Sweden show squad strength with relay win in Gällivare
Dec 03, 2023·Cross-Country
Despite missing several of their top stars, Sweden delighted the home crowd by winning the first women’s 4x7.5km relay of the 2023/24 FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup season, ahead of relay specialists Germany (silver) and USA in third place.
Normally a freestyle specialist, Jessie Diggins (USA) is much improved in the classic technique. So, fresh from her 10km victory on Saturday, the American was given the first leg – and the tactics were clear: go out hard and try to blow away the rest of the field.
It almost worked, too. Halfway through the first of two 3.5km laps on a very up-and-down course, the USA, Norway’s Heidi Weng and Moa Lundgren (SWE) had opened up the gap on the chasing pack, with Diggins making most of the running,
Having slipstreamed Diggins the whole way, Weng made her move coming into the stadium section on the second lap, handing over just ahead of the US. This blistering burst left Lundgren 10.3 seconds back.
Rosie Brennan (USA) and Margrethe Bergane (NOR) picked up where their team-mates left off, pushing the pace on lap three. But the Norwegian couldn’t live with the American’s pace, allowing Emma Ribom (SWE) and, eventually, Katharina Hennig (GER) to overtake her.
Henning then reeled in Ribom too, handing over to Pia Fink (GER) in second place just ahead of the Swede –19.1 seconds behind the USA’s Sophia Laukli.
With double world champion Ebba Andersson (SWE) taking over from Ribom, Pink began to hang on in third, and by the 20km mark, Laukli’s lead had disappeared, much to the delight of the home crowd. Andersson handed over to Moa Ilar on the final leg 4.6 seconds ahead of US anchor Julia Kern.
“We had one task for today: stay with the US before handing over to Moa [Ilar],” Andersson said.
In confident mood after her first career World Cup win in Ruka, Finland last week – in the 20km Mass Start – Ilar said her team-mates did “an amazing job” and she had stretched Sweden’s lead to 23 seconds by the final lap, while Victoria Carl (GER) had overhauled Kern.
Ilar could afford to slow down, cruising over the line while waving to the crowd to lead Sweden home in a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes and 19.3 seconds, 13.5 seconds ahead of Germany. USA were a further 14 seconds back.
Finland were more than five minutes back in eighth, leaving fans wondering when their big names Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Parmakoski will return to action.
Click here for full results from the men's 10km individual free.
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