LIVE: FIS Nordic JWSC Championships 2024 – 10KM Classic Men

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International Ski Federation: as the governing body of international skiing and snowboarding, FIS manages the Olympic disciplines of Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding, including setting the international competition rules.

E well a very good morning and welcome back to plan we’re waiting for the start of the junior 10 km uh 10 km time trial which is slightly different format from the one we’ve been seeing over the last couple of days Mass start yesterday over

20k for the under 23s uh it’s dank damp conditions here in planetz it was forecast for Friday Saturday Sunday uh we just had our fingers crossed that it wouldn’t turn out that way well uh all the teams dressed up and uh I suspect could be one or two changes just before

The start so they start the race in dry clothes at least you can see the warmup pair here on the uh base of the ski jumping Hill the ski flying Hill I should say where they do jumps of over 250 M it is absolutely massive you have

To see it to believe the scale of it and uh no jumpers going off today uh and it has been put aside for a little bit of ski testing uh one or two timing ones there just checking up on the best skis to use uh I think we know for sure that

You need a decent structure in the base of the ski if they’re going to run well here’s the start for today stiger of Switzerland will go first milback uh who was disappointed must have been disappointed with his performance in the 20K uh he is though he’s a youngster but

He’s already decided that the long distance is for him and when I say long distance I mean 78k the vassa he’ll have his eye on that he’s already finished in the top 10 at the age of 16 he’s a bit of a phenomenon uh further down the

Order some of the ski may not feature too much today but they’ll all get their 30 seconds of Fame when they come out of the start gate uh Manan for Bulgaria going up 1202 so he’s got little bit of a gap just a reminder uh we’re on Central

European Time uh so take an an hour off those uh times the starting times if you’re watching in the UK Campbell of USA the USA been impressed with what they’ve done so far it’s uh been a good good championships for them and um there could be more to come great

To see Canada getting a gold with Sandra Schmid and Dora a gold a silver and a bronze all from the same lady it’s been an absolutely phenomenal effort and uh I think everyone delighted to see Gina Del Rio going so well she’s picked herself up a silver today in the 10K classic uh

And in her interview afterwards I think she was absolutely delighted with that um and thought actually it was one of her best races although she didn’t take the goal which she did in the Sprint uh so she’s proved that not only is she a good Sprinter she’s good over the

Distance and she can do both Styles which uh at this day and age if you want to compete in series you’ve got to be good at both classic and freestyle so uh normally you’d see the ski is out nice and early but I think they’ve all been

Hiding from the rain over the last 10 minutes or so there is stiger who’s going to be the first away milback wearing two um what are we going to see from him today he’s still only 17 and uh yeah he had a top 10 place in the uh

Italian locket race that Phil finishes in valde FASA uh what was he ninth in that over 70,000 M so 70 km uh and he looked very very comfortable in that just I think lacking a bit of speed when the speed picked up in uh the race two

Days ago he just couldn’t match the likes of Y Nord hogen but then again nor could anyone else and there was quite a good battle to be honest for the minor places are tussy of Italy and Jo of Italy getting the silver and the bronze

In that event and while we wait for the start of the 10 km uh let’s just run you down the medal table Norway who won it last time in Whistler are on top again with three goals uh but equal second we have Sweden no surprise there Italy good

To see them uh coming up and then Andor equal second in the medal table how about that a gold a silver and a bronze for them so the first Stars underway and we’ll be able to get some uh some time splits stiger and milbach have gone this

Should be Nord haogen the winner of the 20K if he shows us anything like he did in the 20K then he’s going to have an easy win he won by 2 minutes 11 but there is nothing to him he’s skin and bone but his technique in the freestyle

Was absolutely superb very clever esque and uh I’ll be interested to see how his classic is today uh looking at the results over the last 12 months or so there’s no doubt that he’s generally 10 places or so higher in the freestyle races than he is in the

Classic but I certainly wouldn’t bet against him today I was so so impressed with what he managed to do in that 20K destroyed the field and made his break when he was out of side of the camera this is Davie giio of Italy he’s already

Got himself a bronze in that 20 can he double up today and take Italy’s tally above three Italy with a gold a silver and a bronze so far and uh GI every chance every chance comes from ravion which is just uh I think it’s just north

Of n right down in that Western Corner northwest corner of Italy beautiful beautiful area lar Hagen another man with a gold medal to his name already from these championships took the gold in the Sprint event on the the first day uh he’s pretty good time trialist

Actually we we saw him out in Whistler last year in the junior championships got a 10th place in that event and um yeah I I I think he’s he’s going to be in the running we will see uh certainly if you were with us during the um women’s race inwards on commentary Duty

For that one you will have noticed how the top seats all went early as in this race uh but a big advantage for those starting around 10 1112 because they knew exactly what they had to do to get into the top positions and uh it was uh yeah an impressive

Run Sweden getting uh their first Goal number seven from the Czech Republic he’ll have half an eye on the ban World Championships which are taking place in noo this week and next week and uh they’ve got the women’s Sprint today if you’re interested in that uh away goes to he’s chasing is nef of

Switzerland uh who’s one of the top juniors in Switzerland Anton gr now can he get himself another medal he took the silver in the Sprint I think really didn’t quite get the pacing right I thought he was going to take it but his first round uh in that Sprint event the

First knockout round was far far too fast uh and uh I think he was what probably three seconds quicker than he needed to be to qualify and I’m not sure he ever recovered before the final but he still got himself a silver medal uh de today I suspect he’ll be a lot better

Than the 34th we saw in the 20K Danielson of Sweden underway chasing his teammate out of the gate here he is 17th two days ago in the 20K comes from hoodu which is just to the east east of Farland it’s probably uh what a couple of hours drive north of

Stockholm it’s uh a cross country skiing intensive area uh plenty of tracks great races good place to sort of uh situate yourself at the start of the winter lots and lots of races to choose from and uh the terrain is perfect for cross country generally if you’re after early snow uh

