Anni Saarela
What’s the point of the track not encouraging skiing? asks Iltalehti’s Anni Saarela.
(updated )
Lauri Vuorinen called the track the worst in history. Jussi Saarinen
A well-known cliché from soccer is “Let’s play for 90 minutes and at the end Germany always wins.” At the Tour de Ski, the Val di Fiemme sprint would have received its own laconic version of the statement.
Let’s ski for a good two minutes until one hill decides.
The traditional sprint on the renovated Val di Fiemme track was frustrating to watch, especially for the men. No one wanted to be the first to go down to the stadium, because the people behind got a big advantage.
The most shameless example was seen in the men’s second quarter-final. Sweden’s Oskar Svensson had dropped out of the main group at the start of the last climb. Ben Ogden of the United States was voraciously going up the hill until he looked to his side and realized that he might be going down first.
The men’s movement slowed as if they had skied into syrup. Svensson was able to join the group due to the syrup sprinkling of the others, and on the last downhill he even won the set.
The skiing was good, but without the help of others, Svensson would not have had any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
A few skiers tried their bravery. Heidi Weng was the first to go down in the women’s semi-final, went on to continue and finally made it to the podium.
On the ankles of Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, courage urinates very carefully. In the final, Pellegrino took the lead to the final straight, but ended up fourth when the others slipped by.
– I would shoot this track to the moon, expert Ville Nousiainen uploaded on Yle.
Several skiers criticized the tactics. Lauri Vuorinen described the track to Yle as the worst in history.
– It is exceptional for women to be left standing on top of a hill, Johanna Matintalo told Viaplay.
Federico Pellegrino, who started the descent first, can be seen in the picture far behind the winner Johannes Klæbo. Jussi Saarinen
It is easy to agree with the opinions of Nousiainen, Vuorinen and Matintalo. What’s the point of having a track at the top of the world that’s not worth skiing on?
There should be different tracks on the ski tour and in value competitions. Fiemme’s climbing hill, however, takes away the interest from all the racing that takes place before getting on the shelf.
It is enough to come to the top of the hill in sufficiently good settings.
There are already too many competitions in the men’s world cup where the rankings are decided in a huge final. International skiing doesn’t need any more than this.
The skiing of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Val di Fiemme. Hopefully the last bill will experience a makeover before then.
