Double podium of Ustyugov and Bolshunov
The circle of applicants for victory in the men's competition “Tour de Ski”, with a high degree of probability, took the final form after five out of seven races. According to the results of the Friday mass start with the classic move, Alexander Bolshunov, Johannes Hösflot Klebo and Sergey Ustyugov broke away from Schür Röthe for more than a minute and further away from the rest of the skiers. Outside of the leader in the overall standings of the troika, there were no universals left who could fight both in the final sprint and in the final climb to the Alpe Cermis.
At the same time, Klebo cannot be called a strong mountain-climber, who went ahead of Ustyugov by three seconds before the showdown in the classic sprint and reduced the gap from Bolshunov to 18. The Norwegian’s chance of a final victory lay in a successful performance in the penultimate race, which could bring him the necessary backlog Sunday - theoretically in a sprint due to bonuses you can earn a minute break.
This season, there was only one sprint in the classic move, which Klebo just won. But Bolshunov and Ustyugov were not the last persons in those competitions in the Finnish Hand. The younger Russian skier took fourth place in the final, and the more experienced after the eighth position in the qualification was disqualified for a false start.
Given that not all sprinters reached the end of the Tour de Ski, the prospects for the Russians were very tempting not only to maintain leadership before the mountain climb, but even to win medals.
In qualifying, Bolshunov and Ustyugov met these expectations - both were in the top five and, together with Artyom Maltsev, Gleb Retivykh, Andrey Larkov and Denis Spitsov, reached the playoffs. Both Bolshunov and Ustyugov were quite a bit inferior to pure sprinters Paul Golberg and Federico Pellegrino, but at the same time, an abyss formed between the Russians and Klebo in six to seven seconds.
The playoffs began with the unexpected departure of Pellegrino - one of the few skiers, whom Klebo fears in the sprint, lost to both the Norwegian and Spitsov. Their quarter-final race was not quick, and the Italian disappeared from the number of varnish-losers after the next race, which Bolshunov defeated Golberg. Ustyugov also became the first in his race, leaving behind Rethe.
The semifinal with the participation of Klebo, Golberg and Bolshunov almost became the last race of the day for the Russian - he broke his stick, and at the finish lost to both Norwegians. But the team mate was rescued by the Ustyugs and the Retivs. They won the next race, having spent it a little slower, so that Bolshunov and Maltsev were able to break into the final in time. Two Norwegians and four Russians were to fight in it.
An attempt to apply team tactics against Klebo was unsuccessful. The Norwegian was still the fastest and won, winning the fourth sprint of the four of the season in which he took part. But Klebo did not get a big advantage in the overall standings of the Tour de Ski - Ustyugov and Bolshunov came to the finish line immediately after him, not putting Golberg on the podium.
Ma come si batte uno così?
Klaebo fenomenale anche nella sprint di Val di Fiemme, gli avversari si inchinano ancora ... 🇳🇴❄️😮 # EurosportSCI | # TourDeSkipic.twitter.com / FYwclctg8U
Thanks to this victory, Klebo will be able to try on the yellow shirt of the leader of the Tour de Ski for one day - the Norwegian earned one second of an advantage over Bolshunov and 15 ahead of Ustyugov. But when climbing the Alpe Cermis, which will be held for the first time in the mass start format instead of pursuit, this reserve of Klebo may not be enough. The Russians will be able to play the title together in the main ski stage race together.
The final fall of Nepryaeva
Women before the Saturday sprint also had a pleasant situation for Russian fans. Natalya Nepryaeva kept third place in the overall standings, second only to the clear competition favorites Teresa Johaug and Ingvild Estberg from Norway.
But at the same time, three strong rivals - Astrid Jacobsen, Ebba Andersson and Heidi Weng pursued the vice-champion of last year’s race at once. Nepryaeva’s separation from them was calculated in a matter of seconds, which could instantly melt in the penultimate race “Tour de Ski”. Although the Russian woman loves the classic sprint, she obviously could not be considered stronger than this Norwegian-Swedish trio, and therefore women's starts on Saturday were even a little more interesting than men's ones.
In qualifying, Nepryaeva showed a high sixth result, but he did not bring her a successful group in the elimination races. In the quarterfinals, the Russian woman faced Johaug and with the first two qualification numbers Jessica Diggins from the USA and Lucia Scardoni from Italy. But Nepryaeva was able to maintain the high pace of her rivals and finish third in the race, which turned out to be the fastest of five. At the same time, the Russian skier went around Johaug, who also went further as a varnish-loser. Of the leaders of the Tour de Ski, the fight was completed only by the fallen Andersson.
In the semifinals, Nepryaeva did not meet with pure sprinters, and distance controllers Veng and Estberg did not resist much - it was more important for them to save strength on the last day of the competition than to fight for extra bonus seconds. In this situation, Nepryaeva calmly took second place and stepped into the finals. Johaug, too, followed her friends in the national team and went to rest ahead of time, while Jacobsen, Diggins and Scardoni continued to fight with the Russian skier for medals.
In the final, Nepryaeva’s luck ended. She fell heavily when changing the track and was no longer able to catch up with anyone, becoming only the sixth in the end. This was able to take advantage of Jacobsen, who ran to the finish second after the Slovenian Anamaria Lampich.
In the overall standings of the Tour de Ski, Nepryaeva remained third with a lag of 14 seconds from Johaug and 11 from Jacobsen. The Russians remain likely to remain in the top three, although she will not be a favorite when climbing Cermis.