By Adele Haeg
Team Finland bested Team Sweden today in the team sprint in Cogne, Italy. For Finland, Kerttu Niskanen and Jasmi Joensuu broke Sweden’s winning streak, defeating Swedes Johanna Hagström and Maja Dahlqvist by less than one second. Team Germany, represented by Coletta Rydzek and Laura Gimmler, finished in third, three-tenths of a second behind Sweden.
A quick primer on the team sprint, which is similar to the mixed relay but different. Athlete 1 skis three laps: laps one, three, and five. Athlete 2 skis laps two, four, and six. Athlete 1 and Athlete 2 ski a 1.3-kilometer qualification lap, and then race that lap three times. Team Finland raced 7.8 kilometers in 19:04.5 ─ Athlete 1, Niskanen, prefers distance, so Joensuu was the anchor, and led the charge to the finish, speeding past Sweden and Germany for first.
The Swedish armada is accustomed to winning. They are regarded as the best squad of sprinters on the circuit right now. But Joenssu, who was second in the Tour de Ski skate sprint in December to Jessie Diggins, and is second overall in the sprint standings, is sprinting fast right now. This was her first ever World Cup win. Team Sweden is not used to this.
Swedish news outlet Expressen published an article today headlined (this is an auto-translation): “Swedish shock loss — anger against Finland.”
“I get so angry at the end,” Hagström said on Viaplay. “Kerttu jumps in right in front of me and it’s like I have to start over from scratch. I lost everything there. I got so angry, because I was still kind of in it. It’s like I lose even more. Yellow card for Niskanen, I think.”
Joensuu told FIS, “[The race] was amazing. My mum, my manager and her husband are here watching so it’s pretty special.” Today’s win was a milestone for Joenssu in what has been a successful season for the 28-year-old so far. RMISA-knowers will recognize the name as a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Denver in the 2010s.
Team USA finished last among teams that made the heats, in 15th place, about a minute and a half back from Team Finland (+1:29.8).
But regardless of the results, today was quite a day for Team Minnesota. Both of the women who started in the stars and stripes hail from my home state. Emma Albrecht skied for Stillwater High School, which is Jessie Diggins’s alma mater, and for Loppet Nordic Racing, which is based at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis (The Loppet Foundation hosted the World Cup at Wirth last February). And Erin Bianco is from Ely, Minnesota, and learned how to ski through MYSL (the Minnesota Youth Ski League) just like Jessie Diggins and myself.
Hip, hip, hooray for Minnesota! Also, both Albrecht and Bianco ski for Bridger Ski Foundation, which is based in Montana, so hip, hip, hooray for BSF too.
Albrecht, who graduated from the University of Montana this past spring, outlined her goals for Cogne in an email to Nordic Insights: “This weekend, I hope to leave with the confidence that I have what it takes to be competitive at the World Cup. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity, and I plan to make the most of it by delivering some strong performances.” Albrecht raced in Canmore and Minneapolis last year, but she has not raced on the World Cup yet this season.
Bianco echoed Albrecht’s excitement for Cogne: “Every qualifier I do on the World Cup I learn something new so I’m excited to bring in more experience to this race. I’m excited to hopefully treat this race as any other and stick to what I know how to do. It’s important to know you don’t have to do anything special and just ski your race.”
Albrecht told Nordic Insights about her tactics for the team sprint, “For the sprint course, my strategy is to build up to a high-speed double pole from the start, quickly tuck into the downhill before the two hill punches, and maintain speed over the hills. I’m a solid classic climber, so I’ll focus on carrying speed while gradually increasing the intensity throughout the course, finishing strong with another high-speed double pole. The key factor on this course will be changing techniques quickly to accommodate the changing terrain.”
She added, “I believe the course favors a skier who excels in strong, relaxed double poling. The course starts on a downhill and finishes on a downhill so knowing when to ramp up intensity will also be important.”
This is the first time the World Cup has been in Cogne since 2019. It’s in the middle of the Aosta Valley — very scenic, very mountainous, and evidently very well-suited for athletes who like to doublepole.
JC Schoonmaker agreed with Albrecht. He explained to Nordic Insights: “The sprint course is a fast and flat one. It’ll favor good double polers and savvy tacticians. They key is gonna be finding a good combination of kick and fast skis and dialing that in as well as getting out to a good start because I think passing will be difficult on this course.”
Doublepoling was a theme in Bianco’s comments about the course too. “This course is a bit different than others I have done,” she noted. “It’s pretty high speed and [has] punchy climbs. It’s important to get out fast as it starts on a downhill. After that it’s just about keeping the tempo high and making some key lane changes to cut on the inside. This course seems like it will favor power skiers and those with a strong double pole.”
Racing continues tomorrow in Cogne with another classic sprint. Yep, you betcha — we’re in for more doublepoling action tomorrow too. American starters for Saturday are Bianco, Albrecht, Kate Oldham (Montana State), and Alayna Sonnesyn (Team Birkie). Plus one Jessie Diggins, making a return to classic racing after a few races away for medical reasons.
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.
