Iivo Niskanen takes clear victory in front of home crowd
Feb 29, 2020·Cross-Country
Since 1996, no Finnish men had conquered the podium of the Lahti Ski Games. Iivo Niskanen however put a end to this story by impressively taking the victory in todays 15km C.
For the 95th time, the Lahti Ski Games took place. Despite challenging weather and snow conditions, the ski tracks were in great conditions for the World's best athletes in Cross-Country skiing.
Iivo Niskanen and Alexander Bolshunov were the time setters today. However, Niskanen kept the pace high and stable and finished the 15km in a time of 32:15. Alexander Bolshunov lost +10 seconds to the winner and takes the second spot right before Norwegian Hans Christer Holund who surprised himself to be able to take a podium spot in a distance race in classic technique: „For me it was perfect. I am not as strong as Niskanen and Bolshunov so a third place is like a victory for me. I looked at myself as a Skater so I was a little surprised that I was good enough to take a podium in a classic race. It’s good for my confidence, next year it’s a 50km in Classic so I have to get better if I want to race for a podium in the 50km at the World Champs."