You’ve got to go north and you’ve got to go Inland get away from the get away from the sea they do tend to be the coldest places as well um I know they get down around minus 50 it’s astonished to hear that all the school kids uh still go to school but

When it’s below minus 30 they have to have an adult take them to school I that’s that’s absolutely a oning so through the first checkpoint don’t read too much into this one uh other than the fact if someone is way way faster than everyone else and milbe

Has done just that wow he’s taken a lot of time off stiger but stiger um not quite sure why he was starting first um he was only third in the uh National Junior Championships over 30k classic uh but he’s got bib number one milback number two uh and little back is he

Going to get the best conditions quite possibly quite possibly Jack Lang of USA underway and uh he’s a better freestyle skier I think as we have a look at Nord haen uh is he going to double up on the goal Norden has gone has he gone through

The first split he has uh he’s already six seconds down on the leader uh L surprising GI of Italy um he’s going to be outside mil Beck’s time milbeck I think on a mission here um or is this him showing the fact that he’s he’s not very experienced at

The the sort of traditional race distances as I mentioned he has decided his career is all about distance racing up to 1.9 and 24 seconds outside already wow uh this is something special uh if if milbach can keep this going here comes Nord haen yeah he’s slipping a little now if

The conditions are difficult if there’s one team that’s going to slip it does tend to be the Norwegians the less wax you put on the faster your skis go on the downhill so it makes sense to wax light but if you’re slipping you lose so much time so much

Energy malti for Italy from uh Premier which is uh an interesting place um it’s a sort of little spit at the north of Italy uh to the east you have Switzerland to the West you have Switzerland to the north you have Switzerland uh only to the South you

Have your own country uh it’s an interesting spot part of the world and uh multi uh yeah he’s done well so far seventh in the 20K this is Yus Czech athlete he’s he’s got to finish today he didn’t finish the 20K uh quite a few athletes pulled out uh over

The half the field were taken out because they were lapped it was a 3.3 kilm course they were lapped by nordhagen uh and I think uh 52 I think we had 52 finishes out of 99 starters uh that is how devastating the pace set by

Nord haen was and he he crossed the line he looked as though he’d done absolutely nothing now this is gr uh up to the 1.9 km stage he’s the only one within 10 seconds of milbach at the moment uh and gr the obviously the teammate of milbach

So those two will know exactly what they can do gr actually comes from Moa which is the uh finishing town for the vasel opit the biggest CrossCountry ski race in the world and that takes place on the first Sunday of March every year 990ks uh I think they have over 50,000 people

Involved uh it used to be a one day event now it’s a whole week it’s a festival uh and you have to get your entry in uh probably two years in advance it’s that’s that’s one of the big problems of these massive popular events 19 seconds of drift for Danielson

Of Sweden that’s quite a big margin it’s a big big margin they’re going at about 24 25 km an hour back down to the start and the arov from Kazakhstan trains at the winter sports Olympic Training Center so I’m assuming he spends his most of his life in almati kazakstan

Still their most successful most famous uh athlete I think it still has to be Vladimir SCH just a couple of really good classic ski over the year 21 Kushi hasi for Japan uh nice to see the Japanese are hearing numbers it’s good to see takar is already underway he started number 11

And uh I think we could see something decent from him 22 is Kelly beckov another of the kazak and starting exactly a minute behind bazarov so uh that is who he’ll get his early splits off I don’t think it’s much good giving him a split off mil pack the race leader

Um because once you’re more than 30 seconds behind it it only acts as a sort of negative influence you really want to be told uh that you’re within two or three seconds of someone or if your if your coach uh has has worked out that you’re a better uh a better leader than

You are follow Chaser uh maybe they’ll give you a split of someone who’s just two or three seconds behind especially if you’ve got a particularly strong rivalry with one of the other athletes AA 19yearold from Japan didn’t see him in the Sprint but uh he did race in the 20K and got

Himself a top 20 which at you know Junior World Championships level is very very impressive Last Winter Olympics in Japan back in 1998 Nagano yeah well-run games some uh cracking races there the days of bond and oana bondal in the bathan nyman over in the women’s cross

Country yeah it was a a great period Mar bugen must have been There so milb has uh just built an incredibly good lead over the early stages nine seconds ahead at 1.9 kilomet and uh his lead at the moment he’s gone through 4K and he’s leading Hagen who is the Sprint winner by 21 seconds I’m just waiting for an

Indic that that time is coming down but no one able to match number two as yet Alvar milbach there he is and he goes past Nicholas ster at 5.2k well steiger’s responding well must say now as mpac decided to double pole the whole thing I haven’t seen him take

A stride as yet in these conditions that might not be a bad call and it might explain why he got such a good lead over the early stages of this race 9 seconds clear of gr going through 1.9 so that’s uh interesting tactics 17 that’s uh charie

Duik well milbach is 33 seconds ahead of stiger and um yeah he’s just been slowly slowly building that LE lead um and he got he got a good chunk of that lead early on ster what was he um 16 seconds down by 1.9 so yes he’s still pulling uh

Ahead of him uh no one else going back to the 700 met Mark tuz is in second place he had a very quick start as well but he started to fall behind uh he lost uh he lost 11 seconds on the second kilometer having matched milbach over

The first 8 00 M uh he is paying a price for that early burst through goes David giio and um Regular top three athlete in the alpen Cup events there he is wearing number four and uh he’s got company on this lap I don’t think it’ll take too long before he goes past

Bazarov thought for a moment we had our second waxfree athlete but no Gio switches into uh what is either known as uh two phase or diagonal gate just about every language has its own name for each technique which can get little bit confusing but what you’re trying to do

Is to you’ve got for those of you that haven’t seen this before you’ve got the grit wax under the ski and um the wax wants to be just a tiny bit softer than the snow crystals uh and the problem is that with temperature variations and the age of the snow uh

The sharpness and the strength of the snow crystals changes um which is why you have to have a box um a box of wax the size of a trunk if you’re always going to find the perfect wax it’s not easy many just opt to look over their

