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It looks like it must be pretty fun to be part of Team USA right now. Two American women (Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan) sit in the top three of the World Cup standings, Diggins forges a path toward the lead in the Tour de Ski, and American men advance through sprint qualifying, make finals, and race onto the podium (as JC Schoonmaker did three weeks ago in Oestersund, Sweden). Today, in Toblach Italy, it was Ben Ogden’s time to step into the spotlight. One who exudes the energy and joy epitomizing this season’s US Ski Team, Ogden smiles broadly and celebrates genuinely. American ski fans—and those of many other nationalities, as well—smile and celebrate with him.
After a two week hiatus, the FIS World Cup resumed today in Toblach, Italy, for Day One of the Tour de Ski (TDS). Today, the Freestyle Sprints were up for grabs. Going into the weekend, the prohibitive favorite to win the Men’s Sprint—and the overall Tour de Ski title—was Johannes Hosflot Klaebo (NOR). That was before yesterday, when conventional wisdom received a giant gut-punch with Klaebo’s announcement that he was ill and would not be able to compete in the TDS.
Klaebo’s illness quickly threw the men’s competition into disarray, and the immediate question became: “Which Norwegian would step up to fill Klaebo’s boots?” With Norwegian men having won all individual World Cup events this season, it was not a stretch to simply assume that another Norwegian would rise to the challenge. But not only was Norway missing Klaebo, it was also missing Simen Hegstad Kruger—who finished second in last year’s TDS—as he was also taken ill. With Norway missing its one-two punch, they suddenly seemed very vulnerable.
Illness also invaded the Finnish camp with Iivo Niskanen announcing that he was sick and would withdraw from the tour.
Waiting to challenge the Norwegian dominance was France’s Jules Chappaz—silver medalist from last year’s World Championships—along with countryman Lucas Chanavat, one of the few sprinters who has shown himself capable of challenging Klaebo. With the top Norwegians out of the way, and Chappaz and Chanavat chomping at the bit, perhaps today would be the day for one of the frequent second place podium finishers to shine. An opening was also there for American Ben Ogden. It suddenly looked like it would be a tall order for one of the other Norwegians to step up and snatch victory from the grasp of one of the men who have been fighting for their chance to stand at the top of the podium.
At the end of a tumultuous day of racing, it was Chanavat taking the victory, Chappaz in second, and Ogden finishing third to claim his first World Cup podium.
Two other Americans made the heats: Gus Schumacher in 18th, and Kevin Bolger 24th. Other American finishers were Zanden McMullen 47th, and Scott Patterson 91st. J.C. Schoonmaker did not start due to illness. Under TDS rules, he will not be allowed to compete for the rest of the tour.
The top Canadian was Antoine Cyr in 35th. He was followed by Olivier Leveille in 70th, and Julien Locke in 73rd.
TDS Sprint Qualifying—and Bonuses
Earning a fast qualifying position for Sprints is especially important in the TDS since the times from the qualification round will be used to calculate overall TDS standings. Bonus seconds are then awarded to the top 30 Sprint finishers; with first place getting a 60 second bonus. Bonus seconds are subtracted from competitors’ cumulative race times which are then used to calculate overall TDS standings.
In the absence of the Norwegians, Chanavat took advantage of the opportunity in the qualifiers and took the first spot by over two seconds. American Ben Ogden was also in a good position having finished eighth in the qualifying rounds.
Men’s Freestyle Sprint
Chanavat raced wearing the leader’s bib in the first quarterfinal. He easily won his heat. American Kevin Bolger was in the second heat. He seemed to falter in the final meters, finishing fifth and would not advance. Valerio Grond (SUI) took first place in that heat, with another Norwegian contender Haavard Solaas Taugboel finishing second.
American Gus Schumacher qualified 22nd and was in the third heat. He stayed with the leaders throughout the race and was in the top three coming toward the finish. Unfortunately, he was pushed into a bad line around the last corner and ended up fourth. At the time, it was enough to put him into the lucky loser position, but he would have to wait two more heats to see if he would advance. Ultimately, his time did not hold up.
The fourth quarterfinal featured Ogden. As spectators have come to expect from Ogden, he went toward the front early, and was on Chappaz’ tails right from the start. Ogden continued to hang on to second place, maintaining great position coming into the finish. Ogden fought hard all the way to the finish line, where he was in a three way photo-finish and ultimately finished second by .02 seconds. It was a fast heat and pushed Schumacher out of the lucky loser position.
