Double Norwegian victory at Davos Nordic
Dec 15, 2019·Cross-CountryIn the midst of Swiss Cowbells, Alphorns and a spectacular mountain scenery, Davos Nordic was ready for todays 10/15km F. On track was also Norwegian Therese Johaug who fulfilled all expectations by taking her 51st World Cup victory during todays 10km F. The «Flüela» tracks set at around 1'600 m altitude saw the Norwegian superstar Therese Johaug fly by as she had her eyes set on the victory.
The Norwegian set off to led the race at all checkpoints at least 10 seconds ahead of her competitors. However, Finnlands Krista Pärmäkoski had a lookout to the remaining podium spots but lost precious 5 seconds on the checkpoints to Austrian Theresa Stadlober who showed up in a fantastic shape. The two were challenged by Heidi Weng (NOR) and Jessica Diggins (USA). Diggins trailed Johaug on second position throughout the first lap but had to give way to Weng who speed up her second lap, finishing second at +30.6 seconds behind Johaug. Diggins takes the third spot on the podium, +36.4 seconds behind.
Same as in yesterdays sprint, the US team can be proud of todays resume having 5 athletes placed in the top-25. A result to be proud of also stated the Czech team, having two athletes placed in top-15.
The mens 15km F had a victory waiting for Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) who performed a fantastic run along the challenging "Flüela" course. A sharp, fast curve 1km before the finish challenged the strong competitor field.
With the latest snowfall and the according temperatures, the legendary 15km track of Davos Nordic became even a little faster in the afternoon for the mens race. Constant focus, strong legs and endurance was the recipe for the set menu. Kruger praised his skis who helped him to ski +19 seconds ahead of successor Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) who well knows the course and conditions of Davos. However, Ustiugov was contested by Davos naitive and Swiss Cross-Country superstar Dario Cologna. Ustiugov had a constant +-5 second margin to the Swiss which got smaller and smaller towards the finish line. The Swiss proudly took the third spot on the podium only +1 second behind Ustiugov.