Finnish jytky in Canada: “Much worse in free time”

Place 22 and more than two minutes to the top in the 15 km race. Doesn’t sound very festive, but an expert Reijo Jylhä give Johanna Matintalo for the performance on Friday in the Canmore mc race, the parrot badge.

– For Finns, it was clearly the most positive thing about the competition, that Johanna is better in free time than before. The skiing of Goms on the second weekend, when he was among the top 30 in the free 20 km joint start, despite the fall, already told about this, says Jylhä.

The ranking is a career best for a Pöytä athlete at the mc level in the figure skating competition. The previous top ranking in the free skate was 22nd.

– You can expect a good result from Johanna on Sunday, when we ski 20 kilometers as a traditional joint start. However, he is so much worse in free compared to what he has in traditional.

The woman who lives in Rovaniemi has been at her best in the traditional normal trips, fifth and on the podium in the traditional sprints.

Sticky on the neck

Kerttu from Niska kismet, when due to problems with the timing equipment on Friday, the event in Canada was changed from a 10 km split start to a 15 km joint start.

Jylhä estimates that the result would not have improved at least substantially, even if the original race program had been followed in Canmore.

Niskanen was in 14th place on Friday. A loss for the winner To Jessie Diggins came about 45 seconds.

– Canmore is not a rally track, but physically fit people can do well there. Either Kertu’s adaptation is still at a stage, or it wasn’t a good day with the dogs, says Jylhä.

The other weekend, Niskanen was sixteenth in the joint start of the free 20 km free in Goms.

– It was a rally track that doesn’t suit Kertu. The conditions for skiing were much better in Canmore. It may be that the time difference and the competition height are still in the phase.

In Canada, we live about 1,500 meters above sea level.

– I still trust that Kerttu will be strong on Sunday. If the ski works and you can ski comfortably, he is one of the best on the traditional.

The theory about ski challenges may be valid, because the Swedes raced with the same yellow and black Austrian brand Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson in charge were more subdued than usual.

Anne Kyllönen broke through internationally in Canmore in 2012 when he took Justyna Kowalczyk behind the second places from the traditional 10 and 15 kilometer combined race.

– He is quite far from those places now.

Kyllönen was ranked 31st on Friday.

Climbers in action

A characteristic feature of Friday’s event was that the final climbs of the Tour de Ski were magnificent Sophia Laukli, Delphine Claudel and Heidi Weng were among the eight on the results list.

The French came second and Weng third. Laukli pulled the hose, but as a slow Kirin woman, the ride was too cold for her during the last kilometers.

– Altitude and terrain, as well as the trio’s good oxygen absorption capacity, Jylhä bundles the root causes of the trio’s success.

– On the Tour, you go vertically up the hill, where carrying your own body weight as lightly as possible is a trump card. They are all extremely light. In Canmore, it’s not very steep at any point, you have to slide more, but the competition height compensates, the expert adds.

Claudel’s final result can be considered a medium surprise. He has previously been in mc races in a bunch of three only in the final climb of the Tour and on his home tracks in the mc free ten of Les Rousses last season.

– Claudel and Laukli are traditional endurance athletes. Their body structure and characteristics are such that they thrive in certain extreme conditions, when maximum oxygen intake and the ability to climb up a hill are required, Jylhä analysed.

– Claudel surprised that he was able to participate so well in the final fight and challenge the winner Jessie Diggins, the expert specifies.

Claudel quilts the hoe technique effectively, but the wassberg and mogren techniques are not particularly impressive.

– Although skiing doesn’t look very technical in all respects, he is skilled at moving the ski forward. He knows how to push and slide his ski.