We’ve seen it time and time again this season. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo ran away with the winner in a cross-country world cup race. He is already the cross-country skier with the most victories in the men’s world cup in history. Now new research shows that Trønder is almost perfect for the way cross-country skiing has developed. That’s what Gemini writes. Because what does it take to finish first in a ski race with a joint start? During a Norwegian Cup race with a joint start at Gjøvik, the 57 runners were equipped with accurate sensors that saw how the race developed for each one of them. – What is the prototype of a good skier has changed in recent years, says researcher Trine Seeberg in Sintef to news. Require new properties Sintef researcher, Trine Seeberg, says that a lot of research has been done on cross-country skiing, but all the research up to now has been done in races with individual starts. Photo: Sintef Traditionally, cross-country skiing has been a sport where you started one by one – interval start – and mostly went alone through the course. Then it is important to have good endurance and good technique. – If you only manage to maintain a moderately high pace the whole way, you win – only the pace is higher than the others. But in a joint start, it is not like that, she says. And to make cross-country skiing a better TV sport, there have been more and more joint starts. During the Ski WC in Planica, which starts this weekend, all races, except one, have joint starts. – Many of the properties are the same. One must have good endurance, for example. But we also see that there are other properties, in addition, that are important in the joint start versus interval start, says Seeberg. The five most important things to win a joint start are: A good starting position The ability to avoid accidents and problems with the “accordion effect” Must tolerate large variations in intensity Ability to maintain good speed throughout the race, especially uphill Good sprinting characteristics The start and the “accordion effect” The investigations until the researchers show that those who start far back in the field at a joint start have little chance of winning. – They lose a lot just on the first plain. They lose maybe 17 seconds in the first 150 meters of the race. There is a lot in cross-country skiing, says Seeberg. In addition, they have to pass many people to get to the top and are thus more exposed to accidents. Those behind are also hit by what the researchers call the “accordion effect”. This is when the speed slows down for the first runners when they reach a hill. Those behind will then have to slow down even before the hill starts. – If you are at the back of a large field, you get a lot of starts and stops. Then they use a lot of effort to accelerate and stop all the time, she says. Far ahead, but not first The survey shows that it is stupid to be too far behind the field. But it is not ideal to lie at the very front, either. But being among the first ten is wise. – You have to be fast, but you also have to be tactically smart. If you lie on someone’s back, you save energy, says the researcher. Petter Northug was known for never contributing anything in particular to keeping the pace up in cross-country skiing. He was usually a bit behind in the field and saved his energy. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo often uses the same tactics. – It provides less air resistance. And if you go on the back of the ho in front, copy the movement pattern and put your skis down in the warm groove, then there will be less friction. Petter Northug was often criticized for not helping to go first in the field during the race. But the research shows that it was wise for Northug to save his strength until he had to use it. Photo: Holm, Morten / SCANPIX Pull and nibble During a joint start, the pace is also very variable. Some rounds go quickly, while other rounds go slower. And those who are a little behind the leaders have a great advantage of hanging on. – The speed is a bit jerky. Suddenly someone sped off to get rid of the others. They are typically those who are not so fast and do not have the good sprinting qualities. Then you have to be patient that it speeds up and recover when it becomes calmer again, says Seeberg. – Being able to recover quickly is what you should be good at as a skier. She believes that the very best practice walking at different paces on the training rides. – It is one thing to train for speed when you are rested, but it is another quality to be able to sprint when you are very tired, says the Sintef researcher. The sum of being good at all this, Seeberg believes, is the reason why Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Petter Northug were good. – They are fast, they are smart tactically and they don’t burn a single calorie except when they have to. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won three gold medals during the 2018 Olympics and became the youngest male Olympic champion in cross-country skiing. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix
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This is the perfect cross-country skier – news Trøndelag
