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FOR Those who only watch cross-country skiing on television, today the impossible happened on the ski slope. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has been excellent in the classic sprint in recent years.
Among the small group that has followed 24-year-old ski favorite and teammate Erik Valnes in practice in recent months, the amazement is less. They have seen that Juan must be beaten.
In practice; Thus.
But this was the World Cup. and this was magical.
For this surprise, the winner could not have come in a more realistic way; A duel runs against a runner-up on a slope so long and exhausting that it sucks the forces of the strongest meter by meter and separates the great skiers from the greatest.
And that sprint duel suddenly did not win against the young triple Olympic champion Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, but his training partner Erik Valnes.
ROLLEBYTTET in Ruka it couldn’t have been more striking:
- In the midst of the commotion that a few years ago totally changed the balance of international cross-country skiing, another came; Norwegian even rarer.
Where no skier has had anything to show for in recent seasons, Erik Valnes had trained even more raw:
– We were just crazy as stone. We were not meek at allErik told Aftenposten a while ago about the extreme training career he had with his best friend Maximilian Bie during his teens.
This was a primary force that joined the national team before last season. There, the impressive physique was refined. Erik is grateful for everything he has learned from his sprinting partners, and is now a beast of a skier.
– Makes Klæbo angry
WHERE As soon as Erik walked up that long hill towards the stadium, you must have looked at a pamorama image to understand. With some violent shots, he took Klæbo before the two disappeared directly from Aleksandr Bolshunov and the rest of the world’s best ski sprinters.
They were winter sports on a historical level; as well as Johannes Høsflot Klæbo himself introduced himself to all skiers who «the man with the unbeatable idiot»In the climbing duel with Sergei Ustyugov at the Norwegian Open almost four years ago:
– I have to start the new ski story, I wrote excited at the time.
Given everything John has accomplished since then, it was certainly true. But what happens now that Norway apparently has another skier who can jerk just as hard on the slopes?
I have seen the new history of skiing begin!
GIVES at least the sequel will be special. This was a quality change. Of course, not Johannes, who has obviously started well this season, but Erik Valnes, who is no longer good enough to surprise. Now he’s good enough to make the ski sprint exciting every time he meets Klæbo for a new duel.
Pick up the sprint as a competition and give a whole new thrill towards the WC in Oberstdorf. There will be a classic clash again, and with a long hill reminiscent of this one in Ruka.
Precisely that track profile has made Johannes the biggest favorite in the championship. It is no longer there and it hardly bothers you.
Masters of Klæbo’s caliber cannot just withstand such challenges. They grow in them.
In that sense, this surprising winner was more than anything good for Norway.
Refute Gunde Svan rumors
BOTH OF THEM These riders come from Arild Monsen’s speed team. It’s a training environment that has worked year after year, and has given Norway more and more sprint medals. Erik Valnes’ progress only confirms this good trend.
It is these developing environments that female skiers also hope to achieve at the top. The decision to recruit Olympic champion Ola Vigen Hattestad as a sprint specialist has worked well. He has worked hard to make girls more offensive; both in tactical decisions along the way and in daring to occupy more space on the field.
But even in the even more uneven class of women, sprint skiing is a brutal sport. There is still some distance from the best Swedes, and something is happening too. Today, the prologue was stronger than the qualifiers.
At the same time, there are advances. Both the prologue winner Ane Apelkvist Stenseth and Lotta Udnes Weng accelerate to the final, it shows. Eventually, a sick Maiken Caspersen Falla will also be in his place, giving Norway a clearly stronger team.
Swedish campaign against Johaug
YES It is about to overtake Swedes Linn Svahn’s new power pack, however it is a completely different matter.
She is only 20 years old, has a self-confidence and a wonderful drive in her walk that will keep the Swedish TV audience on screen for many winters ahead.
Linn deserves that look. It comes with a lot of fun with such an agile and confident star. So we just have to endure the border that their lines sometimes hit us.
More serious is not even the toughest ski sprint.
