The Championship Heights tournament in Malinovka continued on Friday with a men's skiathlon.
All the leaders of domestic cross-country skiing were expected to start, including four Beijing Olympic champions - Alexander Bolshunov, Sergey Ustyugov, Alexei Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov - and the silver medalist of the 2022 Games Ivan Yakimushkin.
Bolshunov was habitually considered the undisputed favorite.
This season, the skiathlon in the program of the Russian Cup took place only once, at the stage in Syktyvkar, and then the pupil of Yuri Borodavko won it with almost a half-minute margin from Ilya Semikov.
As Sochi champion Alexander Legkov noted on the eve of the start, the skiathlon track in Malinovka is very difficult, especially its skating part, where there are quite serious and long ascents.
In this regard, serious gaps, if any, should be expected in the second half of the distance.
And so it happened.
The first kilometers passed in the usual rhythm for races with a general start: the athletes went in a rather dense group and no one made serious attempts to break away.
Bolshunov at first kept in the depths of the peloton, then moved to the first position by the 6.5 km mark, but subsequently again went behind the backs of his rivals, apparently hoping to get some rest.
By that time, the leading group of 13 athletes had already emerged, while the rest were noticeably behind.
Among those who could not stand the initial pace was the vice-champion of the Beijing Olympics in this form Spitsov.
When the last lap of 3.75 km was left before the change of skis, Bolshunov made an attempt to accelerate and break away from his pursuers.
But behind the back of the Olympic champion, Chervotkin, Semikov, Ustyugov and Ilya Poroshkin walked like glued ones, and Andrey Larkov, Artyom Maltsev and Yakimushkin kept a little further away, but also within reach.
With such a composition, athletes came to replace skis.
It took only eight seconds for Bolshunov to change clothes, and he was the first to rush to the distance.
The pursuers rushed after them, but they were unable to hold on to the leader.
San Sanych secured a lead of 15 seconds rather quickly and increased it with every kilometer.
Larkov noticeably lost after the change of skis, but the remaining six continued to fight for silver.
Most of all, Ustyugov was aimed at success in this confrontation.
He twice made attempts to get away from his partners: the first time he was quickly caught up, but the second time the rivals missed the Olympic champion's spurt.
Semikov rushed in pursuit, but failed to overtake Sergei and remained third.
Bolshunov finished in splendid isolation with the flag of Russia, overcoming the last meters of the distance almost on foot.
And at the same time, Alexander finished almost three minutes faster than at the Beijing Olympics.
Giving a comment after the race, Bolshunov joked that he was in a hurry to finish the race as soon as possible because of the birthday of his wife Anna, who turned 26 on Friday.
The wife, along with her daughter Eva, also came to Malinovka with the athlete, and they will have a joint gala dinner.
“I plan to cook a pie, but I don’t know yet if I will have time, because I need to fry a barbecue.
There is still a lot to do, so I had to speed up, ”the Olympic champion said with a smile.
Ustyugov was also pleased with his performance.
According to the athlete, he "really got high from the race", despite the gap of 32.7 seconds from the first place.
“Sanya, as taught in the junior team, immediately after he changed his shoes, he gave a good broach, and everyone immediately began to fall off.
Me included.
I walked and thought: oh my, how can I run this skating tag if I can no longer move?
- quotes the athlete "Championship".
He also noted that it was possible to try to chase Bolshunov, but this was fraught with the loss of any medal.
“So I also agreed that second place is better than no place.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
But the main thing is that all emotions cannot be left here so that there is enough strength for the Russian Championship.
There is still a lot of interesting things ahead, ”concluded Ustyugov.
And Semikov, in turn, admitted that the three-time Olympic champion in Russia is still invincible.
According to him, the desire to overtake Bolshunov after the change of skis was present, but physical conditions did not allow this.
“But I'm happy with the result.
It's great to be in such company.
The main race at this tournament is 50 km, but skiathlons are also good, so I wanted to be on the podium today, ”said the 29-year-old athlete.