TDS favorite Federico Pellegrino (ITA) was in the last quarterfinal, taking the win with Norwegian Matz William Jenssen following him into the semfinals.
Semifinals
The semifinals posed an interesting quandary for the Norwegians: they advanced five skiers to the semifinals, but four of them would face each other in the first semi that also included top qualifier, Chanavat. In that first semifinal, Chanavat immediately jumped into the lead, but Grond clung tenaciously to his ski tails. Chanavat easily took the win with Grond taking second. The Norwegians would be in the unusual position of having to wait to see if any of their skiers would advance as lucky losers.
In the second semifinal, all American eyes were on Ben Ogden who was the second highest ranked qualifier in that heat. Italian, Michael Hellweger, jumped to the lead with Ogden again tucked into third. The pace quickened significantly halfway through the race with Ogden moving up into second position. He was able to establish a gap on the field along with Chappaz who had fought to join him at the front. It was a furious sprint to the finish with Ogden and Chappaz creating a photo-finish for first place. After review, the victory went to Chappaz, but the second place finish put Ogden into the finals.
Sprint Final
The final race saw Chanavat, Chappaz, Grond, Ogden, Harald Oestberg Amunsen (NOR), and Erik Valnes (NOR) competing for the podium. It was only the second time for Ogden in a Sprint final. True to form, Ogden hung with the leaders at the start and held firm in third place; evidently his favorite spot on this highly tactical course. After the race Ogden said that, “my strategy was to try and come all the way around [the course], and block off the inside lane, which I did twice.” Halfway through, Ogden moved up to second behind Chanavat who pushed the pace from the front. It was all Chanavat, who put on a quick burst to establish a significant gap on the field while Ogden held his position in third. Ogden pushed hard all the way through in a duel with Valnes for third place. Ogden didn’t flinch one bit and was able to fend off Valnes to fight his way onto the podium. It was a first career podium for Ogden, and Norway was shut out of the podium for the first time this season . . . and the first time in memory. So, on day one of the TDS it was a new world order for the top skiers with a new American presence on the podium.
It was a big day for many reasons for Ogden. Family members were there and got to see him race on the World Cup for the first time. “It was really special,” Ogden said. “Honestly . . . I had hoped that they would be able to see my first podium finish, but I was really stoked that they were able to see me for the first time in a World Cup.”
The first time on the podium is obviously special, but Ogden couldn’t point to any one thing which had made the difference. He readily acknowledged that the absence of others made a difference. “If Klaebo was here, I would have been fourth. That being said, I feel like I cracked this course a little more than I had. Having a hard start was really worthwhile. ”
U.S. coach Kristen Bourne concurred that there wasn’t any one thing which stood out for Ogden. “In [World Cup] sprinting, you have to be really strategic,” Bourne said. “You have to find tiny gaps. It does take a while to learn World Cup Sprinting. He’s been in so many heats … he’s figuring it out. I think it’s an accumulation of experience.” Ogden’s podium was meaningful for the entire team. “It was a pretty special day,” Bourne told FasterSkier. “Every time somebody gets the first podium on the World Cup, it’s a pretty special day for everyone involved. A lot of his teammates waited around for the final, people wanted to line the course and support him.”
Illness was definitely big news today, but team USA hasn’t changed up its protocols to address this issue. Coach Bourne commented that, “We’re definitely trying to follow the same guidelines that we’ve had all season. We’re masking on planes and public transportation. We’re being very cautious about people that are coming in from traveling internationally, especially outside of the bubble.” Bourne thinks that the holiday break may have played a part in the rise of illness. “It’s pretty standard stuff,” Bourne said. “We are not the only team masking, you go to team coaches’ meetings and almost everyone there are wearing masks. But people spend time with their families during the holidays, and that expands their bubbles. You give them the opportunity to go home, rightfully so, and they try to be normal for a little bit and naturally it just exposes you to more stuff, and we’re seeing the effect of that.”
It looks easy to be happy when you’re winning. For Team USA, it also appears that cultivating that sort of happiness is a good formula for winning, too.
TDS Men’s Freestyle Sprint RESULTS:
Jules Chappaz (FRA), Lucas Chanavat (FRA), Ben Ogden (USA), (l-r) (Photo: NordicFocus)