Shoulder at someone who looks as though they know what they’re doing knife goes through 37.9 seconds and that is a big margin I thought today might be the day he gets on the podium he’s had a fourth and a fifth so far he’s been very very close

In terms of time milback through the stadium at 6.6 he’s got one more lap to go and uh well he’s now leading the way so he’s a little fortunate that uh the rest of the athletes out on the track so it’s not as if he’s in Fresh Tracks uh and with this

Snow with the lack of snow it’s been rain for the last four hours um I don’t think too much of a disadvantage leading were it fresh snow then it would definitely hinder his chances du from the UT region and um tall man I think we’ll see the best

From him I think we see the best from everyone sort of between 25 and late 20s uh many of the top athletes now those who are making a living from the sport can certainly produce World Cup World Class performances at uh in their mid-30s to late 30s and he must grave uh

Great Britain’s number one and uh at the start of this season just about the only athlete on the tour who could contend with the strength of the Norwegians Nord hogen going through well he’s getting a little bit of his own medine today isn’t he having destroyed

The field in the 20K he finds himself 47 a half behind at 6.6k and that puts him into third place stiger is at 38 so stiger of Switzerland’s actually having a good run uh he was 50th in the 20K and here he is uh pretty much the only one at the

Moment uh I’ll keep you in formed as to whether that changes uh just looking at stiger 6.6 is 38 seconds behind the timing’s all changing bit by bit well you would have expected Hagen to match stiger is he going to manage that last time we saw he was 5 Seconds down on the

Swiss athlete and he’s uh I think he’s a little bit closer 36 37 38 number he’s going the other way so 49.3 behind 6.6 1K uh one lap to go he is not going to make that up as we have a look at lar Hagen there he is uh it’s

Good usually pretty good at the time trial event finished 10th in the classic racing Whistler last year mat HCK was the winner of the classic race in uh Whistler last year it was a 50 was it a 20K or a 30k think it might have been a

30k no it was it was 20 but it was a long 20 that’s right uh it was a long 20 which which is why the times were at around the 53 minute Mark in other words it wasn’t 20 it was closer to 21 a222 yeah I think it’s much better to

Get a good course uh a well-designed course rather than agonize over the exact meterage there are no records in terms of time on these tracks simply because the conditions determine uh ultimately determine what speed the athletes are going to go at as we watch Anton gr uh

He is struggling as well well milp back is going from strength to strength here no one at 6.6 has got within 38 seconds of him and Anton gr who must have started today thinking that a medal was possible uh is going to be a decent distance behind so milback lead stiger

Of Switzerland is being taken to a really really good result he’s in second place at 6.6 with nap in three Nord hogen the winner of the 20 in four Hagen the winner of the Sprint in five and Anton Gran uh who was the silver medalist in the Sprint down in six uh so

It’s Sweden leading we’ve actually got three swedes in the top seven further back uh let’s go to the first lap and see if there are any late starters well Mona Melby certainly a man worth watching he’s at 18 seconds behind having started number 25 and he’s the

Best of those starting in group two uh to buas ganner of Austria not going badly 14th position at 3.3 and uh let’s now pick up on one of the German is this moose I think it may be moose starting 26 no Germans in the top 30 am I right

In saying that I can hardly believe it yesterday I’m not quite right not quite right but not far off uh we had stalman 26 Dirks 27 and then we had uh marus cner at 42 so I think the Germans will be a little bit concerned especially when they’re uh

Cross country SCH being going pretty well Nicholas Steiger is he going to get himself a medal having started number one he gone double pole crazy at the moment Nord hogen just finding the central feudal forces just a little bit too strong he looks to have uh picked up the

Pace but I don’t think the 19-year-old is going to be able to match our race leader milbach who’s gone through 8.45 he has got uh he’s got just under a kilom and a half to go he’ll be closer to the kilometer I think than the kilometer and a half and his time still

Very very impressive he’s got a 50c gap 17 uh with a Lap still to go is dofi of France and that’s handy for Jurgen nordhagen in red wearing three nordhagen with someone to chase this is when his technique comes through he’s gaining good ground on dofi just by uh smooth

Smooth skiing on that upill section this is ISF now he was in bronze medal position going through 7.3 and if he can turn it on a bit he uh he’s only two or three seconds down on his teammate stiger who started number one yeah difficult for stiger to be able

To judge the pace of this one he’s not getting the information that those starting just a little bit later will be getting oh you have to sympathize for the organizers uh the weather forecast which we’ve obviously been keeping a fairly close eye on all uh all week has

Been pretty miserable uh yesterday we saw some nice blue skies but the forecast for Friday Saturday Sunday was rain temperatures between 4 and 8° above zero so it’s an absolute disaster as far as the track can go and guess what they have beautiful conditions coming next week sunshine Monday through to Sunday

Uh and the temperatures at night are going to drop down A- 7 minus 8 uh it’s just bad luck but uh here comes milbach and this could be the performance of the day it’s not often that number two wins a race but it may well be the case today

235 and I think he knows he’s done enough that more than makes up for his disappointing six in the 20K they’ve uh they put a lot of pressure on this young man he’s only 17 so he’s got another couple of years at this level of racing if he chooses to to

Do it in comes stiger Switzerland looking for yet another medal it’s been a brilliant championships for them three so far they’ve got a gold and two bronze and although stiger is a minute a minute down he is still in second spot at the 6.6 and no one else has gone through two

Laps uh being able to challenge him but his margin is three seconds over his teammate Nave and he’s got a lead of something like eight or nine seconds over naren who’ll be in pretty shortly well naren is going to have to go some last time we saw him he was at

54 he was still 4 seconds down so he’d made up half the margin uh he had to make up 8 and a half seconds what is it going to be the minute Mark is what he’s after and it could well be worth a medal Nord hogen down in sixth place at

The moment going through 5.15 uh so at the halfway marker he is a long way off but here he is coming into the Finish 1 minute is his Target time to go ahead of stiger I think he’s going to do it by fractions oh what a fantastic finish from Nord haen we saw

