March 08, 2014 (Oslo, Norway) – Sweden’s Daniel Richardsson outdueled his two rivals, Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) and Alexander Legkov (RUS), for the biggest victory of his career winning the 50km CL today in the fabled Holmenkollen in Oslo. The lanky Swede made the all-important early winning break of five skiers that was reduced to three and then two as he powered past Sundby in the stadium for a resounding gold-medal performance.

Daniel Richardsson © Nordic Focus

It was a frustrating day for Canada’s Alex Harvey who suffered with no grip and had to change his skis early on losing contact with the leaders and dropping to 46th. With new skis he played catch up for the remainder of the race and his valiant effort put him 14th overall.

“I had no kick for the first two laps so I was in 46th but after changing my skis things went better. I was happy to see the body was there for the remaining four laps. I was skiing a lot on my but I passed a lot of guys,” Harvey told Trax post-race. “I’m still happy with race but it could have been better.”

Full interview w/Harvey

American Noah Hoffman was near the front until the 13km mark and then fell back ending up 29th on the day. We caught up with the Hoff for his comments on his race.

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“It was a tough day. My plan was to go for points whenever they were available. I was happy to take points in the first two intermediate sprints but that took a lot out of me. With the way the race played out – getting super strung out – I believe taking points early was the best strategy for me. I knew after the second intermediate sprint that I was in trouble. I just got tired.

“Conditions were very wet. The course was breaking down considerably. My A pair of skis were good. My B pair was a little slick but not bad. I went 2 laps A, 2 laps B, 2 laps A. Sundby picked up the pace up the big hill on the second lap, about 10k into the race. It was the earliest I have ever seen one of the top skiers attack a World Cup field. I did not expect things to break up as soon as they did.

“My goal for World Cup Finals is to score enough distance points to make it into the Red Group which will qualify me for the U.S. Ski Team A Team. I am close, but I need a good weekend,” added Hoffman.

Richardsson triumphs with a solid 50km CL victory ©

By the 8km mark Legkov and Sundby were controlling at the front with Iivo Niskanen (FIN) and Lukas Bauer (CZE) there as well. Bauer opted not to change skis after the second lap (16.6km) and gained a 20s advantage. Richardsson moved into second leading the chase to catch Bauer with Legkov, Sundby and Niskanen in tow.

At 21.6km they caught Bauer and the five were clearly on a mission and would not be denied gaining over a minute on Eldar Roenning (NOR) at 25km. By the 3okm mark Bauer was showing fatigue and then at 35km it was Niskanen’s turn to buckle under the power of Legkov and Sundby as Richardsson kept tabs in third.

With 10km to go and Legkov doing most of the work the chasing pack caught Bauer and began closing on Niskanen as Legkov was now in trouble with 3.5km to go as Sundby and Richardsson were the clear favourites. The crafty Swede let Sunby lead him home as he attacked in the stadium dropping Sundby with strong double poling to solo in for the biggest triumph of his career.

Final podium (l-r) Sundby 2nd, Richardsson 1st, Legkov 3rd © Nordic Focus

Sundby settled for the silver as he locked up the World Cup crown while Legkov took home the bronze. For Richardsson it was his second World Cup win and caps an excellent second half of the season where he was on the podium in Toblach just before the Sochi games and became a gold medalist in the men’s relay in Sochi.

“The speed was very high from the beginning. The bonus sprints helped to increase the pace. I had a small crash in a downhill and lost some seconds on Martin and Alexander. Then I decided to take it easy and save some energy for the finish. I had a difficult summer but I always believed I could be winning again. It feels great to win in Holmenkollen. I hope big crowd is coming to Falun next week,” Richardsson told FIS XC.

Along with Hoffman his teammate Simi Hamilton (54th today) was also after bonus points hoping to make it to Falun. The top 50 skiers advance and Hamilton was on the cusp coming into Oslo but is now 53rd overall despite his efforts.

Devon Kershaw, who also suffered with bad skis like Harvey, used too much energy early on and DNF’d, but sits 50th overall and just made the cut for Falun. The USA’s Erik Bjornsen finished 51st on the day while Canadian Graeme Killick ran out of steam and was DNF as well.

Results here.
Overall WCup standings here.