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Today’s race—the 20 kilometer Skiathlon— marks the last day of competition in Lillehammer, Norway. On the men’s side of the racing there has been complete dominance of the weekend by Norway, with only one non-Norwegian man making a podium all weekend. Since the beginning of the World Cup season, only three non-Norwegian men have made a podium. With 12 Norwegian competitors donning race bibs today, the odds of continued Norwegian podium dominance seemed good, and the array of Norwegian hopefuls seemed endless.
But the Skiathlon is a bit of a fickle event. It isn’t often competed, so athletes aren’t as well trained for it and therefore things can be slightly unpredictable. It also combines techniques making it usually harder for one person to dominate and has the wildcard bit of the ski exchange where lots can go wrong. There were also two bonus point sections throughout the race which could help mix things up.
For team USA Gus Schumacher seemed to be the best hope going into the race. Last week in Ruka he finished eighth in the 20 kilometer Freestyle mass start, and 18th in the 10 kilometer Classic, which is an encouraging average. But for him or any other American to even breach the top ten, he would have to break through the fusillade of Norwegian talent.
In the end Schumacher was able to hang with the best in the world, was in contention all race, and in a remarkable performance was the top non-Norwegian in the race finishing fifth. He was less than one second from the win and a mere 0.6 seconds off the podium! It was a brilliant day for Schumacher who raced at a consistent pace all day and it served as another announcement that he has arrived at the upper echelon of Distance racing. He beat out Andrew Musgrave (GBR) by about a second which gave the Brit a sixth place finish, and Schumacher even managed to vanquish the great Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who finished eighth, by almost nine seconds.
“My strategy was to be as far forward as I could, being a split course (barriers separated Classic and Freestyle sections on the course) there wasn’t a ton of room,” Schumacher said after the race. “I think that saved a lot of energy being near the front, and I had good Classic skis and was able to stay relaxed so the pacing wasn’t too much of an issue. Coming into the finish I had good energy and was able to move up into a good spot. I could tell my skis weren’t the best, I was able to stay in the group, but I wasn’t passing people. I wasn’t really doing a ton of calculating, but I knew I needed to move up on that sprint hill and nice to get by Muzzy (Musgrave). Put myself in a great spot I thought, was maybe a percent or two slower on the skis going into the finish and that made it hard to slingshot and get on that podium. Otherwise, I was super close.”
Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) ended up taking the victory in a photo-finish over Jan Thomas Jenssen (NOR), with Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR) coming in third.
Other American finishers were Ben Ogden in 25th, Zanden McMullen 26th, Hunter Wonders 46th, and John Steel Hagenbuch 57th.
After the race, Schumacher and Ogden commented on the unique nature of Skiathlons, “I don’t do much to prepare for Skiathlons,” said Ogden. “For me just upping my fitness and improving my fatigued technique is way more valuable than dialing in anything particularly specific to Skiathlons.” Schumacher shared Ogden’s laid back preparation for Skiathlons. “Honestly, this one I didn’t do much. Sometimes I practice the transitions … I think the biggest part is just coming in (to the transition) being relaxed and not stressing about a second or two. In the warm up I definitely try to do both techniques.”
Ogden reported that he is pleased with his fitness at this juncture, “things felt pretty good, I am happy with the trajectory and where I am at with only three weeks on snow. Stoked for the rest of the season!”
The top Canadian finisher was Antoine Cyr in 27th. He was followed by Olivier Leveille who was 38th, Max Hollmann 49th, and Xavier McKeever 52nd. Sasha Masson did not finish.
The 20 Kilometer Skiathlon
The first half of the Skiathlon is performed in the Classic technique and the Norwegians wasted no time going to the front as a group with Amundsen, the current Overall leader going to the lead. Nyenget, and Andreas Fjorden Ree (NOR) were with him. The only non-Norwegian in the top six early on was Beda Klee (SUI).