It in the 20K how strong he is and he’s got a fabulous racing mind on him 59.7 he gets a second inside so taking 10 seconds out of stiger over the last 2K that takes some doing so that reduces the Swiss athletes chance of medling but it’s not completely gone because uh at

The halfway stage stiger is still in the second medal spot 24 is radoo from Italy I think that’s how you pronounce it uh you’ll appreciate that many of these names we’ve not seen before uh and it’s not really until they get to the World Cup that uh we’re

Mentioning them week after week 26 that is Philip musire of Germany comes from L kers at five we’re waiting for lar Haan coming in six is isai nef now na I think has a chance of going into second spot uh going through uh eight

8.45 he was in uh he was in second spot and I think he’s going to hold on to that he will he will and nordin’s down a three and his teammate stiger is out of the medals already brilliant finish from isai nef well that’s fantastic so milback leads nef in two

Nord hogen in three looking to add a bronze to the gold he got two days ago stiger now missing out uh by a second on Fourth Place Hagen down in five so a good run of results from Hagen a win in the Sprint he’s sitting fifth at the

Moment I think top 10 is probably going to stand and isai nef who’s had a fourth at a fifth he has suddenly got himself into second place if there’s one athlete out here who deserves a medal it is him uh and you can see that smile it’s it’s a

Nervous one he won’t start celebrating quite yet because he will know uh that there are a couple of athletes who started after him that are get a threat Anton gr started eight is he going to get any closer last time we saw granny was at 118 I don’t

Think he’s going to be making up that sort of margin um no I can’t see anyone at the moment Philip scar is not having a bad run for Norway he was at 121 this is M’s Melby now this is important because Melby started late uh he’s going through 6.6

Last time we saw Melby he was in third and so uh his Target is yurgen nordhagen he might keep nordhagen off the podium Melby still in third at 6.6 will’ll pick him up again at 7.3 uh and of the latest start he’s doing the best not a bad run from L of

France who is in 13th position early on he started number 33 he’s yet to go complete his second Loop Elias Danielson 135 down and uh I’m not sure he’s going to improve too much on his 17th Place in the 20K TZ who was equal fastest over

The first 800 M uh pays a big price a 2 minute 43 second price for going too fast early on but always give someone credit for trying always give someone credit for digging deep unless you try it you don’t know Anon GR hasn’t done much racing

This year did uh look really good in the uh selection races for these championships but uh hasn’t really done so much since the late summer do bit of roller skiing Thomas amilio Vagner of Germany bushek the best German two days ago and uh he’s at 207 that’s quite a big margin so no

Change in the top three here in planets milp back of Sweden the upand cominging star um yeah I was I was slightly underwhelmed by his 20K performance but I must say today he’s been outstanding uh and 10 seconds quicker than uh virtually everyone over the opening uh opening kilometer and a half

And milbach has just kept it going he’s got a lead of 52 seconds so uh junior level extraordinary 2 minutes 11 the margin between 1 and 2 in the 20K and at the moment we’ve got a 52 second margin between 1 and two in the

10K scari the son of bent scari who I mentioned yesterday and that’s not a bad run not a bad run he’s had a good sequence of results fourth in the 20 eighth uh scar was in the a Sprint event on day one and currently lying in fifth

Place and I think I think scari is almost guaranteed a top 10 we’ll have to wait but uh I don’t think there are that many athletes out there that are going to push him down all the Norwegians finishing strongly but it’s milbach who leads and no one is going to touch his

Time like to see some slowmo milb because I do not remember a time when I saw the CBO Klo it’s got its way to junior level Gabrielle malti looking pretty good never easy to move the uh move the skis at that Cadence without crossing over the

Tips first saw it who can remember when we first saw it was it 2017 in uh in ly at the World Championships when Johannes hord CBO absolutely stunned the world with uh his sprinting speed particularly in the team Sprint event yeah still feel sorry I think it

Was ion he was uh ion of no who he was teamed up with um who would lose three or four places and clo would gain them back on each round you remember in the Sprint they all go around three times in the team Sprint event no team Sprint here we’ve got a um

Tomorrow is all about the 10K again for the under 23s uh so they’ll be doing the same time trial and then on Sunday the last day of these championships there is a mixed relay uh and I had a look at all the results yesterday it’s a difficult

One to call uh you know the Norwegians in terms of medals are quite a long way ahead so we’re going to we’ll put them as favorites but I think Sweden Can field an incredibly strong men and of course Sweden getting a win in the Junior event earlier on today um so they are

There and Dora do not have a big enough team to challenge it’s such a shame uh with the success they’ve had uh but uh France have a chance Italy I think have a chance I don’t think Germany do I don’t think Germany do Switzerland they’ve got a good chance they’ve got

Had some really good performances in uh both men and women’s and at the moment they’ve got second and fourth here in this junior men’s 10 km Alder goes into 10 just ahead of GI who started early number four well let’s go back and uh some of

The big names have gone through 6.6 now uh milbach still leading there stiger who started one in second place and Melby uh is in third so there’s no doubt there is absolutely no doubt that stiger fed off milback when when he came through maybe mulbach uh actually so we’ll do do a bit

More research on his name loads to find out about these youngsters as they come through I think there’s more press coverage about mback than most to be honest Nord haran got his 20 seconds of Fame on Norwegian TV uh two days ago after winning the 20K and uh certainly a

Lot of commentator is concerned that he’s going to abandon cross country skiing and go straight into cycling 44 is Samuel P 107 starters in all so we got a long long way to go uh just try and give you an idea of where we stand has everyone started yet not quite we’ still got quite a few to go off the start line Canada’s uh p spee 25 now mby into the Finish he’s

Been making a big impression on the way round and nordhagen at 59 is going down he’s gone he’s achieved it he was in third halfway he was still in three after two of the three laps completed and Melby has pushed himself up into the bronze medal position he may not have

Been happy that he was starting some 10 15 minutes later than his teammates but he has taken full advantage of the time splits that he’s had on the way round he started fast uh he was he was what two seconds down at 700 M so not quite as

