By Merridy Littell
It was certainly a red-letter day for Team USA. After the trails surrounding Lugnet Skidstadion in Falun had been groomed from yesterday’s new snow, racers hit the trails again for a 20-kilometer, five-lap course that would end in triumph for both the American women and men.
On the first lap around the course in the mass start skate race, Gus Schumacher established himself in the lead pack early. While shuffling places with his competitors, it was made clear almost immediately that Schumacher’s skis were outpacing those of many of his opponents, as he was gliding up on them around the twisty corners.
Schumacher told USSS media, “My goal from the start was to not drift back in the pack, and on a twisty course like this one it’s actually pretty easy to hold the position up front so that ended up being fairly simple.” He added, “I also had good skis that made it easy to move up on the technical downhills where there’s more space than uphills.”
Speaking of which, a moment of appreciation for the complexity of this course:
With many short, steep uphills, one long one (aptly called the Mördarbacken, meaning “killer hill”), and turns that call to mind single-track mountain biking trails, the technical skill needed to execute this 4-kilometer loop five times in a row is extraordinary.
Gliding into the end of lap two, many skiers (including Schumacher) onboarded feeds, which usually consist of a drink high in sugar, like a sports drink or de-carbonated soda. Racers had an opportunity to take a feed at the end of every lap, and most did so in order to keep their blood sugar up.
Despite having already raced eight kilometers by this point, the field had yet to spread out. The first 25 racers were all within eight seconds of each other, meaning that anyone wanting a podium spot had their work cut out for them. Zanden McMullen hung onto this lead pack, sitting in 19th at the 8-kilometer checkpoint, 5.2 seconds back from race leader and teammate Gus Schumacher.
As the pace picked up just ahead of the opportunity for bonus points at 10.4 kilometers, the field spread out slightly. Simen Hegstad Krüger led the pack into the checkpoint and received 15 points, followed closely by Federico Pellegrino (12 points), Harald Østberg Amundsen (10 points), and Schumacher (8 points). As a reminder, these points contribute to both the Overall and Distance Cup standings.
There would be another checkpoint where skiers could gain bonus points a lap later, at 14.4 kilometers. This time, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget would take the first slot, with Schumacher just behind him. The latter currently sits at 13th in the Distance Cup standings, with his competitors hot on his heels (Iver Tildheim Andersen is only 37 points behind), so those 12 bonus points might prove valuable later on in the season.
By this point, the superiority of Schumacher’s skis was coming into full view. As the group descended off the hill, he would rocket past his competitors as he seemed to do on every downhill. Again, wax techs are magic.
Schumacher milked this advantage for all it was worth: he used the slingshot effect to maximize his speed and, when it ran out, a powerful turning technique. While skis may have been contributing to his position, it takes a world-class skier to maximize their effectiveness by putting oneself in the position to do so.
Gus Schumacher speeds around a turn, blurring the shot with the speed of his poling (screenshot: broadcast replay)
The pace once again picked up for the final lap; jump-skating up and over the Mördarbacken, Andreas Fjorden Ree created a small gap of around three seconds. This surge served to create a small lead pack of only six men: Ree, Schumacher, Pål Golberg, Amundsen, Krüger, and Mika Vermeulen. The group proceeded to sweep into the stadium impressively fast, tightening as it neared the finish line.
With only around 30 seconds of skiing left, Golberg made a bold choice: instead of tucking down the hill, he free skated before transitioning into a V2 over the bridge into the lead, and right beside Schumacher. A sprint finish ensued, with Golberg edging out Schumacher by 0.3 seconds. Amundsen took third, ahead of Ree by just over a second.
With this race, Golberg has now captured World Cup wins in each of six disciplines. He told FIS, summoning career statistics to needle his teammate, “I got (wins in) the Sprint Free, the Sprint Classic, Individual Skate and Individual Classic and now Mass Start Skate and Mass Start classic. He misses that Individual Skate, so, good luck, Johannes.”
(While Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has a staggering 121 individual podium finishes to his name on the World Cup, only two of them have come in interval-start skate races. Klæbo was second in a 15km in Davos in December 2021, then third in a 10km in Toblach in February 2023.)
Zanden McMullen and Kevin Bolger came in next in a photo finish (both +1:38.8) in 22nd and 23rd respectively. Hunter Wonders finished in 55th (+3:36.3), followed by Luke Jager in 64th (+5:34.3), and Walker Hall in 75th (+10:25.5).
Schumacher said of his result that it “Feels really good to be back on the podium! I’ve known I can do it, but it’s nice to get a confirmation right before world champs! My body has been feeling really good here and I’m stoked to have capitalized today.”
Speaking of World Championships, they are the next races in the lineup, in Trondheim, Norway. Start lists have yet to be published for the first race, or any races for that matter. However, on Nordic Insights, you can read about who is actually going for the U.S. here, and Noah Eckstein and Lukas Pigott will be on site throughout the championships to bring you in-person reporting. See you on February 27th!
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.
