Amundsen Captures World Cup Lead, Hagenbuch 13th in Oestersund 10 k

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Week after week, the final standings of World Cup distance races are a list of Norwegian names, and the bibs of World Cup leaders continue to pass from Norwegian to Norwegian. Oestersund Sweden’s World Cup 10 k Freestyle Individual Start race was no exception as Harald Oestberg Amundsen captured his second win of the season, and took over both the World Cup Overall and Distance bibs.

Sunday’s race saw large gaps in split times, and numerous instances in which athletes with different start times managed to pair up on Oestersund’s three lap course. At day’s end, it was Amundsen (NOR) who emerged victorious, followed by Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) and Didrik Toenseth (NOR). Norway’s stable of World Cup thoroughbreds continues to dominate World Cup racing, but the names at the top of the leaderboard are likely to change on any given week. In Oestersund, Norway took the top five places, and placed all seven Norwegian starters in the top nine.

Andrew Musgrave’s (GBR) sixth place finish interrupted the Norwegian grouping near the top of the standings. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR)—World Cup Sprint leader, and winner of Saturday’s Classic Sprint—finished just behind Musgrave in seventh, followed by Friedrich Moch (GER) in eighth.

The FIS World Cup leader’s bib never seems securely affixed to any one set of shoulders, either: Paal Golberg (NOR) entered Oestersund wearing both the Overall and Distance Leader’s bibs, only to surrender both to Amundsen after Sunday’s race. Golberg would finish the day in ninth.

Americans delivered quality results with three athletes in the top 30. Johnny Hagenbuch came through the finish line as the leader of all earlier finishers, his finishing time of  24.42.7 allowing him to sit briefly in the leader’s chair. After a field-leading relay last week in Gaelivare, Hagenbuch appeared poised for a break-out performance. With an early start number—and having few opportunities to hear the split times of his rivals—Hagenbuch was out there on his own. Amazing, then, that he managed to drive forward to a career-best finish in 13^th.

“Last week’s relay was a great day for me personally,” said Hagenbuch. “But it was even better for the whole team. I was really excited to feel my shape come into form when I was racing with my friends. Today, I was hoping to carry that same energy into the race. I’m really pleased with how I executed the pacing today, and it’s incredibly gratifying to have a great result in addition! I don’t think I’m doing anything differently or better than before; I think it has taken me a while to find my race gear this season. Hopefully it’s here to stay!”

U.S. coach Matt Whitcomb was not surprised by Hagenbuch’s performance. “This is Johnny’s best event, so I actually don’t think it surprised us too much, it more just impressed us, said Whitcomb. He continued that, “we saw in his relay performance last week that he had … the fastest time on the skate leg … we saw a really great performance last week, so we expected a good race today, and got it for sure.”

Gus Schumacher (USA) and Zanden McMullen (USA) also delivered good results in 21^st and 27^th, respectively. Other American finishers included Ben Ogden 46^th, Scott Patterson 48^th, Luke Jager 58^th, Will Koch 72^nd.

“I stepped training back a little bit this summer and I think it allowed my body to come around and absorb training more consistently and completely,” said Schumacher. “That seems like it’s translated to more stable energy and health, and the consistent results have made it easier to be confident skiing like myself out there. It’s good to feel like myself, but I know I’m super quick to push it and get tense and lose patience, so I’m just gonna roll with it and take each race as an opportunity to execute well and trust that those top 10s and bigger results are just going to happen.”

“I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates every day,” said McMullen. “If a race isn’t going the way I wanted, I can always think back to racing hard for THEM. It’s almost the same feeling as being on a relay and being relied on—it just gives you that little extra fight. I’m happy about a top 30, but with the margins so close and not having a hard finish I know I can easily move up a lot of places. I’m really excited to race the skiathlon in Trondheim and I have my eyes set for a top 20!!”

Antoine Cyr (CAN) continued to deliver results in the top 30, finishing the day 24^th. Other Canadian finishers included Xavier McKeever 68^th, and Leo Grandbois 75^th. Olivier Leveille did not start the day’s event.

10 K Freestyle

Oestersund’s 10 k course—raced over three laps—created chances for skiers to pair up, or even group up. Obviously, such pairings—and the advantageous drafting those pairings create—can offer a boost to those lucky enough to find a faster skier to follow, or a partnering skier with whom to match pace. Norwegians seemed to benefit most, with Iver Tildheim Andersson pairing up with Toenseth, and Kruger pairing with Amundsen.

Amundsen posted a finishing time of 23.36.2, pushing his Norwegian teammates down in the standings. Still on course, Krueger continued to post leading times, but his lead over Amundsen was fading. At 6.6 k, Krueger’s lead had dropped to inside five seconds. Krueger continued to cede time to Amundsen, dropping six seconds behind at 9.4 k. At the finish, Krueger moved ahead of Toenseth, but his time could not supplant Amundsen. The win also earned Amundsen the yellow World Cup leader’s bib AND the World Cup distance leader’s bib, supplanting former leader in both categories, Paal Golberg, who raced sluggishly, perhaps showing the effects of his participation in Saturday’s sprint.

Men’s 10 k Freestyle RESULTS