By Lukas Pigott
Almost two weeks after the conclusion of the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, the World Cup circuit has crossed the Alps to continue the season in Les Rousses, France, situated in the Jura mountains just north of Geneva. Prior to the race, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who had won every sprint previously contested this season, decided to prioritise training and recovery after the Tour de Ski in favor of the World Championships in his backyard in six weeks’ time, meaning that he would not be seen on the start line in Les Rousses.
After beating Klæbo here two years ago — in a classic sprint, no less — home favorite Richard Jouve definitely had confidence coming into today, but it wasn’t going to be easy for him just because Klæbo wasn’t racing. Erik Valnes of Norway, along with an in-form Edvin Anger, the Swedish wunderkind, were amongst the strongest contenders to take home the win.
With no Klæbo on the start line this race was going to be the most open sprint of this season so far. Could skate specialist Lucas Chanavat win his first classic race on home soil? Or could Ben Ogden make it two podium finishes in a row or even a first World Cup win? All that was for certain was that the winner of a sprint race was, for the first time this season, not going to be Klæbo.
In the qualification it was a flying Ben Ogden who set the standard with a time of 2:39.30, posting the fastest time here by a half-second ahead of Chanavat and Valnes as all the favorites made it through to the heats.
Americans Zak Ketterson and JC Schoonmaker also qualified, while Luke Jager was 39th, just over a second out of the top 30 in a tight field. The young talent Murphy Kimball, an 18-year-old college freshman at University of Alaska Anchorage, qualified a strong 42nd in his first European World Cup race, with Jack Young, a 22-year-old college senior at Colby, just behind in 45th.
The 1.3km sprint course at Stade Nordique des Tuffes à Prémanon included a long climb out of the stadium followed by a technical downhill and a short uphill. This was followed by a long gliding downhill where positioning and drafting into a fast final corner would be vital in order to secure one of four tracks on the long and tough finishing straight.
On the final straight of the second quarterfinal heat Wang Qiang pulled off a questionable move, switching tracks right on top of home favorite Jouve’s skis and getting himself “ranked as last because of obstruction.” Jouve clung onto a lucky loser place for ten minutes or so before JC Schoonmaker in the fourth heat shoved him out of contention, leaving Chanavat and Jules Chappaz as the home crowd’s last hopes going into the semifinals.
Ogden cruised through the third quarterfinal leading most of the race, while Zak Ketterson wasn’t able to advance from a strong fifth heat.
Ketterson was happy to have scored his first top-30 result of the season, telling Nordic Insights at the finish, “It’s been a slower start to the year than I had hoped, and always fun to be back in the heats. Unfortunately out in the quarters but it’s good to be in the fight again.”
When asked about how it was to stay in Scandinavia over the holidays Ketterson stated, “I think I took some criticism for not coming back for Nationals, but at the same time I avoided so much travelling and was able to get in a really good training block and still do some pretty high-level races in Scandinavia. I think today’s performance was a big acceleration from Period One and that is in large part because I stayed here.”
In the first semifinal Ben Ogden showed off his colossal form, hammering it from the gun and obliterating the field up to the highest part of the course, going into what the Norwegian Viaplay commentator Jørn Sundby described as “Crazy Ben” mode.
Five skiers regrouped on the downhill into the final corner, but because of Ogden’s pace-setting it was clear that both lucky loser places in the final were going to come from this heat, meaning that Ogden had to be top four in order to advance. All was going according to plan for Ogden until the final meters, where a last-minute lane switch and lunge helped Even Northug get his toe just ahead of Ogden’s, snatching the last place in the final by one hundredth of a second.
Speaking to Nordic Insights reporter Davin Ward after the race Ogden said, “I’m obviously a little bit bummed. I thought I had a pretty good strategy for the semifinal with so many fast people in it and where I could work for a minute to the top of the hill and guarantee that it would be a lucky loser heat, but I then didn’t end up in the top four so I should have just pushed all the way over the line. But I’m happy for JC [Schoonmaker] and I think that it was a good day for the boys.”
Ogden looked strong today not only physically, but also technically. When asked how he is maintaining the technical improvements he has made with his classic technique he said, “I’m just trying to think about trying to keep my hips stable and trying not to allow myself to fall into my old habits. I almost felt it today; I was a little tired and I was doublepoling really deep in the warmup so I forced myself to ski properly. That’s kind of the goal, you know, but I’m sure Devon [Kershaw] will have a field day with what I did today,” referring to Devon Kershaw’s podcast and the real talk for which the Canadian commentator is known.
