World Cup Report: Tour de Ski Recap Stages 1, 2

by Chris Hecker
December 29, 2019

The Tour de Ski is underway and it was a very up and down first weekend for the US Ski Team (USST). Johannes Klæbo of Norway and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia hold the overall lead after the first race weekend. The next set of races will begin on Tuesday the 31st and will be a couple of distance events in Toblach.

Lenzeheide

  • Dec 28 Mass Start Freestyle 10km/15km
  • Dec 29 Freestyle Sprint 1.5km

Mass Start Freestyle

The first race of the Tour de Ski was a tough one for the USST. Typically Jessie Diggins and Sadie Maubet-Bjornsen are in the thick of things during a 10km freestyle mass start but after the first lap they had fallen off the lead pack. It was a sight we are not used to seeing in the last couple of years. Therese Johaug clinched yet another distance race victory, her teammate, Heidi Weng, was second in a sprint to the line against Sweden’s Ebba Anderson who would take third. Rosie Brennan in a strong performance led the US women in 20th position. Maubet-Bjornsen and Diggins finished 29th and 30th on the day and missed out a large amount of overall points. On the men’s side David Norris was the first US finisher in 58th. Norris has been a consistent distance skier for the men’s team this year and will lead the crew of sprinters though the Tour de Ski this year. Kevin Bolger finished 64th with Logan Hanneman in 69th rounding out the top three males for the USST. The overall win for the men would go to Sergey Ustiugov who would pull away from the group on the final laps. Klæbo and Alexander Bolshunov duked it out for 2nd and 3rd. The podium would come down to a photo finish sprint in which Klæbo inched out Bolshunov by a hair to steal the second podium spot.

Freestyle Sprint

Sunday was a comeback day for the USST who qualified five women (four in the top 10) and two men into the sprint heats. Hanneman qualified 10th and Bolger 12th and would be in prime position to compete for a semifinal appearance. Unfortunately, Hanneman tripped up and fell in his quarterfinal heat failing to advance and Bolger just couldn’t hang on and ended up 5th in heat, ending the day for the US men. In the finals Klæbo dominated in normal fashion with the Italian, Federico Pellegrino, claiming his second podium in two weeks. Pellegrino looked ecstatic with his finish fighting off a lunging Richard Jouve of france at the line. Julia Kern and Rosie Brennan would qualify for heats but fail to reach the semifinals after hard fought quarterfinals. Caldwell reached the semifinals but was out of position in the six women sprint to the finish and ended up getting beaten out at the line. Diggins, who fought through her quarterfinal as lucky loser, and Maubet-Bjornsen battled to the sprint finals but would run out of gas, ending just off the podium. Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia and Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway had a photo finish with Lampic taking her first victory of the season. Nepryaeva made a surging attack in the final stretch for third, Diggins would end up 4th and Maubet-Bjornsen 5th. It was a much needed comeback for the USST today after a rough first day on the skis. Diggins and Maubet-Bjornsen sit 11th and 12th in the Tour standings and look to better that result later this week.

 

Tour de Ski

  • Lenzeheide
    • Dec 28 Mass Start Freestyle 
      • Women’s 10km - 5:45 am CST
      • Men’s 15km - 7:15 am CST
    • Dec 29 Freestyle Sprint 1.5km - 4:20 am CST 
  • Toblach
    • Dec 31 Interval Start Freestyle
      • Women’s 10km - 5:30 am CST
      • Men’s 15km - 8:00 am CST
    • Jan 01 Pursuit Classic
      • Women’s 10km - 4:40 am CST
      • Men’s 15km - 6:00 am CST
  • Val Di Fiemme
    • Jan 03 Mass start Classic
      • Women’s 10km - 6:15 am CST
      • Men’s 15km - 8:15 am CST
    • Jan 04 Classic Sprint - 4:25 am CST
    • Jan 05 Final Climb Mass Start Freestyle 10km
      • Women’s 10km - 6:15 am CST
      • Men’s 10km - 8:15 am CST

Overall Tour de Ski Standings

 
Women:
1. NEPRYAEVA Natalia RUS 31:18.0
2. LAMPIC Anamarija SLO 31:19.0 +1.0
3. JOHAUG Therese NOR 31:23.0 +5.0
4. WENG Tiril Udnes NOR 31:26.0 +8.0
5. WENG Heidi NOR 31:34.0 +16.0
6. LUNDGREN Moa SWE 31:41.0 +23.0
7. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad NOR 31:45.0 +27.0
8. JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt NOR 31:45.0+27.0
9. ANDERSSON Ebba SWE 31:46.0 +28.0
10. RIBOM Emma SWE 31:49.0 +31.0
11. DIGGINS Jessica USA 31:57.0 +39.0
12. MAUBET BJORNSEN Sadie USA 31:59.0 +41.0
23. BRENNAN Rosie USA 32:24.0 +1:06.0
35. CALDWELL Sophie USA 33:17.0 +1:59.0
42. OGDEN Katharine USA 33:43.0 +2:25.0
53. KERN Julia USA 34:17.0 +2:59.0 


Men:
1. KLAEBO Johannes Hoesflot NOR 35:07.0
2. BOLSHUNOV Alexander RUS 35:39.0 +32.0
3. HAEGGSTROEM Johan SWE 35:39.0 +32.0
4. GOLBERG Paal NOR 35:40.0 +33.0
5. USTIUGOV Sergey RUS 35:41.0 +34.0
6. VALNES Erik NOR 35:43.0 +36.0
7. NYENGET Martin Loewstroem NOR 35:55.0 +48.0
8. RETIVYKH Gleb RUS 36:07.0 +1:00.0
9. JENSSEN Jan Thomas NOR 36:10.0 +1:03.0
10. IVERSEN Emil NOR 36:11.0 +1:04.0
62. NORRIS David USA 37:30.0 +2:23.0
63. BOLGER Kevin USA 37:37.0 +2:30.0
65. HANNEMAN Logan USA 37:44.0 +2:37.0

About the author...

Chris Hecker is a Rex Wax representative and wax technician working on the World Cup this season for both cross-country and biathlon events. Hecker hails from Ham Lake, Minnesota, racing for Anoka high school and St. Scholastica College. Hecker will be providing regular updates on the World Cup racing scene this season. Chris can be reached at:

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