The Finnish surprise revealed Iivo Niskanen’s good tip – Finland’s number one star took his own thorn clotting in his main race | Sport

Lauri Lepistö surprised Holmenkollen on the royal trip. Iivo Niskanen said that he knew that his dreams of winning faded after changing skis.

Iivo Niskanen finished ninth in the most prestigious race of the world cup tour at 50 kilometers. Lauri Lepistö stretched to the Finnish surprise, being 12:s.

Johannes Hösflot Kläbo won Holmenkollen’s fiftieth race for the first time, beating him in the final stretch Martin Löwström Nyengeti, By Pål Golberg and Harald Östberg Amundsen. The Norwegians’ fifth victory was completed by another Didrik Tönseth.

Niskanen started to tear in the lead at 41.5 kilometers. The top group of 20 skiers was reduced to ten. At the same time, Lauri Lepistö, who skied a great race, fell from the whispers of victory.

Niskanen’s first tear was seen before the middle of the race, when he hit a harder pace and thinned out the leading group.

– I tried a little in the third round. The first ski was really good. These were the best of the competition. It was the wrong eye for the game. I anticipated that the snowfall would stop and the humidity would rise from the track, which would have triggered the trigger. Another ski was added with a skid. The snowfall didn’t stop anywhere. After changing skis, I realized that the race was over, Niskanen clarified the course of the race.

– I tried to keep up. I tried with one stroke on. There were some challenges. Couldn’t keep it. Once, the ski bumped quite badly on the downhill.

This time, the royal journey was not difficult for Niskanes.

– The clothes had to be changed pretty quickly. It was a pretty quiet pace today. There were few bettors. Not terribly burdensome for a fifty-year-old, but this was due to my own game reading error before the race.

Niskanen has talked over the years that winning Holmenkollen would be his big goal after the Olympic gold and the world championship. Now, it may be that Niskanen will next be able to pursue a victory in 2027 with a traditional skiing style that is stronger for him in his fifties.

– I got here in good condition. I am pleased that skiing felt good today. This is a challenging place. It is often foggy. The weather varies. It didn’t look like it was snowing all weekend, but it was still there. The situation also has its own kind of game. The height differences on the track do that, Niskanen said and also reminded of the current situation in the cross-country skiing competitions.

– There are many strong Norwegians. In joint start races, the group stays together for quite a long time.

Niskanen felt that he did everything he could in the race.

– After everything, I felt good on the track. Sometimes there are bad choices. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It was my own mistake when preparing the tactics, Niskanen summed up.

Lauri Lepistö from deep waters to the best of his career

Finland took a double lead in the middle of the race, when Lepistö made an unusual decision and joined the rest of the top group a lap later to change skis.

– It was a good race. It must be a happier feeling later. Now it feels a bit like traveling. I’ve known that 50 kilometers go well when everything falls into place, Lepistö enthuses.

Lepistö had noticed that he was under attack when Niskanen started to pull at the beginning and he stayed with it. Before the unusual solution, he had tried to have a conversation with Norway Mattis Stenshagen’s with.

– I tried to shout that you should not go to change. I still believed that I would get into the group, but I got ahead of the whole group. I could have been more relaxed about it. Maybe I got a little nervous, Lepistö described.

– I felt that the first ski was really good and slippery. The hold was also quite ok. I thought the other ski probably wouldn’t be as good. I was surprised that the whole group went to change skis.

Lepistö also had a conversation with Iivo Niskanen after the unusual decision, when he saw that everyone else had gone to change their skis.

– I told Iivo if Musta Pekka came to hand. Iivo said that we will go so quietly that it is worth visiting. I quickly joined the group.

Lepistö felt that he was in good shape even after the race. The extensors had started to twitch when he entered the stadium for the last time. In the big picture, Lepistö was happy about the best World Cup race of his career.

– From the beginning of the season, I was in pretty deep waters. It was so bad before Christmas. I wondered if anything would come of this.