By Devin L. Ward, Ph.D.
Stade Nordique des Tuffes à Prémanon, Les Rousses, France — Estimating approximately three people per metre of course length, 5000 people were spectating the World Cup classic sprint here today. We saw cowbells, chainsaws, giant cutouts of athletes’ faces, a horn connected to a bike pump, and a lone person with a megaphone repeatedly pushing the “siren” button. Despite missing the steep climb on the 3.3-kilometer course that was used in yesterday’s 10km skate and will feature again in tomorrow’s 20km classic race, the course remained unforgiving.
I feel like three people per metre may be underselling things here (photo: Devin Ward)
I caught up to Canada’s Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt in the mixed zone after she went out in her quarterfinal heat to finish her day in 29th.
“They had splits for the qualifier,” Bouffard-Nesbitt said of the overall course profile and how she drew on her experience in the qual when racing the heats.
“I knew my first 500 meters, which is to say all of the climbing, wasn’t my strength, but I think my last kilometer, which was a lot of descending, was good in the qualifier,” Bouffard-Nesbitt explained. “So I was hoping to use some corners to get some momentum. I had a little shadow of promise coming out of the final turn [in the heats]. I just did not transition and that cost me and honestly I was just outclassed at the end, but it was fun.”
While the latter half of the course was mostly downhill, there was a climb up to the finish, where we saw a returned, and apparently healthy, Kristine Stavås Skistad of Norway power her way up that hill to gold. Skistad came in ahead of a strong contingent of Swedish women, including Maja Dahlqvist in second (+.28) and Jonna Sundling in third (+.66).
After the absence of many Swedish women during the Tour de Ski, it was clear that the racing had been dialed up a notch with their return. Skistad, however, in a showing reminiscent of much of the second half of last season, controlled her heat, semi, and final to take the win in spite of the Swedish effort.
Of the three American women entered in today’s classic sprint only Rosie Brennan made the heats, qualifying in 22nd. Brennan did not make it through her heat and did not stop in the mixed zone for questions after finishing sixth in her quarterfinal, 4.65 seconds back.
Alayna Sonnesyn of Team Birkie was positive about her recovery and performance, in spite of missing the heats (38th in the qualifier). She told Nordic Insights, “[I] definitely feel the race from yesterday, but I don’t think anyone racing multiple days in a row would say otherwise. Bummed to miss the heats by just about 1 second but this is the closest I’ve even been to qualifying in a classic sprint so I’ll take that home. Feel like I’ve been racing into things after getting sick during the tour so I hope I’m just waking up the body at this point.”
Jessie Diggins entered the sprint in spite of her recovering foot and finished the qualifier in 40th. She provided a general statement to the media about this, as we all were surely asking the same questions about her condition and strategy.
“Right now, striding, running and jumping are all painful for my foot,” Diggins wrote via USSS press, “but skating, spin biking and double pole are all pain-free! I have been working closely with our awesome medical team on a smart and conservative recovery plan for my foot, and today I was able to go out and double pole the sprint qualifier as part of my training plan for the bigger picture.”
“I respect the sport, the organizers, the fans and all my competitors, so I wanted to go out there with glitter on my face and go hard even though I knew I was not going to qualify, and racing the rounds was not part of the plan in order to play it safe with my foot. I truly had fun out there today, and although I won’t be racing tomorrow, I’m so excited to be cheering for my team and supporting my teammates who are racing!”
In a post-race Instagram update, Diggins added that an MRI after the Tour de Ski revealed that she has a partial rupture of the fascia where it attaches to her heel bone. She said that she wasn’t sure when her next classic race with striding would occur, but hopefully in time for World Championships in Trondheim. Classic or classic-containing races there include a 20km skiathlon, a 10km interval-start classic, a classic team sprint, and the 4 x 7.5km relay.
Tomorrow is the last day in Les Rousses, with a 20-kilometer mass-start classic race that will end up being closer to 22km. The first lap will be a 2-kilometer lap of what is more or less the sprint course, followed by six 3.3-kilometer laps of the same loop used for Friday’s 10-kilometer skate, which is itself extended a bit off of the sprint course. There is very little snow on the ground, so I’m sure the French groomers are doing as best they can with what they have (my husband and I skied on nearby trails in the morning, past numerous orange signs warning of “thin snow” and “rocks,” fortunately on rental skis).
Sophia Laukli and Alayna Sonnesyn are entered in tomorrow’s race, which will start at 11:20 a.m. CET (5:20 a.m. EST and 1:20 a.m. in Anchorage).
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.
