Looking Back at Kusaamo (Finland)...
While all Nordic skiers were watching the racing back home at West Yellowstone Ski Festival, last week end was the Nordic Opening in Kusaamo (ski jumping, nordic combined and XC skiing). Temperature in Finland at this period of the year should be around -15C, but the coldest we had was -3C and snow falls or rain : so every one was thinking about a tough waxing week end.
First race was classic sprint on saturday with a klister day (+1C, cloudy, little rain sometimes), so ski selection was important to keep the klister away of the snow in the gliding parts! At the end Justyna Kolwacyk (Salomon boots/bindings)gave an other proof that she is a very good overall skier by winning the race. She will be tough to challenge for the overall WC. On the men side, Hattestad is still the best sprinter in the world so far.
Second race : Condition were crazy fast, especially in the classic track. You have to know that in Kusaamo, there are big up hills what means big downhills. In one of these downhills, skiers can go up to 80km/h, so you don't want to crash there. Peter Northung showed to everyone that he was not only good on mass-start by winning the individual classic with a really fast last 5k. You can think whatever you want about this man, he is amazing.
I'm now on the boat from helsinki to kiel (GER). Next wold cup stage is in Dusseldorf beside the river Rhin. Courses are sprint and team sprint in skating in the center of the city. So it should be very exiting to race in the middle of thousands of exited XC ski fans.
Fabian Blondeau,
Team Japan-ski tech
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