many times. He is an experienced skier in that way, even though he has not skied here, says Pasanen, who also acts as Hakola’s personal coach.
“The best team in the world”
Anttola was speculated for the third part and Hyväri as the anchor.
– We received this information. Let’s go, Hyvärinen acknowledged the question about the message order.
Anttola admitted that the place in the relay team came as a surprise.
– I couldn’t wait for this. It’s not the easiest place. Let’s go challenge the toughest teams, Anttola stated.
Iivo Niskasen had a concise opinion about his team.
– The best in the world, Niskanen characterized.
For Niskasen, all options for the second leg are fine.
– Let’s start the race with very interesting ideas. There will definitely be a good pace, Niskanen stated.
Teammate Perttu Hyvärinen was not in such a flighty mood.
– I don’t know what Iivo meant, in which subject we are the best. But we have a good team. At least we have a fun group, Hyvärinen threw.
The medal is not realism, says the expert
In fact, there are hardly any expectations of success for Finnish men. The last time Finland won a World Cup medal in the men’s relay was in Liberec 2009. The continuation of the streak without a medal is to be expected.
– It is not realistic that there would be a new medal. There are three clearly tougher teams: Norway, France and Sweden. On the other hand, it’s the same story as the women’s post. If the Finnish men succeed in the end and the others have failures, the battle for medals will be on the line, Urheilu’s expert Kalle Lassila evaluate.
Lassila thought the Finnish team was completely expected. Hakola is an interesting name in that sense, because he last competed in the World Cup in France on January 29, i.e. more than a month ago.
Hakola was 18th in the 20 kilometer co-start race with traditional skiing.
– Ristomatti Hakola stands out because he has not been seen on the competition track for a long time. Fitness is an enigma, says Lassila.
According to Lassila, Anttola has a tough job ahead as anchor.
– It is historic that he is in his first prestigious competition and as an anchor at such a young age. You have to approach it in such a way that there are only positive things to achieve. He is only at the beginning of his career, Lassila states.
Kalle Lassila expects a lot from Iivo Niskas, who is considered the champion candidate for Sunday’s 50 km race, in the relay.
– Iivo Niskanen has basically been completely dominating with traditional shares in the posts. Iivo in top condition will be able to make a really big and ugly mark in the second leg, Lassila estimates.
Hyvärin has clear tunes for race tactics
Perttu Hyvärinen had clear ideas for the tactics of the Finnish team.
– The average age of the team dropped quite a lot when we got a young anchor. Let’s go give Niko a good pass. Let’s live according to the situation. Let’s get the benefits we can out of the peeses. Everyone is aiming for the maximum time, Hyvärinen described the team’s tactics.
Hyvärinen goes into the race with an open mind.
– There were surprising results in the women’s relay as well. In value competitions, everything is always possible in one direction or another. There are probably no top favorites, but let’s take what comes. A hero’s cloak is available. Let’s try to hang it on Niko, Hyvärinen stated.
According to Pasanen, there were few surprises in the other teams’ lineups. Norway in particular surprised the Finnish coaching staff when Hans Chister Holund has the team in the opening leg.
Norway: Hans Christer Holund, Pål Golberg, Simen Hegstad Krüger, Johannes Hösflot Kläbo
France: Richard Jouve, Hugo Lapalus, Clement Parisse, Jules Lapierre
Swedish: Johan Häggström, Jens Burman, William Poromaa, Calle Halfvarsson
Germany: Albert Küchler, Janosch Brügger, Jonas Dobler, Friedrich Moch
Finland: Ristomatti Hakola, Iivo Niskanen, Perttu Hyvärinen, Niko Anttola
Italy: Dietmar Nöckler, Francesco de Fabiani, Paolo Ventura, Federico Pellegrino
United States: Ben Ogden, Hunter Wonders, Scott Patterson, Gus Schumacher
Switzerland: Beda Klee, Jonas Baumann, Candide Pralong, Cyril Fähndrich
Niskanen teased the Swede – plans to run away with Norway
Hakola found the names of the opening leg pleasant and mentioned France Richard Jouven and Sweden by Johan Häggström.
Häggström had previously said that he would not like to compete against Iivo Niskas in the relay.
– It doesn’t matter. It can be thought that Rise is a worse tick than ours, Niskanen quipped.
Hakola had clear tunes for his part.
– I will be in the top group enough. Let’s unleash the beast. Iivo makes a devastating mark. Perttu does the basic performance. Niko finishes, Hakola said about the course of the Finnish team’s race.
According to Niskanen, the days in between after last weekend’s combined race have gone well.
– Now you demand from yourself that you have to ski at a good pace. Our main opponents are bad if they get free at the same time. They have strong free skiers, Niskanen stated.
In the combined race, Niskanen was not able to break the crowd in the traditional section.
– It wouldn’t hurt others to participate in the same way as in the skiathlon. We would like to break up with Norway after the second leg. Then Perttu would get to ski for a while and hopefully until the end with the world’s best free skier, Niskanen said, referring to Planica’s double gold medalist at the World Ski Championships Simen to Hegstad Krüger.
Iivo Niskanen has already won almost everything else in his career except the relay medal.
– It would be great to celebrate with a group. I have come to the truck so many times disappointed. If only I could finally go to the sauna with the boys, Niskanen thought.
The 4×10 kilometer relay starts on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2, Areena, Puhee and the app for live tracking of the World Ski Championships.