Double victory for Italian men on home ground
Feb 16, 2019·Cross-Country
Thrilling sprint action and a fantastic crowd of spectators filled up the air of Cogne on today's sunny sprint racing day. With a double victory of local hero Pellegrino and his team colleague De Fabiani the weekend could not have started any better for the Cogne World Cup.
With the first sprint victory, Jessica Diggins (USA) finds herself on top of the podium after fighting her way back from the "lucky looser" positions. A well deserved first World Cup podium claimed second ranked Sandra Ringwald from Germany. She misses the first rank by only +0.11 seconds! The 3rd rank was taken by the youngster Johanna Hagström from Sweden who only raced her second World Cup race.
It took 12 years until the FIS Cross-Country World Cup found its way back to the Aosta valley in Northern Italy, the home of Federico Pellegrino. So shortly before the World Ski Championships in Seefeld, the Italian sprint expert wanted to make a statement and show that he is ready to fight for the title of World Champion. "Today was difficult to focus but I needed this energy by my people, by region, my valley, because I know now that when I go to Seefeld I have the responsibility to give everything that I can", Pellegrino said after his race, looking to the upcoming races in Seefeld.
His team colleague Francesco De Fabiani also confirmed his great shape and races to the second rank (+0.48 seconds) after a photo finish with 3rd ranked Lucas Chanavat from France (+0.51 seconds).
Despite seeming like a relatively easy track, the heats proved that especially in the final turns, the course had its challenges. The sprint races on the last World Cup before the FIS World Ski Championships in Seefeld thus was a good practice and prove of shape.