Rapid as milbach over the out of the start but then by the time he went through 3.3 he was up into the medal position and he’s H kept that solid all the way through uh naif went ahead of him between 6.6 and 7.3 uh he would have certainly got the

Splits on that and actually by 8. 4 five Melby was backed down into fourth position but Styer is the one who’s tired over the closing stages and stiger dropping down now into fifth place a mback of Sweden leads knife of Switzerland is in second place Melby of

Norway in third ahead of his teammate Nord haen who misses out on his second medal and Nicholas stiger of Switzerland in five Philip scari of Norway in six and gr of Sweden in seven just three nations separate uh represented in the top nine positions at the moment and

Even going back we’ve got Italy with Gabriel malti who started 15 he’s lost a little bit of time in the closing stages he’s the he’s uh the next best down in 10th position at the moment so Sweden Switzerland and Norway the three teams looking really good

And I guess add Italy to that lot and we’ve got a very very exciting mixed relay on Sunday through the 5.2 for Pavic 35 Nicholas Schmidt you’ll recognize the German ski suit comes from Maya hoffen which is better known for its um Alpine skiing not sure what the conditions like there this year I think the whole of Europe having a an up and down season massive snowfalls and then

Uh and then three or four days of warm weather and Rain which is just uh destroying the snow base Trey Jones for the USA now we haven’t seen much of the Americans so far today Finn Redmond of Canada at the back of that little group we’ve just seen this is Matty

Carof from Bulgaria powerful looking uh style akin to what we used to see from the Russians a little bit more forward lean in the upper body quite a few of the athletes reduced to double polling some will have decided that that was the way to go today uh still not sure where the

Mback had any grip wax on uh we didn’t see a lot of him on this on his way round to be honest he started so early and in the time trial you nearly always focus on the start so we see everyone out of the start gate which is

Absolutely right but um by the time the the top seeds the first group were underway MB back was almost coming into the Finish um that’s the way it is with the time Tri now that is not bad from run out of Denmark um that’s a pretty good Pace that he’s set that’s at

Uh 700 met the d uh only 14 seconds down now a big number we need to look out for is number 50 ilmas he’s um making a bit of an impression out there from Turkey he’s gone through 5K so he’s kept his Pace going for half the

Distance so far uh he’s gone through 5K and he’s only a minute down off the race leader that is very very impressive uh and uh yeah top 15 position at the moment Let’s uh that’ be great if he could maintain that where Campbell for USA at 150 going through 3.3 uh yeah a

Chasm in class between the early starters and those we’re going to get at the back I think we’ll have a massive range um I’d be surprised even over just a 10 km distance i’ be surprised if the difference between the fastest and the slowest today was not over the 10-minute

Mark yeah therapeutic sound of falling raindrops cameraman’s Nightmare and the crew here have done an amazing job conditions yesterday just every cameraman was uh having to clean or change the lens so much humidity 75 for pitz from Slovenia nicely balanced on the ski very smooth action of

His yeah off come the glasses can’t see anything at the moment at least he can blink when the rain gets in his eyes and he’s looking quite comfortable at the Moment P for Canada Canada the host nation last year in the junior World Championships and uh put on a great show tracks obviously used for the Olympics back in 2010 seems like yesterday 201 10 14 years ago when Canada what was their motto own the podium and they pretty much did by the

End of it they were almost embarrassed they were having so much success of Estonia Len burger for France how is this looking I must say they look more fatigued after 10K than they did after 20 in the in the freestyle those lucky enough to be turning left

Are I think coming to the end of their run they are and this is Cormier another of the Canadians he too is two and a half minutes our drift we only have 14 athletes uh not even that 13 athletes within 2 minutes of the race leader uh

And the time gaps are getting bigger and bigger we’ve got a couple of uh DNS is Tobi of Denmark didn’t start frimmer of Iceland didn’t start either we’ve not heard why uh we had a couple of dns’s yesterday we had a couple of dnfs we had quite a few lapped athletes

So far 40 athletes across the finish line which would suggest that uh a couple more may have withdrawn and we don’t have news of that 75 still got a way to go for B petritz saw him up on the top part of the course was looking very good 3.3 one of three laps

Completed For too Silva from uh Brazil it’s h come all this way entered every race so far and really really enjoying his experience here in uh in Slovenia I’m not sure where they ski in Brazil Argentina of the South American countries the one with um certainly more Alpine Resorts than anyone else well he’s

Looking pretty good at the moment technically we have seen a lot worse than that so Sila going pretty well and uh I think he’ll be able to stay within 10 minutes of the leader we’ve got a 4 and 1/ half minute gap between number one and number 40 at the

Moment so maybe I’ll be wrong with my 10-minute prediction between the front and the back of the field but um we do have quite a few of the miner Nation starting late on still trying to keep an eye open to see if uh anyone is coming through from the back of the

Field um Nicholas Schmidt we talked about started 35 he finished his run already uh number 50 we were trying to pick up on because uh ilm of turkey uh skied the first section really really well and uh he should be in pretty soon I think as we watch uh pitan of Finland

Uh no fins in the top 10 the first of the things is mackan I think down in 23rd position at the moment SP from l 47 Bist another of the fins he started just 30 seconds down on his teammate lanu still looking out for the Turkish

Colors I think uh I think ilmas will be in red and still they start we’re getting towards the back end of the start list here yaka marinko from Slovenia so local man and uh an opportunity for him to make a little bit of a name for himself uh Planet

Incidentally not far from cror which I’m sure Alpine Ski amongst you will know right up in the Julian Alps it’s one of the most stunning venues that the uh Nordic circuits go to absolutely stunning and of course the venue for the World Championships last year the CBO

Show yeah not far from Italy not far from Austria it is very very well positioned indeed uh and the fresh snow that was on the ski jumping Hill at the start of the week uh wiped out with all the rain last night uh and I suspect there’ll be precious little left when it

Comes to Sunday afternoon s relief from the race organization if they manage to get everything underway pavl Brier incidentally they’re having issues over in Canmore which is where the uh World Cup is taking place this week uh they’ve got races this evening uh if you’re in Europe and they’ve had to change them