Not all hope was gone for the Americans, however, as Schoonmaker looked strong while advancing from semifinal two into the final along with Chanavat. They were joined there by Scandanavians Valnes, Anger, Northug, and Ansgar Evensen, all from semifinal one.
In the final Edvin Anger pushed the pace from the start of the race up to the top of the course. On the broadcast, Jørn Sundby exclaimed, “If Anger pulls an Ogden, anything can happen.”
He was right. Anger copied Ogden’s tactics by leading from start to finish, ending up side-by-side with Evensen on the final straight. The Norwegian (who later admitted that he thought he was going to win) couldn’t do anything with the Swedish giant who cruised to his first individual World Cup win, 0.51 seconds ahead of Evensen. Valnes edged out Northug for third place by 0.01 seconds, with Schoonmaker coming in for a strong fifth place, followed by Chanavat.
Talking to Swedish Viaplay after the race, Anger said, “This is something that I have been fighting for since I was a child, and as long as I have been in the World Cup circuit it’s been clear that this is what I wanted. The first time I was on the podium I was very happy, but it’s not quite the same. Now standing there with two Norwegians by my side — you can’t be anything but super happy”.
Second-place finisher Evensen told Norwegian Viaplay, “I was sure that it was going to be a win since the semifinal, but there was a lot of lactate. I tried to get the first position into the final corner but Edvin [Anger] was strong so I let him go first and then I thought that I would be able to take him on the final stretch but that was a level of lactic acid that I haven’t felt since Obersdorf last year, so I’m content with second but would preferably have stood on the top of the podium.”
A slightly disappointed third-place Valnes told Viaplay that he wasn’t feeling at his best today, although the course should have suited him. When asked about beating Northug with one hundredth of a second for the final podium spot, Valnes confidently pointed out that “that’s enough.”
Edvin Anger clearly paid attention to the other heats, particularly Ogden’s semifinal, when deciding on his tactics for the final. When asked how this dynamic plays out on sprint day, Zak Ketterson commented, “We’re just trying to sort of watch all the other quarterfinals and see if we learn anything. My plan was to try and start hard and make it a lucky loser heat. It felt like we went really hard, but I guess we didn’t go that fast, but I’m still really happy with today. I had a strategy and I tried it so that’s about all you can do”.
When asked how he felt about his racing today, JC Schoonmaker, who ended the day with a strong fifth place in the final for by far his best result of the season (he was previously 14th in the Tour de Ski skate sprint in Toblach), commented, “I feel good. It’s really nice to be back in the final and it was a big step forward from the beginning of the season so I’m feeling good about it.”
When asked about his sprint-day routines, Schoonmaker told Nordic Insights that “between the qualifier I try to eat as much as possible right away and try and not move around so much, but between the heats it’s a lot more about prioritizing moving around, running, staying warm, and shaking the legs out.” When asked what one should eat on sprint days, his reply was, “a good old Clif Bar.”
Anger’s victory today was notable for several reasons. It ended a streak of fifteen consecutive wins by Norwegian men; after Iivo Niskanen of Finland set the pace in the Ruka 10km classic to open the season, a Norwegian had won every single men’s race through Period 1 and Period 2.
Today also marked the first win for the Swedish men’s team this season, a great result for a team that has traditionally been very strong, but who have been going through a few difficult years. This win will no doubt add confidence going into World Championships this year and in the buildup towards a home World Championships in Falun in 2027.
Anger’s peak form this year became apparent already in the Tour de Ski, where he achieved second place in the pursuit on stage four after pulling in over a minute on winner Harald Østberg Amudsen as well as out-sprinting Klæbo for second place.
Although Klæbo has won every other sprint so far this season, Anger certainly doesn’t lack confidence, telling Swedish Viaplay, “I look forward to challenging Klæbo when he is back.” Ogden seems to agree, stating that “he has got the target on his back, and that’s not the best position to be in I don’t think. Obviously he is possible to beat, and it won’t be easy but we’ll all gang up on him.” There are four sprints on the World Cup calendar, three in classic and one in skate, before World Championships, which will feature a classic team sprint and a skate individual sprint.
Racing concludes in Les Rousses tomorrow with a 20km mass start classic. Ogden, Ketterson, Schoonmaker, Jager, Hunter Wonders, and Kevin Bolger are on the start list for the American men.
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 toAmerican 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.
