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Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) had business to attend to, and a Crystal Globe to claim. He couldn’t afford to waste time worrying about races to come. He had today’s race to deal with . . . not that there was really very much need for worrying.
Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) had different priorities, and a different schedule to follow. Oestberg decided to skip this race . . . even though he’s been a solid contender in all recent World Cup Sprints. His absence may be the story of the weekend. He was signed up, on the starting list, on site for warmup on the afternoon of the race . . . but he decided to give it a pass. Prior to today’s races, the ever-informed Norwegian ski-media had nothing to say about Amundsen’s decision to drop out; presumably a decision made rather late in the process rather than a pre-race strategy. Amundsen may be feeling a bit tired (who could blame him?), he may be feeling a bit sick (skiers are always at risk of picking up whatever’s going around) . . . or he may be cleverly sand-bagging, hoping that another exhausting round of Sprint qualifiers, heats, and finals (coming hot on the heels of Talinn’s Sprint just two days ago) will finally take the sting out of Klaebo before Sunday’s 50 k World Cup finale. Winning any 50 k always provides prodigious bragging rights. Who could blame Amundsen for grabbing any possible advantage leading up to the contesting of the season’s final gem? With 200 points being available in Sunday’s 50 k, Amundsen would still have a chance of snatching the World Cup Distance title from his teammate, Simen Hegstad Krueger. Maybe best to sit out today’s Sprint competition . . .
Ultimately, Klaebo would claim his 58th World Cup Sprint victory—his 16th in a row—ahead of Jules Chappaz (FRA). The win also gave Klaebo the win in the season-long World Cup Sprint competition, for which he was awarded the Sprint Crystal Globe.
“My goal for today was to secure the Sprint Globe,” said Klaebo in post-race interviews. “So that was nice.”
An hour after the conclusion of the race, FIS had still not announced third place; questions continued to swirl (and juries continued to deliberate) as to who would be awarded the final place on the podium: Valerio Grond (SUI) or Federico Pellegrino (ITA). Their tangle in the homestretch—resulting in Grond’s dramatic belly flop and headlong slide across the finish line—looked like it might result in a Pellegrino disqualification. In the end, the jury decided that the contact between the two had been inadvertent; Pellegrino was allowed to keep his position on the podium.
Ben Ogden (USA) maintained his consistent prologue strategies, qualifying 15th. “I really keep (the qualifier) as an all out effort,” said Ogden. “But I certainly have less emphasis on it than previous years. It’s important not to get complacent, but I often don’t feel as though the true race starts until the quarter final these days.”
Ogden would be eliminated in his quarterfinal, but his teammates would race deep into the semifinals and beyond. Ogden’s American teammates crowded the final qualifying placings with Gus Schumacher 26th, Jack Young 27th, JC Schoonmaker 29th, and Kevin Bolger 30th. Schoonmaker would ride savvy tactics all the way to the Sprint Final, where he would finish sixth.
Canadians would not advance beyond qualifying with Xavier McKeever 37th, Pierre Grall-Johnson 40th, Sasha Masson 62nd, Thomas Stephen 63rd, and Graham Ritchie 68th.
Men’s Freestyle Sprint
Despite having won every Sprint event he’s entered this year—and appearing virtually unbeatable—Klaebo entered the World Cup Final Freestyle Sprint with a lead of only 75 points over his countryman, Erik Valnes, and 111 points over Sweden’s Edvin Anger. Frankly, anything could happen on a day when the award for wining was 200 points (double that of any regular-season World Cup race).
Schumacher, Young, and Schoonmaker filled the America-rich first quarterfinal. But it was Klaebo whose sprinting was likely to draw the attention of the crowd. Lucas Chanavat drove to the front as he so often does, with Klaebo dropping back into a tactical position. Klaebo is supremely confident in his tactics, in his ability to get through a crowd, and the otherworldly glide of his skis . . . but he had volunteered to ski behind a comparatively inexperienced group of young Americans. Getting through this crowd could be tricky. It was Schumacher who determined the strategy, making the Sprint into an endurance test as he drove to the front on the first significant hill. Klaebo easily maneuvered past the rest and went straight to Schumacher’s tails. The sprinters—Chanavat, Young, and Schoonmaker—quickly found themselves in a bit of trouble, though Chanavat managed to force his way back to the front. He led down the final slope to the finish, followed by Klaebo who took the faster outside line for the win. Behind him, Schoonmaker and Schumacher fought it out with Chanavat, with both Americans edging out the Frenchman.
Ogden went to the front of the third quarterfinal ahead of Erik Valnes (NOR) and Noee Neff (SUI). Jules Chappaz (FRA) drove to the front to keep the pace high, while Ogden chose a fast line around the hairpin turn on the final climb. Ogden was overtaken on the final downhill by the faster skis of Valnes who would surge forward to the quarterfinal win. Ogden would finish fourth in the heat, ending his day in ???
Schoonmaker and Schumacher would find themselves outmaneuvered in the semifinal behind Klaebo, Valerio Grond (NOR) and Valnes. Schoonmaker managed to sneak through for fourth in the heat, ultimately advancing to the final as a lucky loser.
Men’s Sprint Final
Klaebo is less likely to fiddle around with from-the-back tactics in a Sprint final; he kept himself near the front in the opening meters, letting his rivals sort out positioning behind him. Schoonmaker tucked in quickly behind Klaebo to put himself in contention just ahdad of Valnes. Klaebo led up the final hill, only to find himself edged out by the inside line of Grond. But Grond’s skis are no match for Klaebo’s especially when the Norwegian is allowed to take his favorite outside line into the finish. Chappaz followed Klaebo’s line to grab second while Pellegrino secured yet another podium finish ahead of the headlong dive of Grond. Schoonmaker’s early pace would cost him, as he found himself outmaneuvered at the consequential hairpin, ultimately fading to sixth.
Men’s Freestyle Sprint RESULTS
Men’s Freestyle Sprint QUALIFYING
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.