From a time trial to a mass start um I think they had to make the loops so short that uh it it made sense only to have a m start rather than have uh everyone out on the a time trial course together pic and still no sign of number

50 um I was hoping oh there he is he he has finished ilmas has finished of turkey and he’s sitting in 27th position that is pretty good um yeah and he’s the highest or the latest starter of all lows in the top 30 at the moment this is Wilm of the

USA is he going to go top 50 he does for now he does for now just ahead head of uh it’s hard not to say Tom Jones but it’s actually Trey Jones so no more medals for the Americans today they actually don’t have anyone in the top 10 uh Jake Lang is the

Best of them he’s in 20th position 220 off the leaders Lang started fairly early he’s the National Junior Champion over 10 km freestyle that was a mass start event so a very different kettle of fish the time trial classic uh and his freestyle his best there you see the

Order of the top 10 milbach has got this one 2305 no one’s getting anywhere near that and actually I would say that the medalists are safe Nath of Switzerland after a fourth and a fifth has got himself up in the second place uh Melby of Norway who started number 25 uh is in

Third at the moment and just pushing his teammate uh Nord hogen the winner from two days ago down into fourth place the Norwegians are sharing their medals around if it stays as it is at the moment that will be Norway on nine medals Switzerland with another silver

Coming their way will have a gold and a silver and two bronze that may just be good enough to put them into second place on their own in the medal table just ahead of Andor who have a gold a silver and a bronze and Sweden well that

Will put them actually into second place because they’ve got another gold milback is taking gold uh I’ll I will put my house on that no one’s going to touch his time absolutely brilliant from the youngster uh so that’s Sweden’s second go and they double up today after a poor

Start I’m sure the Press were giving them a hard time yesterday having really picked up nothing uh today they’ve gone and taken two two gold one in the women’s Junior 10 clay classic and they’re going to get gold in the men’s 10K classic as well number 100 is uh fan

Ruong 19 year old saw him in the Sprints uh I think he might well have been 107 out of 107 but he did better in the 20K finished in 93rd position uh he was one of those that was lack but uh he was one

Of the last to be taken out so good good effort from him marinko of Slovenia number 100 e 61 is lki of Poland and uh his teammate starting just behind him which is always good in an event like this when you know you’re going to be a

Lot lot slower than the winners just have a little race within a race Christenson from Iceland some great skiing in Iceland when the wind isn’t blowing too strong or the volcanos aren’t polluting the air they’ve got all sorts of volcanic activity going on there at the moment uh not sure how the

Tracks have been akarui one of the main centers for their Nordic skiing well worth a trip uh it’s really fun really fun not taking too seriously uh but obviously they get a lot of they get a lot of weather let’s just put it that way so you have to strike lucky

Yeah here the Blue Lagoon is shut their number one tourist attraction the lava fast approaching well what’s quite nice with this format is that most of those starting late on are roughly the same standard and uh if they are gaining on someone it’s only slowly and I think they’re all going to

Feel they’ve had a cracking good race at the end of the day even though the margin between themselves and the winner is uh going to be fairly colossal that just doesn’t matter I often think there are two types of people those who wanton a good race and those who are just interested in

Winning which are you War nagli now that is some seait for Croatia this Year he’s starting to look a little bit ragged I think getting very very tired Axel G daa Number 103 that is uh Joseph James Pang from Tye Bess of Lithuania he’s looking good looking really good very strong athlete indeed now these athletes heading towards the finish this is anoai burel

Of Spain 105 that’s toddo from Bulgaria looking strong as well 69 at the back end of this train that are moving okay Finn redbond of Canada and 107 mati Kar now this for the last starter he’s looking pretty composed but he has done less than most he’s already caught 104

So he’s taken two minutes out of baric of Lithuania who we got here this is it 65 cost of Rania I think it might be 65 or 68 yeah Brazilian color colors must be uh must be 68 sorry 66 oliviera EST of Argentina the battle of the South

Americans taking place here today Logan Duncan of Great Britain good effort uh bit of work to be done there on the uh on the technique stomping his way up the top of the biggest climb double polling is looking very healthy indeed um I think I think he pulled out of the uh 20K

Saw a good race yesterday by Joe Davis of uh Great Britain Canadian uh British passport holder finished in 18th Place in the under 232k and I imagine he’ll be in action again tomorrow I haven’t seen the start list for tomorrow’s race that will come out sometime this evening legerski across the line

643 wow it’s a big big margin isn’t it it only took milbach 726 to do the first lap now this is B Petrovic we’ve seen him a few times uh he’s he’s a local and therefore the camera’s focusing on him but I’m really impressed with his skiing

Uh he is closing in fast on samel mice of Belgium not easy to get the wax right I suspect I suspect with the uh progress in uh the the Noak skis that there will be quite a few teams certainly those that can afford them may well be racing without the uh

With Noak skis today and I’m still pretty sure that milbeck the leader went without any wax at all but uh we’ll wait until we see the slowo to see whether we spot him actually doing any diagonal gate or one step double pole and Old Bell of Spain across the

Line not bad at all not bad at all just missing out on a top 50 uh someway off the leading time 2303 is the leading time at the moment Redmond of Canada 424 59th position Bic of Lithuania struggling once that wax stops working everything all the load then goes onto

The arms saw Logan Duncan going through in that same picture 64 off from Ukraine 537 always nice to see the ukrainians racing hats off to them many of them have now been away from home for over two and a half years it’s been uh very very tough here is fan wearing 101

Now where are we going to see number 75 slot into the picture we’ve got uh 70 finishes just about 70 finishes across the line so far last time we saw him was in 50th position he’s he’s improved on that he’s put in a really good finish he’s gone up

In 48 uh obviously with people starting later there is a chance there is a chance he’ll drop down a couple of places but I don’t think he will just seeing if I can see any later starters than that um no I think he may well be safe 71 one

