Big surprise in the 50-kilometer marathon in the classic style: In the sprint to the finish, the world championship favorite Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo had to admit defeat to his teammate Pal Golberg on Sunday (March 5th, 2023). Swede William Poromaa secured bronze. The two Germans ended up in the top 25.
The final competition of the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, was, as so often, rather subdued. The athletes watched each other, took turns leading, and runners from the second guard kept appearing at the front: Irineu Esteve Altimiras from Andorra, as well as Swede Calle Halfvarsson and Iivo Niskanen from Finland, collected kilometers in the lead.
Dobler flies out of the curve
The two Germans in the field initially kept up very well – perhaps spurred on by the sensational bronze medal in the relay – before Jonas Dobler had a mishap at 7.1 kilometers: Shortly before the time measurement he put too much pressure on the downhill inner ski and flew out of the turn. Shortly before that he was still in seventh place, but when he got to his feet and found his rhythm again, he had to line up in 34th place.
However, Dobler, like his teammate Albert Kuchler, was still part of the large main field – of the 49 starters, 15 had lost contact after the first of seven laps. Halfway through the race, after various pinpricks, especially from the five-man Norwegian fraction and the two Swedes William Poromaa and Jens Burman, the circle of the elite was reduced to 13 runners – Kuchler and Dobler were between 15 and 25 seconds behind, but remained quite stable.
Top group stays together for a long time
At the top, however, the decisive attack was still a long time coming. In contrast to the women’s 30s of the previous day, in which Ebba Andersson had embarked on a successful solo escape early on, the 50s continued to be tactical, lurking and running in an energy-saving manner. So Kuchler and Dobler could still see the leaders clearly. Shortly before his first ski change on the fifth lap, Kuchler even managed to get within six seconds of the top group.
Tough battle over the 50 kilometers: Albert Kuchler in the final competition in Planica
Apparently, this catch-up race had cost a little too much energy. The stars kept pushing the pace up front, and Kuchler lost second by second – the 30-year-old from the Lam sports association was almost a minute behind with ten kilometers to go.
National coach Peter Schlickenrieder said on the sports show microphone: “The two fight for every meter, the motivation is definitely there. But of course it’s pretty hard at the front.”
Klaebo lets the others work
In the last lap, the leading group then went to ten, little by little one or the other had to say goodbye to the back. Because up front, the four remaining Norwegians were able to put their opponents in order: Pal Dolberg attacked, then Didrik Tonseth again or Martin Loewstroem Nyenget – only top favorite Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo kept out of the hard leadership work. In the top eight, the Scandinavians ran their own championship: In addition to the four Norwegians, there were three Swedes and one Finn.
Shortly before the end, Golberg launched the decisive attack on a small climb. Klaebo tried everything again on the home straight, but could not get close to his compatriot. But Klaebo still had pressure from behind: Poromaa landed two tenths of a second behind him and thus secured bronze ahead of his Swedish teammate Calle Halfvarsson (+1.6 seconds).
Dobler and Kuchler in the top 25
The two Germans arrived a little late, but still ended up in the top 25: Dobler was 4:13.5 minutes behind in 21st place, Kuchler came in 25th with 5:11.4 minutes.
Kuchler said on the sports show microphone: “I felt really good for the first four laps, then I had to change skis because they had deteriorated quite a bit. After that it was quite a struggle.” Dobler saw it similarly: “Of course we had very positive vibes after the relay medal, but it was very difficult. I had two falls, the second of which was entirely my own fault – that really affected my race.”