Heidi Weng (NOR) has become a standard fixture on the World Cup podium this season, but considers Saturday’s 10K skate in Davos her best race to date.
Weng’s third place was more than just a podium. It was a small victory for the girl who’s traditionally been stronger in the classic events.
“I tried during the whole summer to improve my skating technique,” Weng said after her race.
She had prepared carefully for the race, the last World Cup distance competition before Tour de Ski.
“My plan was to start out slower and speed up on the second lap. I was skiing safe in the downhills. I was focused on finishing on the podium.”
And she did.
“I think this was my best skate race ever,” she said after the race.
Now Weng heads home for Christmas as third overall in the distance World Cup, and fourth in the overall World Cup.
But Weng was not the only Madshus skier on the World Cup podium this weekend.
Cross-country skier Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR), who won the World Cup sprint in Davos last weekend, pulled off an impressive third place in the skate sprint on Sunday, despite reporting that she felt less than optimally rested for the race.
“This is my second podium in two weeks,” Oestberg said after her race on Sunday.
“Today was a good race, but I did not feel quite as good as last weekend. Stina (Nilsson) passed me on the last climb, but I am really, really happy about the third place,” she said.
Oestberg, who has performed well above expected for the early season, is now second overall in the sprint World Cup, and third in the overall World Cup.
Complete results from the FIS World Cup
At the biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka, Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) climbed to the top of the podium again in the men’s pursuit on Saturday after a killer effort both at the range and in the tracks. That followed his third place finish in the men’s sprint on Friday.
The 29-year-old didn’t miss a single target in either event.
“It was fun today. This is one of the easiest days at the range in my career. I just pulled the trigger over and over again, and the targets fell like flies,” Svendsen said to Norwegian TV station NRK after the pursuit on Saturday.
And on Sunday, Anais Bescond (FRA) secured yet another Madshus podium in the women’s mass start where she was second.