68th position for mice of Belgium he started to struggle on that last lap three laps here today for the TK and they do look in a worse uh worse State than they were after the uh 20K freestyle yeah I sometimes think they should all be miked up for the race so

We really get to understand just how hard they’re they’re working Belon another of the Icelandic athletes now he’s staying out of the tracks it often feels faster it tends to be a little bit less moisture if you stay out of the track um it’s a bit like running at night you think you’re going faster than you actually are yak marinko

Well he’s done well he’s taken uh three minutes out of number 94 and that’s going to be a little bit depressing for Lee of taipe when he comes through which he will do inevitably 95 is Stanic from Croatia 77 grazes of uh Lithuania I know how you feel Mr Lee that is a tough climb a really tough climb and then to have four athletes come past you just as it gets to the steepest bit I think I would have done the same just a little walk to

Recover samerson of Iceland 70 of the 107 across the line so we got another 20 minutes or so uh of these guys I hope those who started early well I assume they’ve uh showered and changed already because they do not want to be hanging around for the full hour in these

Conditions and Alvar mulack can start his celebrations he could have started almost as he crossed the line I think he knew uh he was absolutely destroying the field the margin today the winning margin uh sits at 52.4 seconds uh so he’s been 5 Seconds uh just a little over 5 Seconds quicker

On every single kilometer than anyone else and that is a big big margin in this game yes I know of Switzerland has to be happy his first medal uh he came here expecting medals uh probably more than one but he’s got one and the Swiss

Do they have a chance in the mixed relay well possibly they do they’ve got four medals between them yeah generally the mix relays raced over six kilm sometimes five um yeah I think it’s time to experiment I think it’s time to see what a 4X 3.5

Would look like how Dynamic it would it would be as soon as you make it too long they stay as a group uh once it becomes a genuine Sprint distance then you do see a fairly big margin yeah relay on a Sprint course over this Sprint course here over 12 uh just over

1200 met uh that would be that would be interesting certainly be over fairly quickly what was it two and a half minutes two and a half to three minutes for each round in the Sprint event winning time in the men’s 215 I think by HBO in the under 23 car

Category yeah he was very good yaka Marinko he’s got another 3.3 to go is he going to make it will it better as he’s got a lot of his friends and family here and there they are yeah he needs that all the way around he’s certainly up the tempo and up the power ratio but as soon as he

Exits the state he’s going to feel awful absolutely awful he’s got three kilom to go just over and then he’ll be back in the finish and uh he may be wondering why he ever took up cross country ski it’s a really really tough day for racing the tracks are soaking wet so

Much moisture in the track the skis are sticking and gripping where they should be gliding it’s a tough tough uh day out and of course they’re slipping where they should be sticking yeah everyone’s struggling a little bit on this uphill the strides are getting shorter and shorter the

Amount of work the arms have to do goes up and up which is okay on laps one and two but by the time you get to lap three you’re in all sorts of trouble it’s like lack of stability in the core from Bor nagit there from Croatia and

That again a sign of the fatigue well let’s have a look at some of the shots of Sweden’s number one today Alva mulbach he started early started number two just 30 seconds ahead of yugen uh Nord har who was the star of the show two days ago but milbach didn’t take long to

Catch stiger and he just got stronger and stronger and stronger now as a distance athlete he will do a mass of double polling and I think that is why this course suited him 16 was uh Jonathan Lindberg a bronze medalist from the Sprint he hasn’t made too much of a an impression

Today uh just having a look to see Lindberg uh he’s in 14th Place not bad 202 off the winning time uh Milby brilliant got himself into the uh bronze medal position well you never dismiss someone who’s Racing for Norway na of Switzerland uh has pushed their medal

Tally up one as well with a silver medal today 52.4 only three men managed to finish within a minute of this man the double polling monster Alva mulbach a name that you need to remember it’s going to be interesting does he stick with the distance races where he is outstanding

For his age but some of the coaches must be concerned that he’s racing too hard and for too long uh at 17 but his strength is undeniable and if he does decide to do the traditional races and race on the World Cup tour uh he’s going to make a massive name for

Himself and he’s going to have a a pretty good future I can just see the meetings in the Swedish ski Federation how do we keep him how do we keep him racing over these shorter distances well here’s the hairstyle of the day you got to love it from uh Diego Silva of

Brazil easily picked out on his way around the course today 759 not bad at all goes into 83rd position he did start 84 uh but I think he is considerably quicker than some of those behind Just looking to see we just about had uh 100 athletes through the 6.6 so we um I’m not sure we’re going to see too many more through that stage maybe three or four still out on the course but there’s always a chance that they’ve finished uh Logan Duncan just finishing number

88 and he has gone into 74th position 5 minutes 50 uh down on the best uh that is a huge margin and the the tougher the conditions the bigger the margin will always be yeah a day for the double poers but you do need to be incredibly strong

Because this is not an easy course world championship course from last year uh and we’ve seen many athletes try it and fail uh I think only on certain days does it really work and it’s days when the waxing is NY on Impossible still got another 32 or so to finish

And yako minko is on his way 97 EML Christensen from Denmark the Danes generally base themselves in Norway uh to get the training in Denmark as you all know very very flat they just they occasionally get uh snow and I know a few of the Danish team who use the local

Golf courses when that happens but a couple of days a year so if they’re serious about this they have to move into Norway a lot of them work there and train at the same time uh it’s a different ball game to the the big teams who are fulltime athletes as you would

Expect yeah perhaps you have different races St match of Croatia he’s at 9 29 behind and I don’t know whether it’s the ski suit that’s making my eyes Go funny or the technique but he is one tired man and that’s how you should be as you

Come towards the end of the race there shouldn’t be much left out there 95 stanic he’s 30 seconds out of uh chihan lee these two could have a good race to the line well if you’ve just joined us let’s uh just recap on the top top positions

Today there’s no one else out on the course who is going to threaten the top 25 uh and that would be an outstanding I don’t think there’s anyone out there who’s going to threaten the top 50 to be honest uh milbach is safe he’s the gold medalist today 25

