By Devin L. Ward, Ph.D.
Six Americans competed in today’s Davos World Cup interval-start 20-kilometer classic race, which was actually 21.6 kilometers total across three hilly laps. In a change, we did not see a Norwegian-dominated podium. However, altitude, steep hills, and nine races over the past two-plus weeks all took a toll, increasing the gaps between finish times. Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget of Norway won, 13.1 seconds ahead of Finnish classic specialist Iivo Niskanen and 35.1 seconds ahead of Hugo Lapalus of France.
Lapalus may have taken bronze, but the entire French support team won the gold medal for most enthusiastic podium celebration, which featured a lot of red and black plaid, red smoke grenades, flag-waving, and, of course, chainsaws (final slide above). While the French can always be counted on for lusty celebrations, the enthusiasm here was fitting for Lapalus’s first career podium in a standalone World Cup. (He was third in a Tour de Ski stage last season, the 10-kilometer mass-start skate in Val di Fiemme in January 2024, and was also third in the overall Tour de Ski standings that year.)
Gus Schumacher was the top American on Sunday, finishing in 21st (+2:21.9). He was followed by Zanden McMullen in 30th (+2:53.2), Ben Ogden in 40th (+3:46.0), Zak Ketterson in 42nd (+3:48.7), Hunter Wonders in 51st (+4:00.0), and Michael Earnhart in 59th (+4:44.2).
This performance was roughly consistent with Schumacher’s last classic interval-start race, in Ruka to open this season, where he finished 18th. McMullen was 30th in that race as well, Wonders 48th, and Earnhart 57th. The trend lines here remain strong.
That extra 1.6km did make a difference. (Homologated distance courses can be as much as 10 percent over the official distance, or 5 percent under, and still “count” as the listed distance.) We saw Lapalus lunge across the line with probably his best snot (spit? sweat?) mustache of the season yet, and Niskanen gasping in the finishing stretch. Yet somehow, they had enough energy to give Nyenget a sled-ride after the podium photos.
Today’s race concludes Period 1 racing for the 2024/2025 season. While Norwegian men occupy the top five positions in the World Cup overall standings, and six of the top seven, Schumacher currently sits eighth in the overall rankings, and ninth in the distance standings. Ben Ogden, tenth in the Sprint Cup, is the other American man with a top-10 discipline rank heading into the break.
After some well-earned time off for Christmas, we return for the Tour de Ski with a skate sprint in Toblach on December 28th at 17:00CET (11:00EST, 7:00 Alaska standard time). American starters for the Tour de Ski are scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, and may be found here once they are available.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.
