Nordic Skiingworld Cup
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The holder of the Men's Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, Alexander Bolshunov, has dissolved his reservations and will take part in the opening on Finnish soil. Nothing to do, however, for the young Norwegian, back from several problems she had in preparation.
Wednesday 24 November 2021 6 minutes reading time
On Friday the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup will restart from Ruka, with the traditional three-day opening. The best athletes of the circuit will be almost entirely present in the Finnish location, except for those who have yet to recover from some physical ailment.
Forecasts, the team to beat will be Norway, which will want to conquer the first seasonal successes already from the sprint in the classic on Friday. The Norwegian team will present itself in Finalandia with nineteen athletes (eight men and eleven women). The men's team will be led by star Johannes Klaebo; together with him will be Pal Golberg, Emil Iversen, Havard Solas Taugbøl, Erik Valnes, Sivert Wiig, Hans Christer Holund and Simen Hegstad Krüger. Among the women, in addition to the leader Therese Johaug, Maiken Caspersen Falla, Mathilde Myhrvold, Ane Appelkvist Stenseth, Anna Svendsen, Lotta Udnes Weng, Tiril Udnes Weng, Ragnhild Haga, Anne Kjersti Kalva, Heidi Weng and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg were called up. Helene Fossesholm excluded for health reasons, still weakened by the severe cold that hit her during the rally in Livigno in October: she will try to recover for the Lillehammer stage, scheduled between 3 and 5 December.
Full quota, however, in Sweden, where the only notable absence is that of Jonna Sundling, in the pits due to a problem with his hand. In Ruka there will be ten Swedish men competing: Gustaf Berglund, Jonas Eriksson, Marcus Grate, Calle Halfvarsson, Johan Häggström, Leo Johansson, Fredrik Jonsson, Olof Jonsson, Anton Persson and Eric Rosjö. Nine, however, the girls required for the Finnish stage: Ebba Andersson, Maja Dahlqvist, Johanna Hagström, Anna Dyvik, Charlotte Kalla, Louise Lindström, Frida Karlsson, Mona Olsson and Jenny Solin.
The biggest question, prior to the start of the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, has been solved: Alexander Bolshunov has shown good form in recent training, despite the numerous physical problems that have plagued him recently, and therefore will be regularly at the start in Ruka. Russian team that will present itself in Finland with thirteen men, covered with high expectations: in addition to Alexander Bolshunov, Gleb Retivykh, Alexander Terentev, Sergey Ustiugov, Sergey Ardashev, Denis Filimonov, Andrey Larkov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Ivan Yakimushkin will take part in the tests, Artem Maltsev, Evgeny Belov, Ilya Semikov and Alexey Chervotkin; cut off Denis Spitsov from the summons, which demonstrates the very high level of the Russian `` army ''. The female team, on the other hand, will consist of ten athletes: Yulia Stupak, Tatiana Sorina, Natalia Neprayaeva, Anastasia Falevaa, Olga Kucheruk, Khristina Matsokina, Lilia Vasilieva, Yana Kirpichenko, Anastasia Rygalina and Maria Istomina.
The five Frenchmen who will be competing at the '' Ruka Nordic '' have also been announced: in addition to the sprinters Lucas Chavagnat and Richard Jouve, the veteran Jean-Marc Gaillard (born in '80), Hugo Lapalus and Clement Parisse are also among those called up; absent Maurice Manificat.
The first races of the Finnish triptych will be the two TC sprints, scheduled for Friday. Saturday will be the turn of the women's 10 km and men's 15 km, always in classic; while on Sunday the three days will close with skating pursuits.
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