Swedish and Norwegian victories in the team sprint in Lahti

Nordic

Swedish and Norwegian victories in the team sprint in Lahti

In the team sprint at the World Cup in Lahti, the last team sprint before the World Championships in Seefeld, the Swedes Ida Ingemarsdotter and Maja Dahlqvist (both SWE) claimed victory, in the men's final the Norwegians Iversen/Klæbo (both NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) and Skar/Brandsdal (both NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) celebrated a double victory.

In the final of the women most of the time the two Norwegian teams with Tiril Udnes Weng (NOR) and Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) and partly also Anna Svendsen and Mari Eide (both NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots), while the Swedes had to fight back after falls from Hanna Falk (Sweden II) in the second and Ida Ingemarsdotter (Sweden I) in the fourth lap. In the fifth lap Anna Svendsen attacked in the uphill and opened a gap, but the final skier Mari Eide lost their lead after half o her lap. Norway I and Sweden I took the lead and escaped. Maiken Caspersen Falla was the first into the final downhill and this time she did not have the tactical advantage of the slipstream on her side, so that Maja Dahlqvist easily passed with more speed thanks to slipstream and heavier weight and Falla had no chance. The Swedes Evelina Settlin (SWE, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) and Hanna Falk (SWE) also proved to be the strongest in the three-way fight for third place and took the podium out of the slipstream. Russia II with Tatiana Aleshina (RUS) and Evgeniia Shapovalova (RUS, Fischer skis and bindings) finished fourth ahead of the second Finnish team with Johanna Matintalo (FIN) and Anne Kyllönen (FIN, Fischer skis, bindings and boots).

=> Team Spint Lahti (FIN)

In the men's final the Norwegians Emil Iversen and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo had everything under control. Iversen kept increasing the pace on his last lap, but Sweden I (Calle Halfvarsson (SWE) and Oskar Svensson (SWE, Fischer skis and bindings)) could keep up, as did four other teams. At the beginning of the last lap Svensson led the race, but at the passage of the scoreboard before the last climb Klæbo took the lead and stormed in classic technique up the hill. Ristomatti Hakola (FIN, Fischer skis, bindings and boots), who teamed up with crowd-pleaser Iivo Niskanen (FIN), was surprisingly close on his heels after the climb. Behind them followed Norway II with Brandsdal in front of three other teams with a slight gap. In the final sprint, noone bothered Johannes Høsflot Klæbo on his way to his next win and the Finns in the stadium were horrified to see that Hakola had to defend himself against Eirik Brandsdal in the final sprint and narrowly lost the duel - suddenly it was absolutely quiet in the stadium, even though the Finns could celebrate a podium finish. "It was good to win and we were able to take revenge", said Emil Iversen and Klæbo explained what his colleague meant: "2017 at the World Championships I fell in the last corner and now we are both back on a slightly different track and have taken the victory." The Russians Artem Maltsev (RUS, Fischer skis and bindings) and Gleb Retivykh (RUS, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) succeeded in the final sprint against Halfvarsson/Svensson and De Fabiani/Pellegrino (both ITA).

=> Team Spint Lahti (FIN)