Jordan Stolz lays the foundation for world title, Groenewoud is in the lead among women

On the first day of the World Allround Championships in Inzell, the American Jordan Stolz laid a foundation for the men’s world title. After Stolz won the 500 meters with a track record of 34.10, he finished seventh in the 5,000 meters with a time of 6.14.76. Patrick Roest rode that distance faster, but entered the last day with a big gap. Marijke Groenewoud is in the lead among the women. She finished second in the 3,000 meters with a time of 3.57.94. With this she made up enough time to pass Japan’s Miho Takagi, who won after the 500 meters, in the general classification.

Stolz (19) had beforehand told NOS, that there was only one race for which he had to be nervous: “that is the 5,000 meters”. During the race, those fears turned out to be unfounded. The American super talent rode with two arms behind his back for a long time and could easily drive laps under 30 seconds until the end of the race; he rode a very strong ride. The Swede Nils van der Poel, defending world champion, watched it enthusiastically from the stands.

Afterwards, Stolz appeared tired but satisfied with his race, with which he fell no less than six seconds under his personal record. Patrick Roest knew that he had to set a sharp time in the penultimate stage against the Italian Davide Ghiotto. The Italian pulled away from Roest halfway through the race, who left a large gap. At the end of the race, Roest placed a long-awaited acceleration, but the 6.06.55 was not enough to beat Ghiotto to the finish nor to keep Stolz in sight in the rankings. Ghiotto won the 5,000 meters in 6:06.28. It was the first time this season that Roest did not win a 5,000 meters.

‘Too cowardly’

Afterwards, Roest was very disappointed, because he had wanted to accelerate earlier. He seemed aware that he had probably lost his chances of winning the world title and called his strategy “too cowardly”. “I didn’t dare, because the legs didn’t feel good enough,” said Roest. The three-time world all-round champion is facing a significant gap: 3.42 seconds in the 1,500 meters and now more than 22 seconds in the final 10,000 meters. Because Stolz has a faster 1,500 meters than Roest, that difference will probably increase even further. Roest acknowledged that it will be very difficult to track down Stolz. He said he wanted to ride two more good distances, “and then we’ll see where we are in the rankings.”

Just like with the men, the reigning world champion will not participate in the women’s event. Irene Schouten recently ended her skating career. Two compatriots seem to be allowed to decide on Sunday who will be the new world champion. Groenewoud leads the rankings ahead of Joy Beune, who won the 3,000 meters in a track record. Beune told the ANP news agency that she looks forward to the last tournament day with confidence. “Normally I would be afraid of those 5,000 meters, but now I’m looking forward to it. Bring it on.”

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