Nyenget put in an early burst with Ree going with him, but the two were quickly reeled in by the pack. And, at about 3.8 kilometers, sensing that the race was getting fast quickly, Klaebo joined the lead group along with Nyenget who began to seriously press the pace. Schumacher was in an excellent position at this point sitting in eighth place. Soon, Classic specialist Iivo Niskanen (FIN) joined the lead group and went to the front taking the lead from the Norewegian pack. To have any chance of a podium, Niskanen would have to have a good performance in the Classic leg and use his best in class technique to try and take some of the punch out of the Norwegians’ legs.
Niskanen continued to force the pace in front of a sea of red Norwegian jerseys which was led by Klaebo. Niskanen’s speed was having its desired effect and it began to string out the field. A lead pack was clearly now established with Schumacher hanging in the middle of it maintaining his eighth place position as the pack surged through the first bonus point spot at 7.1 kilometers. Also hanging in with the top 10 was perennial crowd favorite Musgrave.
Schumacher was riding fast Classic skis. “In Classic, I think I had some of the best skis in the field. My kick was really good and other people were struggling a bit, that helped me stay relaxed on the hills, and on the downhills they were at least as fast if not faster (than others).”
The lead group was down to 12 skiers with Hugo Lapalus (FRA) trying to break up the Norwegian domination. As they came into the stadium for the transition zone the lead pack was led by Nyenget with Lapalus with him. But it was Klaebo first out of the transition onto his skating skis.
Schumacher had maintained his eighth place standing out of the transition. The next best Americans were McMullen in 24th and Ogden in 25th, followed by Wonders in 41st place, and Hagenbuch in 59th.
As the Freestyle section wore on, Niskanen began to fade, and at 12 kilometers rather shockingly it was Lapalus and Musgrave going to the front. They were being marked by a Norwegian quartet of Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR), Klaebo, Amundsen, and Nyenget. Schumacher was still skiing a steady race and had maintained his eighth place position all race.
At about 13.5 kilometers Klaebo had enough of watching others at the front and easily slid into the lead and tried to control the pace. But Klaebo didn’t stay up front for long and let Musgrave take the lead. It didn’t appear that Klaebo would have his normal ability to control a race from the front today as Krueger, and Lapalus were still with him. Schumacher continued to race at an incredibly consistent pace and was still in eighth place.
With about 4 kilometers to go the pace picked up with Krueger setting the tempo. His speed began to string out the lead group a bit, but they were able to reconsolidate on the uphill. Lapalus was surprisingly still at the front with Krueger.
With about 2.5 kilometers left Lapalus had been pushed down to eighth but was still in striking distance. But now five out of the top seven spots were Norwegians with Musgrave and Schumacher being the odd men out.
With about two kilometers to go, the leaders’ pace began to quicken even more. The increased speed fractured the chase group as Amundsen was out front grinding down the back of the lead group. Surprisingly, Klaebo was at the back of that pack, and it looked like he was having trouble hanging on. It was Schumacher who was keeping pace with the leaders which was still a group of seven, led by four Norwegians.
Coming into the final uphill the racers reached top pace and began to jockey for the final sprint to the finish with Amundsen out front. As they entered the stadium it was the four Norwegians in a pack with Schumacher right with them. Amundsen put in a quick surge to take the win in a dramatic photo finish over Jenssen who was right behind, finishing second by about a boot length. Schumacher had put in his own surge and finished fifth, only eight tenths of a second behind the winner, about half a second off the podium, and was the top non-Norwegian. Musgrave finished sixth about a second behind Schumacher.
Schumacher tried to push for the victory but, “in Skate, the skis were marginally worse than the Norwegians’. Still really good skis and absolutely competitive. In the finish that was a bit of a factor, I wasn’t perfect either, they were only slightly worse than the Norwegians’ which is saying something because they are pretty dialed in here, so we did a great job today.”
It was another impressive display for Schumacher who has been showing that he belongs at the top of distance races and today proved to be among the best in the world.
Lillehammer Men’s Skiathlon Results
