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By Lukas Sæther Pigott
With the sun out in Oberhof, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (Norway) showed everyone that he still is the skier to beat in classic distance races, winning the 10-kilometer classic interval-start race earlier Sunday with a time of 21:09.1.
While the tracks for the sprint races were quite sloppy, things had hardened up by today and made for an extremely fast course. Despite the course being slightly less than a full 10 km (around 9.6km), 21 minutes meant a crazy average speed of 27.2 km/h or 16.9 miles per hour, especially for a classic race.
One of the legendary classic skiers, Iivo Niskanen (Finland), opened very conservatively but turned things up through the race. He finished in second, 13.8 seconds behind Nyenget and eight-tenths of a second ahead of Erik Valnes (Norway). However, neither of them was able to keep up with Nyenget’s pace the last four kilometers.
After the seventh World Cup win of his career, Nyenget said, “I’ve been training like crazy to try to be in the best shape possible for February [for the Olympics].” A smiling Nyenget added, “I ski 400 kilometers a week, in addition to running and strength training, so I’ve been moving.”
Nyenget isn’t one to race much, with this being just his sixth World Cup race of the season and the first in over a month. He is however one of the centerpieces of the Norwegian distance team for the Olympics, where he will be one of the favorites for all the distance races.
In fourth place, the 23-year-old Italian breakout star of the season Elia Barp finished a career best, just ahead of neutral athlete Savelli Korostelev. Barp is one of a new young generation of strong Italian skiers coached by Marcus Kramer hoping to put on a show at the Olympics on home snow. The veteran of the Italian team, 35-year-old Federico Pellegrino, finished eighth as 25-year-old Davide Graz finished tenth, meaning three Italians top ten. This is Pellegrino’s last season; he has been emotionally counting down the days to a home Olympics.
One of the most surprising events of the season so far is the sudden resurrection of Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden, likely the only athlete in today’s race whose FIS profile includes World Cup results from the 2008/2009 season. Halfvarsson started this season well down the results list in the Swedish opener. He continued to struggle through Period 2, and was not named to the World Cup team for the Tour de Ski. Then he managed to turn things around and show that he still had a chance at a spot on the Swedish Olympic team. This would have seemed like a given before the season, but felt impossible just a few weeks ago.
Today the oldest skier in the race likely secured a ticket to Val di Fiemme with a strong sixth place for the 36-year-old. “I’m surprised that it went as well as it did, considering everything that’s happened. I’m proud of myself,” he told the media after the race.”
“I was so exhausted,” he said about his race experience. “My vision was going black. When we got to the top of the last hill and were about to make the turn, I thought I was going to collapse.”
When asked why he could ski so well today after such a rough start to the season, Halfvarsson told Expressen, “I know my limitations. When I’m in good shape, I know that I can ski fast. I have it in me. I’ve been at the top for so many years that I know my own body now.”
In the continuation of a strong weekend for Zanden McMullen, who finished 20th in the sprint yesterday, he claimed his best result of the season so far in finishing 18th, 52 seconds behind the winner.
While some of the course was in the sun, some was also shaded, making it hard for some athletes to get grip all around the course. When asked about this McMullen wrote to Nordic Insights, “We had great skis today, so I was able to kick well in both the shade and sunny sections of the course.”
When it comes to his preparation for the biggest event of the year, he said, “I will begin a training camp here soon, possibly race in Goms, and then rest well before the Olympics.” McMullen does not officially have an Olympics berth in hand, but is in line to receive one based on his results at U.S. Nationals last week.
Luke Jager (APU) broke into the top 30 by finishing in 29th, 1:10 behind Nyenget. “Our techs knocked it out of the park today and we had bomber kick on the whole course and they were gliding great!” he wrote to Nordic Insights of his skis.
“Fun to ski in such fast conditions and nice that the sun came out this weekend after being in a ping pong ball all week!” Jager added. “Classic super fun mid season racing” was his conclusion.
In his first ever World Cup distance race, Zach Jayne finished 64th. After the race he wrote to Nordic Insights saying, “First World Cup weekend is pretty tough on me.” Jayne added, “I came here with certain expectations and I did not fulfill them. The course is brutal but I had great skis to help with that.”
“Unfortunately the body was just not there today. Especially on the bigger stage being a bit off is a lot more punishing than it is back in the States. Since those top guys [on the World Cup] are pushing every section of the course.”
He concluded by saying, “I am a sports fan and everyone talks about their ‘welcome to the league’ moments, this weekend was mine.”
On a lighter note, Jayne also shared a selfie of himself with one of the veterans of the sport, Iivo Niskanen, giving the thumbs up.
Hunter Wonders finished in a strong 24th place in his first World Cup race of the season, after consistently being one of the strongest distance skiers through Period 1 and 2 of the domestic race season. Behind him, John Steel Hagenbuch finished 52nd.
And thus the selection period for the American Olympic team has concluded, though it doesn’t look like today’s results list will change much. The unofficial team, which you can read about here, will be officially named on Tuesday. Look for both Wonders and McMullen to be on the team.
For the last weekend of racing before the Olympics, Goms will be host to the World Cup races next weekend. There is a team sprint, a sprint, and a 20km mass start classic on the menu.
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