Many Finnish cross-country skiers have called in this week’s World Cup in France with a red marker. It’s one of the last chances to show World Cup form – and many get the chance.
Finland is sending a large team to this week’s World Ski Cup in France. A total of nineteen names are on the list – eleven men and eight women.
It is also as big name as it gets.
The men’s team includes Iivo Niskanen and Perttu Hyvärinen. The two stood over last weekend’s FM competitions in Tampere.
After FM, the national team captain Teemu Pasanen spoke Howl that he fully trusts Niskanen when it comes to WC form.
– Together with his coach, Iivo knows best how to prepare for the WC. Iivo has shown that ability in the past and I am not worried at all, says Pasanen.
World Cup in France
Open
“The form has been there for a while”
Sunday’s sprint winner Ristomatti Hakola is selected for the first time this winter and Saturday’s distance winner Remi Lindholm makes his first start in the World Cup since mid-December. The same applies to Joni Mäki.
Hakola has been a question mark all season, but his performance in the FM sprint was convincing.
– If he doesn’t get a worse illness, he will go to the WC, says Yle’s expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen.
– His form has been there for a while. Now he gets to compete and show that form too, says Pasanen about Hakola.
Ristomatti Hakola.
Image: Lehtikuva
Ristomatti Hakola
On Saturday, a classic sprint is run in Les Rousses. The results in it will weigh quite heavily when the riders for the WC sprint in Planica are chosen.
According to Saarinen, Hakola, Mäki and Lauri Vuorinen should take three of the WC places in the sprint. The fourth place, however, is open.
Can Piippo secure a WC ticket?
On the women’s side, Eveliina Piippo is chasing a WC ticket in the distance team. Friday’s ten kilometers in freestyle is a golden opportunity for her to show WC form.
In the women’s sprint, Saarinen believes that Johanna Matintalo, Katri Lylynperä, Jasmin Kähärä and Jasmi Joensuu each deserve a place in the WC. Kähärä is participating in the U23 WC and is missing from Les Rousses.
The women’s team also includes the two biggest names Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski during this weekend’s World Cup. Niskanen chose training instead of FM, but is thus back in France.
