Moments of glory at 15km C Mst in Val di Fiemme
Jan 08, 2021·Cross-Country
Today’s 15km F Mass start was a decisive day for many athletes fighting in the Tour de Ski. Many factors play along to succeed in Val di Fiemme and to get into a pole position for the final stages of the Tour. Many athletes performed their career's best in midst perfect conditions along the course in Val di Fiemme. Current leader of the Tour Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) faced a strong and tough competitor field. The speed was high right from the beginning as the first focus lied on the Bonus Sprint Point intermediate at 2.3km after one lap. Evgeniy Belov (RUS) and Artem Maltsev (RUS) took a head start with Bolshunov remaining on standby.
Focussing on the Bonus Sprint Seconds, Bolshunov took up the speed in the fourth lap and the sucessor field started to crumble. Always up front and on the heels of Bolshunov remained Francesco De Fabiani (ITA) and Ilia Semikov (RUS). Both worked hard to take up speed in the last “Zorzi” uphill before the final moves had to be done in the downhill back into the stadium. Bolshunov remained unbeatable and races to his fifth consecutive victory in the Tour de Ski. De Fabiani returns on the podium after two years in 2nd position before Alexey Chervotkin (RUS) completes the podium.
Ilia Semikov (RUS) lands for the 3rd time on the unlucky 4th rank but shows a strong performance throughout his preferred technique in Classic.
Janosch Brugger (GER) repeats his top-10 result of 15km F in Toblach (10th) with todays 6th rank and wins his careers best World Cup result.
Schumacher Gus (USA) - the 20 year-young American is definitely on fire to impress at his first ever Tour de Ski participation. With todays 8th rank, Gus races to his careers best result in the World Cup.
Thomas Maloney Westgaard (IRL) definitely caused the surprise of the day with not only keeping pace with the leader group but also challenging them for the top spots, ending in 9th position.
