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Perhaps more than any other season, the 2024-2025 World cup has been marked by the comings and goings of numerous contending skiers. Iivo Niskanen (FIN) got a late start to the season, but has finally begun to look strong of late (as proven with his dominant victory in yesterday’s 10 k Classic). Sprint and Overall World Cup leader, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), shows up and wins often enough to continue leading the Overall World Cup standings, then disappears for days “on the couch” at home in Trondheim. Norway’s Harald Oestberg Amundsen (the 2024 World Cup Overall champion) followed Klaebo to most starting lines early in the season, but eventually opted to skip races in favor of World Championship preparations. Former World Cup champion, Paal Golberg (NOR), has been left off Norway’s starting roster for many races this season, largely unable to prove himself in the selection process for Norway’s World Championship teams, even as the entire Norwegian squad was absent from the World Cup during their own National Championships. Ben Ogden (USA) has been sidelined by persistent illness for the past two weekends, And Ogden’s American teammate, Gus Schumacher, saw his season interrupted by illness, so much so that he traveled across the globe for a stint of rest and recovery at home in Anchorage.
In training and competing at the World Cup level, the differences between champions and also-rans are alarmingly slim. Taking a break from time to time may seem like a good idea, but there’s always the risk of returning to competition only to find oneself flat. Klaebo opted to return home after his Sprint victory on Friday and second-place finish in yesterday’s 10 k Classic Interval Start. He’s one who seems able to always race in top form. For the rest of the field, question marks persist. So, at the beginning of today’s 20 k Mass Start in Falun—and in the absence of Klaebo and his countryman, Erik Valness—no one really knew what to expect.
Early in the race, answers began coming from Schumacher, who animated the pace for much of the race, ultimately sprinting to second place behind race winner, Golberg (himself only recently returned from time away from the World Cup).
“My strategy was mostly to stay out of trouble and be there when moves happened,” said Schumacher. “Whenever you feel good it’s just easier to be at the front. It meant I could also drift back a bit on the big climb if I felt like it. It kinda depends on the nature of the race. For a dynamic one like this, I feel you don’t really need to be that far forward if you have a lot of energy and solid skis, but like I said before it’s always easier if you can get there.”
Other American skiers delivered solid finishes, with Zanden McMullen 22nd, Kevin Bolger 23rd, Hunter Wonders 55th, Luke Jager 64th, Walker Hall 75th. Due to lingering illness, Ben Ogden continued to be absent from the field. Canadian finishers included Antoine Cyr 30th, Thomas Stephen 54th, Remi Drolet, Sasha Masson 44th, Pierre Grall-Johnson 73rd.
Falun Mass Start Freestyle
Falun’s 20 k would be contested over five laps of a four kilometer loop, featuring five ascents of Falun’s infamous Mordarbacken—a climb gaining 60 meters of elevation up a 15% grade—ascending the slope alongside the facility’s famous ski jumps. It would be a high-speed grind favoring good climbers on the uphills, and fast skis on the downhills.
While Edvin Anger (SWE) jumped quickly to the front, it was Amundsen who set the early pace, followed by the leader of the FIS Distance standings, Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR), Mika Vermeulen (AUT), and Hugo Lapalus (FRA). McMullen and Schumacher remained in the top ten where they were joined by Joe Davies (GBR) and Federico Pellegrino (ITA).
Just after the first ascent of the Mordarbacken climb, Schumachers’ fast skis allowed him to glide to the front where he continued to set the pace through many of the race’s early checkpoints.
“(My skis) were running super well,” said Schumacher. “Big thanks to Chris Hecker, the whole wax truck, and Rossi!! I don’t really hear about the prep, but I know we’ve been doing a really thorough job testing pre-race. In the last couple weekends, actually since Cogne, we’ve been making sure we get at least one little glide out on course to confirm the feelings we’re having on our feet.”
Anger continued to be the interesting question mark through the first 10 k. Perhaps the biggest skier in the field, Anger would find himself gapped by pure climbers on the Mordarbacken, only to reappear near the front on subsequent downhills. Anger continued to yo-yo on the climbs, his tempo markedly slower than that employed by the pure climbers. The field continued to stretch and bunch, at times epitomized by a group of 6-7 at the front, at other times swelling to more than 20. Saturday’s 10 k Classic winner, Iivo Niskanen, clung tenaciously to the back of the lead group, along with the always-dangerous sprinter, Pellegrino.
In the final lap, Schumacher continued pressing the issue near the front as the field rolled through the stadium and onto the gentle rollers that followed. On the final climb of Mordarbacken, it was Andreas Fjorden Ree (NOR) who drove to the front, fully committed to dropping the rest. Schumacher remained clamped firmly to the tails of Vermeulen, the only other non-Norwegian left in the final selection.
“I don’t follow skiers so much as body language when I’m skiing up front like that,” explained Schumacher. “Like if someone looks to be gaining momentum I’d maybe choose being behind them compared to someone that’s maybe slowing down or skiing passively. Definitely also good to follow established good distance skiers, but you kinda never know how people are feeling until you see them move.”
In the rolling hills that lead to the finish, Schumacher executed a flashy pass that took him around Krueger and Golberg, closing the gap on Ree. Into the Sprint course downhill, Schumacher’s skis continued to glide well, but he was now the last non-Norwegian in contention, so the skis around him were equally as fast. Over the final bump, Golberg surged into the lead to claim the inside line on the final turn. Schumacher drifted outside, and began his sprint early, but Golberg was able to hold him off to the finish line. Golberg first, Schumacher a resounding second, Amundsen third, Ree in fourth.
There were nervous moments following the race as the FIS awards ceremony was delayed to allow ongoing jury considerations. The American squad was understandably concerned, as there had been close maneuvering on the final corner involving Schumacher and Ree. Schuamcher had been solidly positioned in front of Ree at the moment in question, so it was unlikely that the jury would affect the finishing results. Nervous moments, indeed . . . but ultimately the jury did determine that the finishing results would stand.
Schumacher’s season had already been interrupted by illness, necessitating his trip back to Anchorage to regroup. That sort of rest and recovery never insures that a skier will return to form. Obviously, it worked for Schumacher, and at just the right time. After today’s marvelous performance, he’ll line up as a serious contender in Trondheim nine days from now . . .
Complete Falun Mass Start Freestyle RESULTS
John Teaford
John Teaford—the Managing Editor of FasterSkier — has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
