By Devin L. Ward, Ph.D.
Today’s Toblach (Tre Cime) Stage World Cup interval-start 20-kilometer skate race transforms this week from a normal weekend race schedule to the Tour de Ski. In a change from recent distance races, the course was one long out-and-back loop, consisting of a 10km uphill climb followed by 10km of working downhill. Interviewed prior to the race, Petter Northug, who possibly harbors fantasies about returning to competition but was working here solely as a commentator, indicated that the first 10km would be key both for pacing and positioning (with the downhill section presumably less so).
Northug also suggested that today would be a good opportunity for Harald Østberg Amundsen to reduce his gap in the overall Tour de Ski standings on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
Northug was completely correct. Admunsen won with a solid margin of 21.2 seconds over Simen Hegstad Krüger in second and 28.4 seconds on Andrew Musgrave in third. Klæbo was fifth today, 46.4 seconds back. This reduces Klæbo’s lead in the overall ranking to 16 seconds. If Northug could make some specific recommendations for my fantasy ski picks, I’d appreciate it.
Ben Ogden, finishing 9th, was the fastest American man. This performance brought Ogden up to third in the overall Tour de Ski ranking. When asked about the race today, Ogden responded, “I think that short of the hill climb on paper today was probably the toughest race for me. You never know how different races will unfold but I am really proud of what I was able to [do] today to set myself up well for some classic races and sprinting coming up.”
Ogden then claimed some screen time for his new binding system:
In spite of Northug’s advice, approaches to pacing varied widely depending on athletes’ priorities. Athletes after sprint points flew out of the gates with Janik Riebli first to 2.1km and Janosch Brugger second, only to slow and end up 64th and 17th, respectively, at the finish. Many others chose to start slow and gain positions throughout. Notably, Klæbo was 46th at the 2.1km time point, but ended up fifth. A lot can happen when you’re out in the woods alone with no spectators (according to Amundsen’s post-race interview).
When commenting on the race, JC Schoonmaker also mentioned pacing, “I feel good about it,” he said. “It was a tough race and I think I skied well. It’s a tricky one with pacing and the constant work but I think I made a good plan and executed so I’m happy with it.” Schoonmaker finished 53rd, with Gus Schumacher in 34th, Zanden McMullen in 52nd, and Jack Young in 71st.
This is Young’s first Tour de Ski; today marked the second career World Cup distance race for the 22-year-old sprinter (the first one was Sunday). Responding to Nordic Insights, Young said, “It’s been fun so far. Having a good race today was a nice confidence boost, and I’m really excited to continue on.”
Given that this course was not repeated loops, I suspected it might be a challenge to film and produce. Audio and video were out of sync for pre-race interviews, and we saw the same Northug interview twice. At one point we had audio from a camera on the course while no athletes were visible, hearing “Capito, capito!” (I understand, I understand) in disembodied Italian.
The UK Eurosport commentators noted computer problems throughout the broadcast, as they attempted to relay splits from continually inaccurate data. Fortunately, Musgrave picked up the UK’s first podium of the season, which seems to have smoothed over any irritation for Eurosport’s (marginally biased) English-language presenters Mike Dixon and Patrick Winterton.
After today, Klæbo holds both the gold and silver bibs for the overall Tour lead and sprint points lead, with Amundsen holding the purple climber bib. Both time and point margins are narrow which should lead to exciting racing for the men’s 15 kilometer pursuit classic race starting tomorrow at 10:30am CET (4:30am EST, 12:30am in Anchorage).
American men Ben Ogden (+:59), Gus Schumacher (+2:04), Zanden McMullen (+2:38), JC Schoonmaker (+2:39), and Jack Young (+4:07, but starting in the wave 3:10 back) are on the start list. These time gaps reflect finish positions from today’s race, not the overall Tour standings. Ogden is third there, 54 seconds back of Klæbo.
Results: 20km skate | Tour de Ski overall
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