2305 uh he has double pulled his way around this classic course and destroyed everyone else is of Switzerland delighted to see him get on the podium he certainly deserves it after being so so close in both the Sprint and the 20K he’s in second Melby of Norway uh

Started 25 he was the last of the big names to start and uh he took full advantage of that he fed off the splits and he knew he had a second in hand over his teammate Nord Haan and he managed to push Nord hogen off the podium stiger in

The end of Switzerland pushed down a five Philip scar made it three Norwegians in the top six and Sweden with Anton GR in seven uh we’ve got um L Hagen the Sprint winner down in eighth position 124 behind and uh Hagen at halfway was down in fifth position so

He faded a little bit but then again you’d expect a good Sprinter to fade at the back end of a 10k race although there are athletes who can do both uh and extraordinary how uh you know P nug he won the Sprint in Fallen at the

Worlds and he won the 50k uh clbo last year here in planit he won the Sprint and he was second in the 50k missing out by fractions of a second as we watch marinko into the Finish he’s had a good last lap uh we saw him go through the

Stadium at 6 uh 6 6,600 and he’s hung on in there he’s got the margin down to 606 that’s not bad at all and uh he’s the best place for finisher for a while so well done to him having started number 100 uh yaka marinko we’re just having a look to see

If everyone has gone through the uh 8.5 kilm stage we’ve got 99 through there uh we did as I mentioned have quite a few non-starters no one gets lapped in a in a time trial event so no one being pulled out of the race unless they want to

Stop yeah I think they’re all through so uh we’ve only got a few tail Enders to come in here in um plen AR purus from Lithuania this is paying of Tai just trying to compare the speeds to a park run um yeah 2305 so milback uh twice as quick as

Your average park run speed um what’s a good 10K time must be around world best must be what 27 28 minutes so it’s good minutes quicker than that generally in the freestyle races they’re they’re clocking speeds of around 28k an hour in the classic it tends to be a

Couple of kilometers an hour slower and uh that’s you know largely due to the fact that you got grip racks on the bottom of your skis which slow you down every time you’re standing either on one ski or going downhill uh so that makes a massive difference coar well that’s good that’s

Really good from uh Kar the last man to start from the Czech Republic uh he’s far from the last man to finish and he’s taken a good six or seven minutes out of Lee of Tai slowest time so far at 3202 uh for 10K that’s still it’s still

Pretty respectable it wouldn’t do too badly at the British championships I can promise you that so milbach um still unofficial but there won’t be any changes in this first sheet uh Norway Sweden uh noticeable by their presence the Swiss with two in the top five it’s been a really really good

Week for Switz and is this the Dario Colonia effect I think it may well be they got so many more Juniors coming into the sport and it’s also the fact that we’ve had so many more World Cups in Switzerland over recent years GS hosting one this year

Lenah Haider hosting a bathan World Cup this year for the first time uh and and of course lenah Hyer the host nation for the bathan World Championships next year so uh Switzerland is putting itself on the map and already they are reaping the reward Awards so we’ve known the winner for

Some what an hour almost um yeah never never the most exciting format when you put your the strongest skars first um but that’s the way it is at these Junior World Championships and uh mpac has taken full advantage of slightly cleaner tracks obviously no one out

There he started number two he got a a clean run on his first run it wasn’t long before he went past Nicholas stiger uh but I give stiger credit he’s not away with a medal but he did hang on in there uh further down the order Romania

With ctio in 75 mice of Belgium 76 just ahead of Duncan of Great Britain at 550 the margin well I think we’re just about done and uh certainly the first 100 are in uh two dns’s so maybe five athletes still out on the track I don’t think they’ll do

Any interviews until everyone has crossed the line there’s one lone skier R Hong fan he’s going to end up about 11 maybe 12 minutes behind which is about a lap and a half for Alva mulbach well he certainly fulfilled his promise today hasn’t he uh there was all you know massive amount of

Interest in him in in Sweden obviously they are waiting for their next big Champion they’ve got so close in the past but it does seem a long long time ago that gundas span and Thomas vburg uh were dominating World skiing have to go back to the 80s when they were the

Number one nation and uh slightly frustrating for them that their neighbors have been the number one for many many years now it’s to do with culture it’s to do with money so well done the fan here’s here’s our winner let’s see what he has to say

Third today how did you feel during a race pretty well and pretty fast so third place is a good uh placement very nice are you happy about how the skis were today yeah I like this weather okay only the toughest survived so it’s good yeah

So that was mons Melby he’s got he’s got the bronze medal but he’s been hanging around for a long long time so you can understand the lack of enthusiasm I think he wants to get back get some rest get himself uh into shape for the Mixed relays on Sunday because I think with

That performance today he may well be in the team uh Nord haen also will have certainly be taking one of the freestyle leg um but Melby absolutely right uh a positive attitude towards the conditions only the tough survive when it gets tough we’ve seen it and heard it many many times

Before and actually we’ve seen it a few times this week Nord hargen himself he said these conditions are perfect for me while everyone else was moaning and grumbling uh that they weren’t good enough for a junior World Championships but there’s nothing you can do about the

Weather uh and you can’t make snow that can survive at 6° it’s just not possible uh so you might as well accept it and understand that the conditions are going to make some of the strong athletes perform badly and that is uh that is your opportunity to shine so well done

To Melby he’s got the bronze medal finished behind isai naif uh what was the margin 4 seconds 4 seconds in the end uh Melby actually had an advantage of only3 seconds but going through the halfway the Swiss and the Norwegian athletes uh pretty much tied uh for the for the uh second

Position mback had already pulled a long way clear by that stage Alvar congratulations first title today how did you feel during the race thank you uh it already before the start it felt amazing uh my weather and uh pretty tough conditions uh and the the whole race felt amazing so uh I’m so

Glad to uh to do this y Uh H the B there’s your Champion ala mulbach who has got himself the gold medal and almost exactly the same words as Melby uh tough conditions my conditions I felt fantastic well he looked pretty good didn’t he uh and by 700 met he had the

Lead by two 2 km he was already 10 seconds clear on