New Season, Same Old Result: Klaebo Rules Ruka Sprint

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Sprinting is a crazy thing to do on cross country skis. Courses are icy, uphills are steep, corners are tight, and the challenges of forcing this long, spindly equipment into a crowded and chaotic mass start sprint leaves fields of world class athletes looking like giraffes on rental skates. It seems like anything can happen. Unless, of course, your name happens to be Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), in which case nearly every Sprint weekend is the same: you win.

Well, Klaebo IS his name, and win he did . . . in much the same style as he so often does: dominant and clever, quick and light, moving easily and accelerating effortlessly on a pair of skis that the rest of the World Cup field would kill for. Alongside Klaebo on Ruka’s Sprint podium were his Norwegian teammate, Erik Valnes, (one of the few other skiers to had Klaebo a defeat on this particular Sprint course), and Finland’s hometown favorite, Lauri Vuorinen.

“It’s good to be back,” Klaebo beamed in post-race interviews. “I didn’t have my best day yesterday, so it’s really good to be back on top of the podium.”

Klaebo had dominated the qualifying round, covering Ruka’s Sprint course in 2:22.59, a full 2.5 seconds faster than the second qualifier, Benjamin Moser (AUT). Behind Moser, the top thirty qualifiers were separated by just over four seconds. Vexingly, Americans failed to qualify any skiers into the top thirty. Ben Ogden was the top American, qualifying 32^nd, followed by Zak Ketterson (35^th), Zanden McMullen (37^th), JC Schoonmaker (50^th)), Michael Earnhardt (53^rd), Kevin Bolger (62^nd). Canadian skiers also failed to advance qualifying: Xavier McKeever (47^th), Pierre Grall Johnson (55^th), Sasha Masson (61^st).

 

Ruka Classic Sprint

Temperatures dropped overnight in Ruka, Finland, creating a course of slick man-made snow that tripped up numerous sprinters in the Women’s field and Men’s field, alike. While Friday’s temperatures hovered near freezing, by Saturday morning, winter had returned to northern Finland, with temperatures at race-time dropping to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinters lined up for qualifying wearing buffs, mittens, and pompom hats in the cold of northern Finland.

Former World Cup Sprint Champion, Kikkan Randall, was overheard discussing the Ruka Sprint course with co-anchor Chad Salmela. “The season starts in Ruka, she said. “It’s one of those longstanding traditions that really does kind of work the cobwebs out. For me, personally, it was quite the challenge to crack. I had some really good races on this course, but most of the time, I was just trying to get into the top 30. It was a real puzzle to solve. It’s a great course to see Classic technique really on display.”

FIS’ on-site reporter was overheard speaking with former Finnish World Cup competitor, Martii Jyhla, who used spicy language not usually heard on camera to describe the key points of the Ruka Sprint course. “In the last uphill, it’s pretty important to have a good grip to be able to ski all the way to the top,” Jyhla said. “I think the last 10-20 meters are the most critical ones. If you either get too much lactate there, or you are losing the grip, then you’re pretty much—can I say it on TV?—(screwed).

The comical scramble of FIS’ shocked on-camera reporter notwithstanding, Jyhla’s spicy description was pretty much spot on. That uphill would be the key.

 

Sprint Quarterfinals

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) drew Quarterfinal Heat 1, sharing the stage with his Norwegian teammate, Erik Valnes, who also advanced to the semifinal. As we’ve so often seen him do, Klaebo seemed to wander effortlessly to the front on the mid-course downhill, positioning himself perfectly for the critical uphill section on which Ruka Sprints are often decided. It’s amazing how often Klaebo maneuvers his way unscathed through Sprint heats, and Ruka would prove no exception.

Behind Klaebo, though, strange things began happening. Racers were slipping, spilling, tangling. Haavard Solaas Taugboel (NOR) fell in the final turn of Heat 3, in which Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) also failed to advance. Federico Pellegrino qualified only 20^th; even so, he advanced easily through his quarterfinal, punching up the final uphill to coast across the line ahead of Even Northug (NOR).

 

Sprint Semifinals

I want Klaebo’s skis—or his finesse, or his technique, or his balance, or his timing—or whatever it is that allows him to go coasting easily past the world’s best sprinters. Even his own Norwegian teammate, Erik Valnes (perhaps the world’s second-best sprinter) struggles to remain in Klaebo’s wake. Valnes was matched with Klaebo in the quarterfinals and semifinals, both times finding himself relegated to watching as Klaebo drifted easily by him on the mid-course downhill. Klaebo and Valnes both would advance to the final, but Valnes did so without much of a plan for how to win.

In the second semifinal, Pellegrino found an extra gear on the final uphill to drop Marcus Grate (SWE) and distance a slipping Northug, but Pellegrino was unable to hold them off in the final drag race to the finish line. Northug and Grate caught Pellegrino from behind to advance to the final. Crossing the finish line third (not fast enough to claim a lucky loser spot), Pellegrino was done for the day.

 

Sprint Finals

As the sun was setting over Ruka, the Men’s Final lined up at the starting line: Klaebo, Valnes, Northug, Grate, Lauri Vuorinen (FIN), and Niilo Moilanen (FIN). Just one year ago Valnes had defeated Klaebo on this same Ruka Classic Sprint course, but it’s possible neither he—nor anyone else—remembers how he managed to do it.

As he had done in each of his earlier heats, Klaebo had created enough of a gap at the top of the final uphill to look back at his competition before hitting the jets on the final straightaway. He coasted easily across the line for the win ahead of a gamely-flailing Valnes and crowd-favorite, Vuorinen.

Klaebo will enter Sunday’s 20 k Freestyle Mass Start as the FIS World Cup leader in both Sprint and Overall. After today’s Sprint in Ruka, many ski fans could not imagine anyone else wearing that leader’s red bib.

 

Ruka Men’s Classic Sprint RESULTS

Ruka Men’s Classic Sprint QUALIFICATION