Norwegian sprinters dominated the longdistane World Cup opener at Beitostolen on Saturday and captured first, second and fifth place in the men’s 15-kilometer classic race.
Source: Langrenn.com
A huge surprise came in the men's race where two Norwegian sprinters swept the top 2 places in the 15km classic. Tor Arne Hetland, who has never been a main contender for a middle-distance race, hammered everyone including his sprint teammate Jens Arne Svartedal, who took second ahead of another surprise podium effort by veteran Slovakian skier Ivan Batory. Pre-race favorite Axel Teichmann was 8th.
This is opening up the possibility of Hetland (or Svartedal) winning the overall World Cup. Another Norwegian sprinter, Eldar Ronning was 5th.
– I had hoped to take over the Yellow jersey with a good placing, but I didn’t believe in victory, said Hetland at the post race pressconference.
He is choosing to view the sprint dominance as a sign that the sprinters have done the right training.
– Four sprinters among the top-five today indicates that we can ski well in longer races with sprint training, says Hetland
Different course
He and Jens Arne Svartedal is not denying that the course was different the most World Cup courses.
— The course was very “busyâ€, you had to work the entire time. It requires that you have high speed, since there were no big altitude differences, says Svartedal.
He believes that this can explain some of the success for the sprinters.
—We both have an instinct to be more aggressive than others and have trained more speed. That can have made the difference, says Svartedal.
Hetland is saying that he will race more long races in order to stay in shape and might race two races also next weekend in Kuusamo. He will still prioritize the sprint if he has to choose.
Easy waxing
The two medalists didn’t know what happened to the Swedes and the Germans in Saturday’s race.
— The Swedes or the Germans might not have great skis today, but the waxing was pretty simple, says Hetland
Results: 1 HetlandTor Arne NOR 40:50.0 0.0 2 SvartedalJens Arne NOR 41:07.2 +17.2 3 BatoryIvan SVK 41:14.8 +24.8 4 JauhojaerviSami FIN 41:18.8 +28.8 5 KrezelokJanusz POL 41:21.9 +31.9 5 RoenningEldar NOR 41:21.9 +31.9 7 AasenGeir Ludvig NOR 41:31.0 +41.0 8 TeichmannAxel GER 41:33.6 +43.6 9 AngererTobias GER 41:39.8 +49.8 10 PerrillatChristophe FRA 41:40.1 +50.1 11 FredrikssonMathias SWE 41:42.0 +52.0 12 GjerdalenTord Asle NOR 41:43.1 +53.1 12 VeerpaluAndrus EST 41:43.1 +53.1 14 EstilFrode NOR 41:44.1 +54.1 15 RotchevVassili RUS 41:46.6 +56.6 16 OndaYuichi JPN 41:48.2 +58.2 17 Di CentaGiorgio ITA 41:50.5 +1:00.5 18 BurgermeisterReto SUI 41:51.1 +1:01.1 19 MaeJaak EST 41:54.7 +1:04.7 20 LegkovAlexander RUS 41:55.3 +1:05.3 21 NorthugPetter NOR 41:55.4 +1:05.4 22 HjelmesetOdd-Bjoern NOR 41:57.2 +1:07.2 23 BauerLukas CZE 41:59.5 +1:09.5 24 BulgakovMaxim RUS 41:59.6 +1:09.6 25 HorntvedtKristian NOR 42:02.2 +1:12.2 26 ValbusaFulvio ITA 42:04.5 +1:14.5 27 RousseletAlexandre FRA 42:05.2 +1:15.2 28 SeifertBenjamin GER 42:05.6 +1:15.6 29 SantusFabio ITA 42:09.1 +1:19.1 30 KoukalMartin CZE 42:09.3 +1:19.3 30 SchluetterAndreas GER 42:09.3 +1:19.3 32 Piller CottrerPietro ITA 42:10.5 +1:20.5 33 GaustadJon Anders NOR 42:11.9 +1:21.9 34 FilbrichJens GER 42:12.8 +1:22.8 35 KreczmerMaciej POL 42:13.4 +1:23.4 36 SkjeldalKristen NOR 42:13.7 +1:23.7 37 FredrikssonThobias SWE 42:14.4 +1:24.4 38 OlssonJohan SWE 42:14.6 +1:24.6 39 AndresenJan Egil NOR 42:18.4 +1:28.4 40 KozisekDusan CZE 42:18.6 +1:28.6 41 SoedergrenAnders SWE 42:22.1 +1:32.1 42 MagalJiri CZE 42:22.4 +1:32.4 43 TrondsenKrister NOR 42:23.1 +1:33.1 44 DementievEvgenji RUS 42:23.8 +1:33.8 45 IsometsaeJari FIN 42:26.0 +1:36.0 46 BjerkeEspen Harald NOR 42:32.0 +1:42.0 47 SteblerChristian SUI 42:35.9 +1:45.9 48 LeybyukRoman UKR 42:37.8 +1:47.8 49 BotvinovMikhail AUT 42:38.3 +1:48.3 50 RuizDiego SPA 42:42.7 +1:52.7 51 BundiGion Andrea SUI 42:43.6 +1:53.6 52 VittozVincent FRA 42:44.4 +1:54.4 53 JonnierEmmanuel FRA 42:47.9 +1:57.9 54 SkjaerliBrynjar NOR 42:49.5 +1:59.5 55 MorigglThomas ITA 42:52.0 +2:02.0 56 ChecchiValerio ITA 42:52.5 +2:02.5 57 KveenStig Rune NOR 42:54.1 +2:04.1 58 SommerfeldtRene GER 42:55.4 +2:05.4 59 RehemaaAivar EST 42:59.7 +2:09.7 60 BajcicakMartin SVK 43:00.2 +2:10.2 61 ImaiHiroyuki JPN 43:03.5 +2:13.5 62 DolidovichSergei BLR 43:04.8 +2:14.8 63 ClaraRoland ITA 43:05.1 +2:15.1 64 OhtonenOlli FIN 43:12.1 +2:22.1 65 NaruskPriit EST 43:14.8 +2:24.8 66 EderJohannes AUT 43:19.7 +2:29.7 67 NousiainenVille FIN 43:28.2 +2:38.2 68 NorinArtem RUS 43:29.2 +2:39.2 69 LasutkinAlexander BLR 43:31.2 +2:41.2 70 SperlMilan CZE 43:33.6 +2:43.6 71 GeliangLi CHN 43:38.4 +2:48.4 72 FischerRemo SUI 43:41.1 +2:51.1 73 HofstadTore Ruud NOR 43:48.9 +2:58.9 74 GumenyakMikhail UKR 44:00.7 +3:10.7 75 VilarrublaVicente SPA 44:26.0 +3:36.0 76 StsiapanauYauheni BLR 44:26.6 +3:36.6 77 MartsyvVitaly UKR 44:33.6 +3:43.6 78 YeTian CHN 45:06.8 +4:16.8 79 MalakMichal SVK 45:09.0 +4:19.0 80 Im-HunChoi KOR 45:18.4 +4:28.4 81 SimBen AUS 47:19.3 +6:29.3 82 Thor OlsenJonas DAN 47:40.8 +6:50.8
