In article , Gary Jacobson wrote:
I find it interesting that a WC skier like Anders can do well in such a wide
variety of events, like "short" pursuits and the 90km. Vasaloppet. Makes me
wonder if other WC skiers could just jump into FIS marathon cup races and
dominate them.

Well, quite many WC skiers have tried to just drop in at Vasaloppet and
failed miserably (to their standards of course). But, if WC guys put the
same focus on a marathon race as other races, they would probably come
out on top most of the time. One has to take into account that Anders
Aukland hade set Vasaloppet as the big goal of the season. I'm not sure
he would have won Marcialonga withouyt that focus (but, he would have
had a very good chance normally too). Per Elofsson did well in
Trans-Jurassienne when it was included in the WC (can't recall if he was
second or third, he was beaten by an unspeakable Spanish guy from
Germany).
Even if the course profile is relatively easy, it puts high demands on
your capacity for skiing in easy terrain - some skiers who do well in
Vasaloppet are strong and heavy, and therefore wouldn't stand a chance
against the same racers on a normal 15K race loop.

A guy who can do very well in both sprints and 50K races is Jörgen
Brink (but can also get horribly bonked on a 10K relay leg) - but he's a
bit too fragile to last entire seasons.

/Tomas

--
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