No one noticed Klebo’s absence. The Norwegians still took the entire podium

No one noticed Klebo’s absence. The Norwegians still took the entire podium

Yulia Sidorova December 2, 2023, 17:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Seven of the world champion’s compatriots finished in the top ten. Nothing has changed in cross-country skiing this offseason.

While Johannes Klebo trains and fights for victories in the first stage of the Norwegian Cup, other skiers on the team sweep the top ten in the 10-kilometer freestyle race in Gällivare, Sweden.

What did Klebo forget in the Norwegian Cup?

Klebo won the Norwegian Cup race after failing in the World Cup. Are there better opponents there?

Sweden’s hope debuts

Saturday’s race began with an important event for Sweden and, perhaps, for the entire ski world: 17-year-old Alvar Mylbak made his debut in the World Championships with number two. Of course, no one is betting on his victory yet, but the Swedes believe that the young athlete is the future of world skiing.

Upon reaching the finish line, Alwar ranked 37th, which is not bad considering that 74 athletes started the race. He was not only faster than half of the skiers, but also surpassed his compatriots: Simon Andersson, Jonas Eriksson, Eric Rosche, Gustaf Berglund and Truls Gisselman.

Myulbak is Northug’s favorite:

The Swedish team is suffering from a coronavirus epidemic. Vaccines for team leaders did not help

The best among the Swedes was team veteran Kalle Halfvarsson, who finished in 11th position behind Norwegian Martin Løvström Nyenget, the skier who won the classic 10 km race in Ruka. Well, six more Norwegians surpassed Martin, who once again managed to get on the podium at the end of the World Cup race.

Norwegians meet again

All the Norwegian athletes started in the second half of the list, so until exactly halfway through the race the top ten seemed very diverse. In a five-kilometre stretch, the Norwegians were guided by the time of the Czech Michal Novak. However, Simeon Kruger and Iver Andersen quickly surpassed him.

The Czech still had a purely hypothetical chance to stay in the top three longer. But the powerful attack of six more skiers pushed Novak to ninth place, and the Norwegians took all the leading positions, allowing only the Austrian Fermeulen and the British Musgrave to join them.

From km 6.3 to the finish line, Paul Golberg, second leader of the World Cup overall standings last season, confidently took first place. Despite his rivals’ attempts to get closer to the leader, he showed excellent speed, increasing the distance with his pursuers in each segment.

Paul Goldberg

Photo: Getty Images

Simen Kruger turned out to be weaker than the rest at the finish line. During the last kilometer of the race, he traded second place for fourth, losing to the faster Iver Tildheim Andersen and Harald Østberg Amundsen. The last of them had a very powerful finish, jumping from fifth position to second in the last kilometer of the distance.

In general, we did not see anything new in men’s cross-country skiing. In the first stage in Ruka, the fans were at least surprised by the physical condition of Johannes Klebo, who in three races only managed to get on the podium once. In Gällivare, despite the absence of last year’s leader, the top ten was again made up of Norwegians. So, whether Klebo is a starter or not, for fans of other teams, in principle, it does not matter.