The Swedes sweep the podium in the Livigno Freestyle Sprints. Nobody Can Stop Klaebo – FasterSkier.com
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After taking a weekend off to recover from the grueling Tour de Ski, the World Cup returned to its traditional format this weekend. Today, in Livigno, Italy, the freestyle sprints were contested. It is the first time Livigno is hosting a World Cup event. Livigno sits just under 6,000 feet, which would push the FIS (International Ski Federation) rules on altitude.
The action on the men’s side should have been straight forward: Would Johannes Klaebo (NOR) continue his season-long and career-long sprint dominance? Over half of Klaebo’s individual World Cup victories have been in sprints, and he runs a very hot hand having won nine of the last ten sprints he has competed in. The primary threat to Klaebo likely came from Lucas Chanavat (FRA) who currently is second in the sprint ranking. Richard Jouve (FRA) and Federico Pellegrino (ITA) were also hoping to topple Klaebo. Pellegrino would have the advantage of being able to draw support from the home fans. Pellegrino beat Klaebo in a shocking result in Davos, already in mid-December. While he is a strong sprinter, Jouve’s strength lies in the classic technique sprint.
Klaebo is in a battle with compatriot Paal Golberg (NOR) for the overall cup standings. While Golberg doesn’t usually have Klaebo’s sprint ability, (he’s fifth overall in the sprints), he would need a strong performance to keep him in the overall Cup chase.
However, the story got distorted due to a scheduling conflict with the Norwegian National Championships. This led to Paal Golberg racing on Thursday in Gjovik, Norway and then heading over to Italy for the weekend. Other men competed in doubles in both the Norwegian Championships and the World Cup, including Erik Valnes and Even Northug. It ended with Valnes winning his country’s sprint championship. It remained to be seen what effect the extra racing would have on Golberg and the others. Klaebo did not compete in the Norwegian championships.
The American side of men’s sprint history was also dominated by who was absent. Going into the race, Ben Ogden was seventh in the sprint standings (ninth overall). However, Ogden did not compete today. USA coach Matt Whitcomb told FasterSkier that the time off was planned for Ogden. JC Schoonmaker (University of Alasaka-Anchorage) and Gus Schumacher (Alaska Winter Stars) also did not compete today to prepare for the U-23 World Championships.
On the women’s side, the biggest story again was who didn’t compete. There were only 38 women who competed in the qualifying round. A morning of qualifying races was spent eliminating only 8 riders. This should be a problem for the FIS. Whitcomb shared concerns about the depth of the competition. “It’s a lot of stress when you come up to altitude and do a sprint without being acclimatised, and it’s a lot of pressure to compete at [Norwegian] national. You really have to pick your battles.” The scheduling is far from ideal. Whitcomb noted that he is concerned about the depth, especially of the women’s field. “One of the big questions is that it doesn’t make a lot of physiological sense when you’re preparing for the World Championships to go up to altitude for four days … and then come down.” He noted that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Many of the best Norwegian women also chose to compete in the Norwegian championships or skipped Livigno. Tiril Udnes Weng, Heidi Weng, Lotta Udnes Weng, Ragnhild Haga, Helene Fossesholm and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg all chose to skip Italy. Frida Karlsson (SWE) did not compete today either.
Emma Ribom (SWE) had dominated the sprints early in the season, but a bout with Covid may have prevented her from achieving similar success of late. It remained to be seen if she could regain her early season form. Today would also be the return to World Cup racing for Linn Svahn (SWE) who has had a longer absence from the World Cup due to injury.
The mixed start list left the door wide open for American Julia Kern, who has had an impressive sprint season. She is currently sixth in the sprint standings. Going into the race, third to sixth overall were separated by only 56 points. Given the sparse starting field, Kern had the opportunity to gain significant ground.
Jessie Diggins is fourth in the overall cup standings, only 15 points behind Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) who is third. But Diggins joined the long list of women not competing today. It was a strategic decision for Diggins, who chose to prioritize rest before the WC over chasing WC points. USA coach Matt Whitcomb told FasterSkier that “Jessie is doing well. She had a great training camp in Seefeld and stayed there with a bunch of athletes…because we knew she needed a break, it was going to be either this weekend or Les Rousses, France [next weekend’s World Cup race]. Whitcomb continued that “The focus is now on world championships, much more than points.”
Also not racing was US Nationals champion Hailey Swirbul. Swirbul won every race two weekends ago in Houghton, MI and had expected to compete this weekend. However, Whitcomb informed FasterSkier that Swirbul had become ill almost immediately after arriving in Europe. “She will go straight to Les Rousses as soon as she is well.”
