SKI CLASSICS. The organizers of La Diagonela were smiling as the participants of the event were able to bask under a perfect sunshine in the Engadin valley. The start of the race didn’t look as promising when the elite women and men took off in a snow flurry, and the sky was covered by dark clouds. The weather turned for the better very quickly, and the first “one-loop” Visma Ski Classics event was on its way.

La Diagonela, photo © Magnus Östh / Visma Ski Classics

The course was relatively flat but high altitude (1700-1800 meters above sea level) made it challenging for all skiers. After about 20 km of skiing, the course took skiers into a forest near Pontresina where they faced a long ascent to the highest point of race. The snow was quite dry and powdery in some parts of the track, which added to the strain for all skiers. The last 10 km was quite hilly and the final uphill to the beautiful town of Zuoz reminded many skiers of the famous Cascata climb in Marcialonga.

Once again, Petter Eliassen showed everyone that he is truly the king of long distance skiing. This was his second win in a row, and we’ll see how many victories he will be able to claim in the upcoming events. The second place went to another Norwegian Tord Asle Gjerdalen who was only about 8 seconds behind his countryman. The last podium place was claimed by Morten Eide Pedersen who was 48 seconds behind the winner.

On the women’s side, Britta Johansson Norgren was as strong as in Jizerska Padesatka leaving all her opponents far behind. She was 1.02 minutes faster than Katerina Smutna and 1.50 minutes ahead of Seraina Boner. The World-class skier Justyna Kowalczyk participated in the race as well, finishing in 9th place.  Women started 15 minutes before men and had to open the tracks for the big mass behind them.

Eliassen and Johansson-Norgren also holds the yellow champion bibs. In the green sprint competition, Andreas Nygaard is the undisputed ruler of speed skiing. He claimed both sprint victories and leads the game well ahead of others. In the youth category, Stian Hoelgaard holds the bib and he did very well in the overall results by finishing fifth. Emilia Lindstedt also continues to carry the pink bib after her 7th place today.

Next stop, the Visma Ski Classics event 5, will be the legendary Marcialonga in Italy on Sunday 31st  of January!

More info on www.vismaskiclassis.com

Press Release
Visma Ski Classics
Sat, January 23, 2016

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