There was no mistaking Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in Friday’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint, even with no natural light illuminating the course in Kuusamo, Finland, by the time the men’s final left the start line. The 21 year old’s distinct runner-like, high-tempo stride could be seen leading the five other men’s finalists on every climb, distinguishing him from the light fog and densely packed trees lining the course’s firmly packed tracks. Making his World Cup debut...
The two men who landed on the first and third steps of the podium in Saturday’s World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland, weren’t even slated to start as of a week ago. But 20-year-old Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s chose to skip the opening World Cup weekend because his energy wasn’t where he wanted it to be. “It’s just so competitive [this] time of year,” Canadian Alex Harvey observed in a post-race phone interview. “The Norwegians that were first and...
Andy Newell remembered a thing or two about the Kuusamo course, and he shared them with his U.S. teammates before the World-Cup opening classic sprint there on Friday. His calculations worked, as Newell ended up just over a second off the podium in fourth for his best result in three seasons.
This time last year, Ida Sargent had a career-best fifth in the first Word Cup of the season: the Ruka classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. She came close on Friday, finishing seventh and missing the final by 0.37 seconds. Teammate Sadie Bjornsen won her quarterfinal and placed 12th overall.
Lenny Valjas was the lone Canadian to qualify on Friday in the first World Cup race of the season, the Ruka Triple classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. “Today’s goal was just to qualify and to make it into the points," Valjas explained. "There was no huge expectations."
Eirik Brandsdal repeated his Kuusamo feat from last year, winning the classic sprint there for the second-straight year. He led a Norwegian sweep of the men's top four, outlasting Northug in a double-pole showdown to the finish, and 21-year-old Sondre Turvoll Fossli placed third in his first World Cup final.
In the middle of the day under the lights in Finland, Marit Bjørgen opened the season with a result that likely only surprised herself. "I am grateful to win today,” she said. "It’s still a sprint." Two other Norwegians joined her in the final, as did Slovenia's Katja Visnar, American Ida Sargent, and Russia's Natalia Matveeva -- but not Justyna Kowalczyk.
The first race of the season was no problem for U.S. Ski Team member Ida Sargent, who said she had a lot to think about during Saturday's classic sprint -- the first World Cup race of the season in Kuusamo, Finland -- but she used it to fuel her best-ever result on the international circuit.