Madshus marathon racer Tore Bjoerseth Berdal (NOR) finished the 46-kilometer Koenig Ludwig Lauf in Bavaria in 1:59:43.00, and took second place less than a toe-length behind the winner.
The Koenig Ludwig Lauf 2015 became a royal drama when after 46 kilometers only a tenth of a second separated the winner from second place.
Petter Eliassen (NOR) snagged first place, clocking in at 1:59:42.9 while Berdal of Team United Bakeries finished in 1:59:43.00. In that perspective, the 1.6-second margin down to third place was huge.
At the starting line, the athletes were looking at 46km through the Ammergau Alps in perfect conditions. But shortly after the gun went off, it started to snow, which made it tough to ski in the front of the pack. Despite the conditions, several racers still made attempts to break away from the main group, but it all came down to a sprint and a photo finish.
Last weekend, Berdal was fifth in the Marcialonga, with Madshus marathon teammate Oeystein Pettersen in third place. This weekend Pettersen, who also races for Team United Bakeries, was 16th in the Koenig Ludwig Lauf, but took back the green sprint bib and is now leading the overall Ski Classics sprint competition by 20 points.
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Perfect conditions
With solid snowfall last weekend and a good week for the course crew the week before the race, the Koenig Ludwig Lauf was running the original racecourse this year. The 46km course treats racers to spectacular views of the old Bavarian castle Schloss Linderhof. Saturday also featured a 23-kilometer freestyle event.
The 46km course starts in Ettal and will go through the Ammergau Alps by passing the villages of Graswang and Linderhof castle on the way to the finish line in Oberammergau.
Ski Classics sprints are in Graswang after 9km and Steinbrucke after 33km.
Long and proud history
König Ludwig Lauf was run for the first time on March 17, 1968. The distances were 45km and 90km. After three years, in 1971, there were already 1,383 racers. Thanks to the foundation of the Alpetris the number of participants number increased to over 2,000 in 1974.
Only two years later, in 1976, the race was integrated in the Euroloppet and later became a part of the Worldloppet race schedule. König Ludwig Lauf has been a part of the Ski Classics since 2011.