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The World Cup entered its home stretch of the season with racing continuing in Lahti, Finland. Today, the racers competed in the 20 k Classic Individual Start. For the men, the Overall and Distance standings for the Crystal Globe are pretty much locked up with Harald Amundsen (NOR) having a whopping 330 point lead in the Distance competition, and a 175 point lead in the Overall.
After an illness-plagued season, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) has finally regained control in the Sprint competition; now he was trying to secure third place on the Distance podium. Going into today’s race, he held a slim 12 point lead over countryman Simen Hegstad Krueger. Andrew Musgrave (GBR) has seen his podium chances slowly slipping away; at the start of today’s race he was 84 points off the podium.
Today would also serve as a final tune-up before next week’s big show when the World Cup returns to Oslo, Norway for the Holmenkollen 50 k Classic.
For Americans hoping to continue the magic after Gus Schumacher’s breathtaking victory at the last World Cup stop in Minneapolis, they would be out of luck. Schumacher was a DNS, as was his teammate, Zak Ketterson. According to team spokespersons, “They both woke up not feeling fully healthy and decided to sit this race out.”
Finnish fans were treated to both exhilaration and heartbreak as Klaebo and Iivo Niskanen (FIN) battled for supremacy throughout the day. It was Klaebo who was finally able to pull out the victory with Niskanen finishing second. Martin Loewstroem Nyengnet (NOR) was third.
The top American finisher was Zanden McMullen who finished 23rd. Other American finishers were Scott Patterson 34th, Michael Earnhart 48th, Luke Jager 55th, and Peter Wolter 57th.
Antoine Cyr had a good day for Canada, finishing 21st. He was the only Canadian who competed.
Men’s 20 k Classic Individual Start
One of the early trends of today’s race was the challenge skiers faced with kick wax. Many skiers were slipping on Lahti’s hills as temperatures hovered just above freezing. Over the years, the Finns have proven to be masters of solving tricky wax conditions, especially on their home soil, and today was no exception as Iivo Niskanen took advantage of good skis and fan support to charge into the lead. Boisterous fan supported him as chants of “Iivo! Iivo!” swelled up from the crowd every time he passed by. Urged on by the hometown fans, Niskanen looked very good early and set the pace for everyone else to chase.
As the race unfolded, the Finnish fans had reason to feel good: Niskanen was rolling. At 3.4-kilometers he was the leader after all the big names had come through the time check. But Niskanen could not take the luxury to enjoy the moment. Sitting behind him were the Norwegian quintet of Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, Paal Golberg, Klaebo, Amundsen, and Erik Valnes.
And by the time skiers reached the 6.1-kilometer time check, Klaebo began to assert himself. Much to the dismay of the partisan fans, Klaebo had closed the gap on Niskanen and pulled to within .2 seconds of the Finn.
The hopes of the Finnish fans began to suffer the same fate as so many who had seen their chances of victory broken by Klaebo. Just short of the half-way mark, at 9.1-kilometers Klaebo increased his tempo and took the lead by three seconds. Seeing their hopes slipping away, the home fans increased the intensity of their cheering and exhorted their favorite son. But the Klaebo freight train continued to gather steam as, despite the crowd’s exhortations, Niskanen’s grasp on the lead began to slip. By the 11.1-kilometer mark Klaebo’s advantage had swelled to 13 seconds.
At 13.4-kilometers, it was clearly a two man race. Klaebo and Niskanen dueled while Nyenget was the next fastest, 34 seconds off the lead. Barring catastrophe, it would be Klaebo and Niskanen fighting for the top spot on the podium.
Klaebo skied like a man who would not be denied. At each time check he increased his lead slightly. By the time the leaders reached the 16-kilometer mark, Klaebo’s lead had swollen to over 21 seconds.
In the final three kilometers, Niskanen threw everything he had at Klaebo. His face was clearly wracked in pain as he gave it his all to narrow the gap on Klaebo and satisfy the hometown crowd. His efforts were working on everyone in the field, except for Klaebo, whose lead increased to almost 20 seconds.
As Niskanen crossed the finish, he had clearly given it everything, having totally dominated the entire field with the exception of one man: Klaebo. Standing at the finish line, Niskanen seemed resigned to second place knowing that Klaebo was still on course and was on a roll.
As Klaebo passed the 18.4-kilometer mark, the effects of Niskanen’s last minute surge showed its effects, but barely. He had eaten into Klaebo’s lead slightly but the Norwegian still held a 20 second advantage. For all of Niskanen’s efforts, he had managed to only shave off about one second of Klaebo’s lead.
As Klaebo approached the finish at 19.1-kilometers he continued to pour it on, reclaiming his lost second and establishing a 22 second lead. When he entered the stadium, Klaebo did not back off one bit. He continued to put the hammer down and double poled across the finish line beating Niskanen by 24 seconds.
After the race Klaebo and Niskanen chatted amicably about double poling strategy. It was a nice showing of cross-country camaraderie in what would have been a storybook day for Niskanen if it hadn’t been for Klaebo’s presence. But Klaebo showed once again why he is the best at what he does.
After the race, Klaebo commented how much he likes Lahti course. He noted the accomplishments of Niskanen and laid the groundwork for the anticipated upcoming battle next week against Niskanen in the Holmenkollen 50-kilometer Classic race.
Men’s 20 k Classic Individual Start RESULTS
