By Adele Haeg
Edvin Anger has been on fire since the Tour de Ski. The young Swede, who sported the green U23 leader’s bib today and sits in third in the overall World Cup standings, had his first ever World Cup victory in Les Rousses, France, last weekend, and delivered Team Sweden a relay win yesterday.
Anger was second today in Engadin, interrupted only by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who decided that he’d have his glory today and make it 100 World Cup career wins (93 individual wins plus seven team sprint or relay wins, if you want to drill down on it). Klæbo, who qualified first in 2:31.93, won the final in a faster-than-fast 2:29.24. It was France’s Lucas Chanavat who bested Federico Pellegrino of Italy and the rest of the field for third spot.
This was the last skate sprint before world champs in Trondheim. According to Andrew Kastning on the broadcast, Norway has filled 10 of 12 World Championships spots for this event. Today, those remaining two spots were up for grabs. While it is still unclear who exactly will be competing for Norway in Trondheim, after his 5th place finish today, Håvard Solås Taugbøl is in contention for one of those spots. Whoever else competes in Trondheim, Klæbo wants a gold medal there; after today, I don’t see anyone taking that away from him. Hopefully, I just jinxed it.
I’ve watched Klæbo win sprint after sprint after sprint, and yet today, watching Anger, for the first minute or two of that final, I believed that he could beat Klæbo. Klæbo is entertaining, and he’s nice too (he signed my little sister’s hat and cowbell and took a picture with her and my dad at the Minneapolis World Cup last February). But I was rooting for Anger. Then, just when I thought it could have been Anger, Klæbo came ripping around him and roared into first. That is what he does.
This Engadin course skis fast. Jessie Diggins commented to Nordic Insights that she disliked the fact that the Engadin sprint course is “almost always turning slightly.” There’s two steep hills on the course that athletes have to hop skate up, but the rest of the terrain is V2-able. It flies by, and, as Diggins mentioned, is constantly twisting and turning, a feature that keeps athletes on their toes. Klæbo seems to be most comfortable when he’s on his toes.
“It’s good to be back,” Johannes Høsflot Klæbo said today to a FIS reporter on site. He was more loquacious after today’s race than he normally is. He commented on how chaotic his semifinal was. Anger won that semifinal, and Klæbo came in second. Sure, Klæbo won when it mattered, but he’s used to winning his semifinals too, and he wanted us to know that.
“It was a really tough day,” Klæbo said. “I feel the biggest challenge today was the semifinal. I think it was quite a mess, to be honest. I feel like there were a lot of people, a lot of poles, and a lot of skis in the uphills and also in the downhills. But managing to come to the final and have a good final was really good.”
When asked to elaborate, Klæbo continued, “There’s a lot of wind, so there’s a big advantage to staying behind, to go quite fast from the top and all the way to the finish. There’s a really long turn before the finish line here, so going on the outside is much longer than on the inside. It makes it a little difficult, but I’m really happy with being first.”
He was true to his tactics there. Anger is not the tactician Klæbo is, and neither is Chanavat. That’s greatness, I suppose! Klæbo also has the best skis in the world. That helps.
Anger is more blustery than Klæbo, or as Ryan Sederquist put it on the broadcast, more exuberant.
Norwegian news outlet NRK reports that Anger is not a fan of Klæbo’s. “We’re not best friends, so to speak,” Anger said. Anger asked “Why should I be best friends with my worst competitor?” I say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Anger. Anger told NRK he respects Klæbo. He also really wants to beat him. He said of today’s race, as reported in Swedish news outlet Expressen, “It was close. If I had held off for about three more seconds, I could have caught him. He came in and slowed me down and it was a nice move on his part. But it was close.”
Klæbo told NRK, “It’s nice that Anger has started to go a little fast. It’s about time. And it’s good that the Swedes are getting someone up. It’s important for the sport. I’m just happy about it.” Funny — all Klæbo gave him was “a little fast.”
For Team USA: Ben Ogden finished in 12th, JC Schoonmaker in 15th, and Jack Young in 25th for three top-30 performances. Neither Gus Schumacher or Murphy Kimball advanced to the heats, finishing in 45th and 46th respectively.
Nordic Insights checked in with Schumacher yesterday in advance of the sprint. This was to be his first race back since the Tour de Ski.
Schumacher said he was excited and “feeling really good to be back. Not expecting to be in top shape right now but it’s good to be coming into the second half of this season with some full batteries and excitement to get going again.”
This sprint was the first stage of that plan. Schumacher also mentioned that not finishing the Tour puts him behind in terms of World Cup points. “I’ll be clawing back a little on that front,” he said, “but I think in terms of World Champs it probably sets me up a bit better than a full tour does.”
Ben Ogden, whose sprint performances only continue to get more exciting, explained his approach to racing at altitude (Engadin is the most elevated venue on the circuit): “[My] approach to working around altitude is to just try and ski smooth and whittle down the competition over time.”
USSS media representatives have not yet responded to requests for additional athlete comments on today’s race, including for comments from Schoonmaker, Young, and Kimball. This article will be updated if we hear back from USSS media.
Racing in Engadin wraps up tomorrow with a 20-kilometer mass start freestyle. Gus Schumacher, Zanden McMullen, Luke Jager, Hunter Wonders (APU), Zak Ketterson, and Walker Hall (University of Utah) 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.
