The absence of the Russians was bluntly seen as the dominance of the Norwegians – Aino-Kaisa Saarinen: Iivo Niska would be needed here

The absence of the Russians was bluntly seen as the

Perttu Hyvärinen was the bright spot of the Finnish men’s cross-country skiers in the 10-kilometer traditional cross-country race in Ruka. According to Urheilu’s expert Ville Nousiainen, Norway’s dominance in men can be the image of this season.

Anu Karttunen,

Petra Manner,

Laura Arffman

Norway took a triple victory in Ruka’s 10-kilometer traditional ski intermediate start race, and no less than 6 skiers from the top 10 were Norwegian. Sports expert Ville Nousiainen in my opinion, the result was partly exactly what was expected now that Russian skiers are banned from international competitions.

– This was the first trip to this weekend when the absence of the Russians was visible. They don’t have as strong a sprint team as before, Nousiainen said.

For example, last winter in Ruka’s 15-kilometer traditional cross-country skiing competition, Russians were found among the top 10 on 5.

– This could be a picture for this season. Fortunately, there were a couple of Swedes today (Calle Halfvarsson and William Poromaa), son of Germany (Janosch Brugger) and British (Andrew Musgrave), who wedged between the Norwegians.

10 kilometers is a distance that men have skied less often, but for this season the International Ski Federation introduced the same distances for both men and women. When the last time Ruka skied the same distance as on Saturday, 30 men fit within 50 seconds. Now Johannes Hösflot Kläbon the margin of victory was 20 seconds and the top 30 made it to the top with a difference of almost one and a half minutes.

– Kläbo’s speed is so sovereign. He’s awfully fast and awfully durable. It makes such a big difference to others, Nousiainen updated.

Fitness factors explain the big differences

Sports expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen also expected tougher competition. Kläbo, however, put in a new gear after skiing the first lap.

– The level differences were unfortunately big. Here, among other things, would be needed Ivo (Neck) to drive a bit of a wedge into the Norwegian front. Nothing but fitness factors explain these differences, Saarinen said.

Iivo Niskanen had to miss the Ruka World Cup weekend due to corona infection.

Read also: An honest speech from Iivo Niskas about the severe effects of the corona infection – the entire World Cup season went “into a blur” at once

Perttu Hyvärinen was the Finns’ bright spot in Saturday’s ten. The man from the Puijo Ski Club hiked a similar trip in Olos two weeks ago in complete darkness, but was now the best Finn in 12th place.

– No idea where that gear was found. It was downright scary to go to today’s competition, when there was no confidence in the butt skiing, Hyvärinen admitted after the race and said that the race in Olos was a complete disaster.

Hyvärinen gets into a good hose

Ville Nousiainen and head coach Teemu Pasanen in my opinion, Hyvärinen’s race gave a good signal that the direction is up. Although Hyvärinen himself plans to enter Sunday’s 20 km freestyle pursuit race with the principle of “close your eyes and go there”, he has a good starting point for the race.

– Perttu gets to ski a good tube, because there is a big pile of men in front. In that race, it is important not to ski alone, Pasanen said.

– Perttu is good at hanging. He’s tenacious, even though it always seems after the first minute that he’s a scumbag. That’s where the punch is, and he can even get high, Nousiainen estimates.

Although 20 kilometers is quite a rare race distance, according to Pasanen, it is not much different from a 15 kilometer race, especially when it is skied in freestyle skiing. Pasanen estimates that the men will ski the race for “just over 40 minutes”.

However, the Ruka track poses its own challenge to the race.

– The course is quite hard. In the race, a 3.3-kilometer course is skied, in which case the big climb is climbed six times, Pasanen reminded.

yl-01