Cross-country skiing: Paal Golberg with experience on the mass start skate
Cross-country skiing fans were expecting a hard-fought race that would be decided in the final hectometres , and they were clearly not mistaken. This Sunday, in Falun (Sweden), the skate mass-start of the ninth stage of the World Cup lived up to all its promises.
On the difficult Swedish course, it was Paal Golberg who came out on top. Long hidden away in the warmth of the leading group, the Norwegian drew on all his experience to pull off a fine trick in the final sprint. Excellent in this area, he didn’t hesitate to take his first individual victory of the winter.
Behind him, Gus Schumacher once again proved that he is one of the very best skating racers. A major player in the race after leading for a long time, the American was able to make up for lost time in the peloton and follow the acceleration on the final bump of the course. After his resounding victory in Minneapolis (USA) last season, this was the 24-year-old’s second career podium.
Harald Oestberg Amundsen was also on the offensive in the final laps of the day, and found his way back into the box. Far from the top 3 the day before, the Norwegian reassured himself in this last competition before the crucial Worlds in Trondheim (Norway) in less than two weeks’ time.
Three of France’s players back in the top fifteen
On the French side, the last climb of the day took its toll on the legs of the French cross-country skiers. However, three of them held their nerve to finish in the top 15. Victor Lovera, selected for his first world championships, rode the wave of the last few weeks to take a very solid eighth place, just over 15 seconds behind the winner.
A few seconds after him, Mathis Desloges came very close to the day’s top ten positions, finishing eleventh, just 5 tenths behind Remi Lindholm’s tenth place. Just behind him, Hugo Lapalus completed the French trio in twelfth place.
It was a more difficult race for Clément Parisse, who finished thirty-fifth, Jules Lapierre, forty-seventh, and Jules Chappaz, who was a finalist on Friday but did not finish Sunday’s competition.
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