The rise of Spitsov, the fall of Yakimushkin and the victory of Klebo over Bolshunov: the Tour de Ski stage ended without surprises

The month before the start of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, skiers had to celebrate on the Italian mountain Alpe Cermis, where the Tour de Ski traditionally ends.

The girls were the first to conquer it, after which Natalya Nepryaeva became the first Russian athlete to become the owner of the Crystal Pyramid.

Three hours later, the men were supposed to climb the ski slope.

The intrigue in the title dispute before the 10-kilometer race was barely alive.

The Norwegian Johannes Klebo, after five stages, earned himself exactly two minutes of advantage over the winner of the two previous draws, Alexander Bolshunov.

No matter how steep the mountain was, this should have been enough for the World Cup leader.

With the previous format with a pursuit race, instead of a mass start, one could still talk about some kind of struggle.

Running alone Klebo is not very comfortable, while Bolshunov just knows how to do it.

A two-minute gap would be an excellent incentive for him to rush to conquer Alpe Cermis with all his might.

Then it would not be worth judging the winner of the race right up to the finish line.

But starting from a common place for Klebo was an excellent safety net.

He could sit out behind the backs of rivals throughout the entire distance.

Even if they were against it, one of the compatriots would always give the Norwegian a shoulder.

Trying to play two minutes in such a situation for Bolshunov was unthinkable.

However, the Russian still had to think about how to keep the second place in the overall standings himself. Before climbing the Alpe Cermis, Finn Iivo Niskanen and Norwegians Erik Valnes and Paul Golberg lost about a minute to him. And although the first is a specialist in the classic move, and the second is a pronounced sprinter, a surprise could be expected from all three. As well as from Ivan Yakimushkin and Denis Spitsov - the two Russians, who took the sixth and seventh places in the overall standings, could justly be considered contenders for the final three of the Tour de Ski.

The flat part of the race was supposed to go smoothly, but there were some incidents. While the peloton was getting close to the foot, the Italian Francesco de Fabiani stumbled over a small hole. Yakimushkin, who was running behind, crashed into him and flew off the track. Although the pace of the group was not high, and the track melted and became slower than the girls had, the Russian did not return to the fight. For him, the ascent to the Alpe Cermis ended without really starting.

Spitsov, however, was determined to compete for the prize in the overall standings. He always stayed in the group of leaders along with Klebo, Bolshunov and Niskanen. Valnes and Golberg refused to storm the mountain, but their place was taken by Shur Röthe, who had both a victory and podiums in Val di Fiemme. It was he who led the race when its most interesting part began. Only Spitsov was able to maintain the pace of the Norwegian, and the two of them broke away from the main group.

There was no point in playing catch-up with Ryota for the Russian.

He only needed to hold out to the finish line and hope that Niskanen would break down at some point.

No matter how tempting the first place in the race was, Spitsov still did not tempt fate.

He did not have enough strength for the finishing spurt, and he came to the finish line second.

The third covered the entire distance German Friedrich Moch, caught in a group of pursuers.

Klebo took fifth place, and three seconds later crossed the Bolshunov finish line.

In their personal duel, the Norwegian again celebrated the victory, which brought him a second title in the Tour de Ski.

The Russian skier noted that it was possible to compete for the first place, but there were no necessary conditions for this.

“Two minutes could be played. But not with my condition and not with such Johannes, who is in such great shape. I think he can just stop training, go to the Olympics and take his own. His form is so good that he beats us in every race. It is very difficult to do something with it yet. What form will I have in Beijing? We'll see in a month. I agree that it is better to take your own at the Olympics. It won't be long to wait. In a month we'll see who is really capable of what, ”Bolshunov told Match TV.

Niskanen lagged behind the leaders quite noticeably and even dropped out of the top ten, which was eventually closed by Artyom Maltsev.

Finn took 12th place, but in the overall standings he won over Spitsov by only seven seconds.

Bolshunov became the only Russian winner of the Tour de Ski this year.

Yakimushkin was also in the top six, whose positions in the final classification no one else encroached on.

Before the Olympic Games in Beijing, skiers will have two more stages of the World Cup.

Ten days later, they will gather again in Le Rousse, France, to compete for medals in the sprint, time trial and pursuit, and a week later they will pass the last stage before leaving for China in the Slovenian Planica.