Skiers promised crazy speeds in Tyumen: to catch up with Bolshunov and Stepanova

Yes, it turns out that Olympic champions can compete like this: not fully prepare for the season for three months due to an injury, continue to treat it every day with specialists, and even be afraid of sudden movements at a distance. And don’t run the classics at all for these three months. But, having entered three starts of the first stage (two time trials and a skate sprint), I won everywhere. And – the main emphasis: not because there is no competition.

Bolshunov said this after the first gold of the season: entering the next discipline, sprint, is a big question mark, sudden movements are possible there. But with the classics it’s even more difficult: two or three days ago I started running slowly. “Well, it’s like running – the speed is comparable to walking.”

Everyone already understood how he walked. What did Bolshunov, having won both the skate distance and the sprint, think last Sunday about his tactics in that very classic race? “I gave myself the mindset that if I win even one or two seconds, it will be fine. It turned out even a little better. The guys were very strong competition.”

Saveliy Korostelev, namely with his time San Sanych competed at the distance, lost 6.3 seconds to the leader. That is, everything happened “normally”, multiplied by three. (And in the speed skating race, Bolshunov won the same seconds over Artem Maltsev, who won silver.)

Savely Korostelev, who was always called “young” throughout last season (and rightly so – he remained so, a 19-year-old guy), seems to have decided that his time as a leader still needs to be approached more actively. At the first stage he was fifth in the sprint and took third and second place in the time trials.

Korostelev admitted after that that this year it was very difficult for him to get involved in the season: he did more work in the off-season, so he has to accelerate with starts. But I’m more than happy with the first results. “As Veronica Stepanova says, we will spin the flywheel.”

Savely didn’t pretend to be a good boy either; he admitted in a comment after the stage that someone else’s leadership causes irritation, and that’s normal. “When there is a leader, it turns out that there is always this slight irritation.” But Bolshunov, of course, is a distinguished person, and has achieved a lot, and trains incredibly hard. Therefore, “it takes a lot of effort to somehow dislodge it.”

In Tyumen, everyone who has this desire, and Korostelev is far from alone in it, will have a new race for the leader: December 1 – 10 km, free style December 2 – classic sprint, December 3 – 20 km, mass start, classic style. (Both men and women.)

Alexey Chervotkin says that the track in Tyumen with artificial snow is very fast, the speeds will be insanely high, even crazy. So, for example, a 10 km distance would look like a sprint. What the sprint itself will look like remains to be seen. Alexey (he also has back problems) missed the first race of the last stage, as well as the sprint, but he entered the last distance and became fifth, losing 30 seconds to Bolshunov.

Leader’s Burden

So far only the first stage has passed, this is the beginning of the season, so no one is drawing any conclusions; the work must be assessed by the main competitions: the Spartakiad and the Russian Championship. The head coach of the cross-country skiing team, Yuri Borodavko, should have said something like this. That’s what he said.

The coach also allowed himself to analyze the situation in which all our athletes found themselves. Borodavko believes that the “acute phase of last year’s suspension” has already passed, but this does not mean that the problems are left behind. It’s difficult for leaders; their level is “dropping somewhat.” If we talk specifically about Bolshunov, then before the difference of 15 km between him and his rivals was significant, now it is not. “The average level of the entire Russian team has become equal, but the leaders are not far behind.”

Foreign experts continue to express their views on the situation. “If I were Bolshunov, the main star, I definitely wouldn’t want to go to the Russian Cup,” says famous skier Petter Northug. “This situation must be terrible for him.” Northug’s point is clear. But there is absolutely no doubt about Bolshunov’s iron character and choice in favor of continuing the fight.

Veronika Stepanova took two gold medals from the women at the first stage of the Russian Cup. She missed the sprint. She finished the first time trial – freestyle – with a 30-second lead. Before the second, I entertained myself and my subscribers by arranging a poll: to run or not to run. “Should I go to the start line tomorrow?” The majority answered in the affirmative, also a clear advantage. As a result, the history of the victory repeated itself – Stepanova’s lead was 28 seconds.

Not running

All the strongest skiers have already appeared at distances; Sergei Ustyugov still does not compete in the Russian Cup. He says: “I’m not worried about being behind schedule.” And in general – “this year I have other goals that I haven’t even set for myself yet.” He also says that he himself is interested in what will come of this season. In short, “I’ve relaxed the rolls this season,” so “however it goes.”

But still, Ustyugov leaves hope for his appearance in the season next to the strongest, and not just going out on the ski track somewhere at some competitions, to everyone who is eager to see him. “I know what I can prepare for and where to show my best results. Don’t forget that the most important starts are in February and March.”

At the Russian Cup stages, women do not yet have a group of strong and experienced skiers, which, of course, is a great chance for young people not only to declare themselves, but to shout out loud. This is what, for example, 17-year-old Alina Pekletsova does: second in speed skating, third in classic. But Pekletsova, like Ekaterina Nikitina, will miss the second stage of the Russian Cup in Tyumen, as the junior team is going to training camp in Uvat. Each age has its own plans.

Yulia Stupak, who started training later this season and is sticking to her plan, will apparently only compete in the sprint in Tyumen. But (presumably) he will not run it to the end if he ends up in the final races.

Tatyana Sorina returned to competitions after the birth of her child, tried to run the last distance of the first stage, but was forced to retire after the 3.3 km mark (32 seconds behind the leader). Before the start of the Russian Cup, Tatyana received a leg injury, and apparently will not start in Tyumen either.

It is not at all clear when Natalya Terentyeva (Nepryaeva) will appear on the competitive track after surgery. The coach says there is still no indication “for her to start serious training.” We are not talking about loads, and until he has fully recovered, there will be no preparation for competitions. The situation is still the same: “unfortunately, there is no positive dynamics.”

Tyumen did not add snow

It’s true – Tyumen was very surprising; the warm autumn deprived it of snow. Skiers who have competed there more than once say so: never in their lives have they seen so little snow on the “Pearl of Siberia”! And – honor and praise to the employees and everyone involved in the snow work: before the start, they managed to make a ski circle with the help of cannons, not 2.5 km, as was originally envisaged, but 5 km. And this is already a victory, a small circle also means fewer opportunities for athletes.

The strongest men’s group will receive numbers according to increasing ratings: Bolshunov will run thirtieth, then according to the list. In the distance competition after the first stage, Alexander Bolshunov (100 points) is in the lead, Savely Korostelev (91) is second, Artem Maltsev (77) is third. In the women’s distance competition, Veronika Stepanova is in the lead (100 points), Alina Pekletsova is second (91), Anastasia Kuleshova is in third place (82), and two are in fourth:

Maria Istomina and Evgenia Krupitskaya – (79).

Ski race. Cup of Russia. Men. Overall standings

1. Alexander Bolshunov – 150 points.

2. Savely Korostelev – 129.

3. Sergey Ardashev – 100.

4. Artyom Maltsev – 97.

5. Andrey Melnichenko – 89.

(Next are Denis Spitsov – 84, Egor Mitroshin – 79, Ivan Gorbunov – 79, Ilya Poroshkin – 68, Anton Timashov and Ilya Semikov – 59 points each.)

Ski race. Cup of Russia. Women. Overall standings

1. Maria Istomina – 117.

2. Elizaveta Pantrina – 103.

2. Evgenia Krupitskaya – 103.

4. Veronika Stepanova –100.

5. Alina Pekletsova – 91.

(Next are Anastasia Faleeva – 88, Anastasia Kuleshova – 82, Maya Novikova – 80, Alena Baranova -79, Daria Nepryaeva -77 points.)