Going into the race, Rosie Brennan was sixth in the overall standings, and she would look to help her cause by scoring points in the sprint. Brennan has had his ups and downs in spurts this year. She has reached the final in Davos but has also had her difficulties. She seems to have put her early season illness behind her, so hopes would be high for the Alaskan.
The results
It ended with Team Sweden dominating the Livigno podium. First came Jonna Sundling (SWE), followed by Maja Dahlqvist (SWE), and Emma Ribom (SWE). The top American women were Julia Kern, who finished sixth, and Rosie Brennan in 11thTh.
Other American finishers were Alayna Sonnesyn, 24Thand Lauren Jortberg, 29Th.
On the men’s side, the Klaebo train continued to push on as he edged out Richard Jouve in a tight final race. In third place came a surprising Janik Riebli (SUI).
The top American male was Kevin Bolger, 12Th. He was followed by Logan Diekmann, 38ThWill Koch, 41Stand Adam Witkowski 42n.d.
The race
In the women’s heats, Brennan entered after qualifying in 12thTh stain. She rode her quarterfinal heat strategically and was fourth most of the way. She eventually finished third in her heat and had to wait for a lucky loser spot. She was rewarded for her work and eventually advanced via the lucky loser route.
Riding very controlled in his quarter final, Kern made his way through the pack and took the lead with about 30 seconds remaining and cruised comfortably to take first.
Alayna Sonnesyn couldn’t advance out of her heat.
Brennan and Kern both competed in the other semifinal. Brennan pressed immediately from the start and set a fast early pace. However, she was unable to maintain the fast pace and was passed about halfway through the race. Kern took an alternative strategy by holding back early and then pushing forward in the final half. Kern finished second to advance to the finals. Brennan’s strategy of going out hard didn’t work for her as she continued to fade throughout the race and finished last in her heat.
“I took the chance in my semi to ride a little more aggressively and unfortunately I completely ran out of power on the long uphill.” Rosie Brennan.
The difference in approach was based on what the skaters experienced in the quarterfinals. Whitcomb said that “Julia felt like she was beaten a little bit from the beginning … there’s always a risk when you play your cards from fifth or sixth. We wanted her in the semi-final to be in a [higher position], so she had less traffic to deal with.” Regarding Brennan, Whitcomb said that “People were drawn to her, and she kind of ran out of energy.”
On the men’s side, Klaebo – who qualified with the fastest time – comfortably won his quarter-final. Jouve, Chanavat and Pellegrino also advanced comfortably.
The only American man to qualify for the heats was Kevin Bolger. He skated a very efficient quarter final and ended up winning his heat.
In the men’s first semi-final, it was Klaebo and Jouve who took first and second. In Bolger’s semi-final, he was in the lead from the start. With most of the favorites before the race going into the first heat, it was a good strategy. However, as with Brennan, he faded towards the finish and finished last in his semi-final.
In the final, the only American left was Julia Kern. She held back towards the back of the pack at the start with four Swedes in front. Faehndrich carefully tried to work his way through the crowd of Swedes, but failed to join the front grouping. Kern never managed to find the pace to challenge and finished sixth. It was still her best sprint result of the year. At the end of the day it was all Sweden with Sundling, Dahlqvist and Ribom with 1-2-3.
In the men’s final, Klaebo held back at the start and sat in fifth place, then easily moved into the lead about a minute into the race. He then asserted himself at the front, content to let others try to find a way around him. In the finish, Klaebo turned on the afterburners and was just able to beat Jouve at the finish line. It was a close finish, but at the end of the day no one had solved the puzzle of how to beat Klaebo in a sprint race. Not bad for a guy who pulled into the venue the night before the race.
An interesting byproduct of the scheduling was that the American and Norwegian teams shared wax facilities this weekend. Whitcomb said that “Because Norway kept so much of its infrastructure in Norway because of the citizens, they needed some help. It was a great opportunity to collaborate … we had the Norwegians in our truck today.” It turned out that Klaebo’s skis were waxed in the American truck by Norwegian technicians. Whitcomb emphasized the value of sharing ideas and was enthusiastic about the partnership. The teams have a history of helping each other when help is needed. In addition to sharing physical space, the teams also shared test data. “We have a great relationship with the Norwegian team…I’m very proud of our small staff’s ability to connect with the Norwegians and find a seamless working machine. It was a great team performance.”