At the Tour de Ski, in the traditional sprint of Val di Fiemme, a strange sight was seen in the heat stage, when the skiers did not really want to start the last downhill in the lead. It meant that the first to leave was often passed over for the benefit of the pees. The final straight was so short that it could not necessarily decide the race.
This sprint track is also planned to be used in the Winter Olympics in northern Italy a year from now.
Finnish men’s sprint stars Lauri Vuorinen downloaded harsh text about the track. Vuorinen was fourth in his heat and was eliminated from the continuation.
– This is probably the worst track in history, said Vuorinen, who took the first World Cup podium place of his career in a traditional sprint at Ruka at the beginning of the season.
– Otherwise it’s fine, but you shouldn’t be afraid to start the last downhill among the first. This is not real competitive skiing.
Vuorinen’s spouse Johanna Matintalo was also hot.
– If the women start standing on the last hill, the track tells you everything. This is, at least in my case, very rare to stop before the last landing, says Matintalo.
Matintalo was last in its own semi-final.
– Kind of a good profile. Two good climbs. There can be differences if you don’t hit the finish line in the middle of the Tour de Ski. There are ingredients here, but I think it’s sad when women are left to stand still, Matintalo said.
Ville Oksanen experienced pain from coaching in Finland, as he guessed many other country’s coaches did. The heated situations left Oksa with a toothache.
– Everyone tried the same tactics. There will be a struggle for certain places. When you get out of the pees, the momentum dies, Oksanen illustrated.
This track to continue or not?
– The races are skied on the track on which it is skied. It’s pointless to have a negative attitude about it and you have to do the best possible job with those weapons. I think it would be nice if there was more skiing in the cross-country race than squatting in the last half minute, Oksanen stated.
The expert was dismayed by the men’s final: “It makes no sense”
Italian Federico Pellegrino went to the final straight first, but the others came violently past Pees. He finished fourth. Matintalo’s personal trainer and Urheilu’s skiing expert Ville Nousiainen felt in the commentary that the events of the men’s sprint final reflected the problems on the track. In Nousiainen’s opinion, Pellegrino could have been second on a more sensible track.
– I would shoot this track to the moon, Nousiainen would suggest if he were all-powerful.
In the men’s final, it looked like Pellegrino would be on a moped on the highway at the end. John Hösflot Kläbo won, Even Northug was another and Marcus Great third.
– We have to come up with something to block the pace of the final count. This doesn’t make any sense. Leading by a few meters. The two pass by with their hands in their pockets. Trying to work and hang out, and there is no sharing. That doesn’t make any sense.
Ville Oksanen does not go into further speculation about editing possibilities, but understands their challenge.
– The stadium is at its lowest point. You have to get here from somewhere. There will certainly be discussions, Oksanen said.
– For the women, this was still a functional track, and in the bow it was possible to calculate, because the women come more quietly due to their body weight. Men were not benefited from good uphill skiing. We were standing on top of a hill. That kind of thing doesn’t belong in the Olympics.
Jasmi Joensuu on different lines
He also skied in the same semi-final with Matintalo Jasmine Joensuu. He won a podium place in the traditional sprint at Ruka and took the first free ski sprint of his career at the start of the Tour de Ski in Toblach.
On Friday Jasmi Joensuuta was speculated to fight for victory, but was third in his own semi-final. He didn’t even reach the finals in the time trial.
Joensuu was significantly more positive than Vuori and Matintalo about the sprint track.
– Yes, this was caught by my own stupidity. I should have gone skiing down the hill. I have lost many times that I go hard at the top of the hill and others come by. The skiing was such that I could have even won. That’s for next time. No problem. Let’s fight and move on, Joensuu described.
So Joensuu described the track as great and saw that you could compete in the Olympics on the day’s track.
– It is possible to solve the second ascent. It’s stupid to leave the group to count. There is a crowd inside and outside. It depends on luck. Yes, I learned a good lesson about what not to do, Joensuu said.
– Now we know what to do in the summer if that is the track.
Tour de Ski results service