Updated 16.31 | Published 15.10
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It was noble Norwegians at the top in the classic mass start in Goms.
The Swedes ended up far behind.
– I thought: “It will be a good training session anyway”, says Calle Halfvarsson.
Sunday’s 20-kilometer race in the World Cup was not a good recovery for the Swedes before the Olympics. Just like the ladies, who ran their race in the morning, the men didn’t have very good grip under their skis.
Edvin Anger hung in the pack for a while, but all the Swedish skaters slipped far down the results list.
– I don’t really have the skills to go fast, says Anger to Viaplay.
In retrospect, he sees the race as a training session.
– It’s crap now. The Olympics are in two weeks and that’s when everything counts.
Halfvarsson worst Swede
Leo Johansson was the best Swede in 16th place and Calle Halfvarsson was the worst Swede. He didn’t go all the way across the finish line and finished 56th – 6 minutes and 17 seconds behind winner Johannes Hösflot Kläbo (see results list below).
– I thought that I should not break the race in any case. Those thoughts came already on the first lap, but I thought: “It will be a good training session anyway”. Now it wasn’t a great training session, but at least it was something to take with you to the camp before the Olympics. The race itself is just forgettable, I just ride around and skid, says Halfvarsson to Viaplay.
Acting herding manager Torbjörn Bergman tells Viaplay that the weather was challenging for the herding.
– We have checked a bit with the girls and they are evidently not happy with the slide. We have missed a bit there. But I don’t really know how it has looked with the boys yet. We will review the herding now after the competition, says Bergman.
Kläbo won
On the podium places, there were no rattles.
Johannes Hösflot Kläbo pulled away and finished ahead of compatriots Emil Iversen and Harald Östberg Amundsen.
The best non-Norwegian was the Russian Savelj Korostelev, who finished eighth.
Now only training remains before the Olympics in Val di Fiemme. The first cross-country skiing competition in the Olympics is the women’s skiathlon on February 7.
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