Madshus Marathon Team racer Stanislav Rezac (CZE) regained the overall lead in the 2012 FIS Ski Classics Cup when he won the König Ludwiglauf 50K classic race on Sunday. With Madshus Marathon teammate Jerry Ahrlin (SWE) in second place, and Susanne Nyström winning the womens race, the Bavarian event was a Madshus podium party.
The victory was particularly sweet to Rezac, who earned back the yellow jersey with his strong sprint finish.
“I am really happy for this victory,” Rezac said to FIS news after the race.
“It was a hard race and it was a tough finish, but I knew that I am strong enough to fight for the victory. Most of the time, the pace of the race was not too high – everybody was waiting for the last kilometers to push as hard as possible. I placed myself in front in time for the last hundreds of meters,” Rezac explained, noting that the margins were on his side this time.
“In the end, luck was on my side as my foot was in front of Jerry’s for only a couple of centimetres. To be the leader in the FIS Marathon Cup is for sure another good motivation to keep pushing hard in the next races!”
Madshus Marathon teammate Jerry Ahrlin (SWE) was also satisfied with his second place in the cold Bavarian mountains.
“I felt much better today than in the Marcialonga, even though I still have some problems with my back. I really need some treatment in the next days, but as I won’t go to La Transjurassienne, it should be fine for the Tartu Maraton,” Ahrlin said to FIS. Ahrlin is fond of the German race, and making the podium was special.
“I was two times fourth here and I really hoped to do better today, therefore I am really happy. Even though, only a couple of centimeters parted me from the victory, so I am also a little bit angry,” Ahrlin said. The cold certainly a fair share of challenges to the competition.
“The race was still quite hard – I had a double layer on the upper body, a Windstopper on my legs and some special stuff in my shoes to keep warm during the race. We were a large group and the speed was mostly not too high. Only in the last four kilometers everyone started to push really hard.”
In the womens race, nobody could stop Madshus Marathon skier Susanne Nyström (SWE), who fought her way to her second straight victory – she also won the Marcialonga in Italy on January 29.
“I came away quite well in the start and I pushed hard in the first uphill. We all three, Jenny, Seraina (Boner) and me, we were together and helped each other,” Nyström said, explaining that she knows where the critical sections on the course are.
“I knew that I had to take the steep uphill to the castle very slowly as if you ski it too fast, it can destroy your whole race. I didn’t want to risk that, so I let Seraina go and she quickly got a 30 second lead. But Jenny and me, we worked together and caught her quite soon. We naturally connect very well as we ski together all the time. But we came into the finish together with several men and it was pretty hard to get a clear line into the finish,” Nyström said.
The hardy Swede didn’t find the cold to be particularly annoying.
“For me, the cold was not a problem – I am used to these temperatures.”
The 2012 Ski Classics Cup continues with the Tarttu Marathon in Estonia on February 19. But the FIS Marathon Cup is back this weekend with the 62K skate race Transjurassienne in France on Sunday.