Cross-country skiing: Therese Johaug already impressing
After the inaugural classic sprint of the Norwegian opening cross-country skiing races in Beitostølen (Norway), it was a 10-kilometre individual classic that was on the programme for this second day in the county of Innlandet. And one of the cross-country skiers present at the start was particularly eagerly awaited.
Therese Johaug, who was already impressive in the races at the end of the season in Scandinavia, was soon back to her best on Saturday. Officially back in competition since the spring with a view to taking part in the world championships in Trondheim (Norway), the Norwegian dominated the day’s race.
The 36-year-old cross-country skier started strongly and never lost her rhythm as the kilometres went by. Untouchable, the four-time Olympic champion has already made her mark, confirming that she will be a force to be reckoned with in the race for medals next February.
Behind her, the gap never stopped growing. Heidi Weng was the only athlete to hold off her compatriot for the first few hectometres of the course, but she lost time before reaching the finish. Second by more than 38 seconds from the world’s multi-medallist, the 33-year-old cross-country skier still put in a solid performance, notably beating Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs, who had already finished second in the sprint the day before.
Flora Dolci just outside the top 15
In the French clan, Flora Dolci was one of the top 15 at the finish, but in the end she had to settle for sixteenth place, just three tenths off the fifteenth place held by Margrethe Bergane.
Not far behind the Haut-Alpine skier was Mélissa Gal from the Pays rochois. Twentieth on the line, the Haut-Savoyard ranked ahead of her team-mates Delphine Claudel, thirtieth, Juliette Ducordeau, thirty-sixth, and Maëlle Veyre, sixty-ninth.
The full rankings
Ladies
Para cross-country skiing
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- Beitostølen: Jules Chappaz sixth in the classic sprint won by an impressive Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo
- Beitostølen: Ane Appelkvist Stenseth alone in the world in the classic sprint, Léna Quintin out in the semi-finals
- Beitostølen: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo takes the lead in the classic sprint qualifier, five Frenchmen in the next round
- Beitostølen: Ane Appelkvist Stenseth qualifies for the classic sprint, Léna Quintin and Mélissa Gal reach the quarters
- In Beitostølen, Les Bleus will be reunited with Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, Therese Johaug and Harald Oestberg Amundsen.
- “Making the final adjustments before tackling the World Cup”: on Monday, the French team set off from Beitostølen ahead of the weekend’s opening races in Norway.
- The full programme for the Norwegian opening races at Beitostølen in which Les Bleus will be taking part
