Finlandiahiihto 27.-28.2.2010

Härkönen wins his first Finlandia-hiihto

28.02.2010 14:45

Teemu Härkönen took part into the Finlandia-hiihto for the first time on Sunday, and started his Finlandia-career with a victory. At 50km free technique race Härkönen had a time of 2.07.12, which gave him a clear victory ahead of Viacheslav Zuev from Russia who lost by 2.55 minutes.

“First time here and a victory, feels great. There was a group of us until 25 kilometer, and we worked well together. After that in long uphill I took the lead, put some more speed, and eventually there was a gap to the others. Then I just kept going until the end. I have to admit though that the last 10 km was a struggle and it was not easy win at all, but I made it”, Härkönen smiled.
The best woman in 50 km free was Alesia Gusenkova from Russia.

Varis wins Finlandia-hiihto for the sixth time

27.02.2010 13:30

Kari Varis took his sixth victory at Finlandia-hiihto on Saturday, when he finished the 50 km classic race 32 seconds ahead of Thomas Ramstedt. Last year’s winner Niklas Colliander came third. Varis and Ramstedt raced together until 45 kilometres, but then Ramstedt had to settle for second place. Varis was particulary happy about his victory after finishing only fifth last year.
“It is always challenging to win this classical event. I was a bit surprised how easily I actually got a gap to Thomas, I had some power left. I will not race the free technique event tomorrow, instead I will focus on next weekend’s World Cup here in Lahti, which is very important to me. I will compete in pursuit, and aim at scoring World Cup points. I think it is realistic, if equipment work well and competitors from Vancouver are a bit tired”, Varis says.

The women’s event was won by Liisa Anttila, who competed in Finlandia for the second time. Anttila had pain in her right arm due to an accident occurred in ski-orienteering event during the previous weeks.
“I feel I have around 30 percent of the power left in my right arm. It is not so much fun to ski like this, but I couldn’t stay away either. Actually it was pretty good we didn’t go that fast until the last two kilometers”, says Anttila.
Heli Peltonen finished second, eight seconds behind the winner.
On Sunday there will be 50 kilometre free technique race as main event on the Finlandia-hiihto’s program.

Varis and Colliander well prepared for their season’s highlight

26.02.2010 13:22

There are already 3490 registered skiers for Saturday’s 50 km classical event at Finlandia-hiihto. Among them there will be Kari Varis, winner at 2007 & 2008 in both events and last year in free technique race, and Niklas Colliander, the defending champion in 50 km classical event.
“I can’t wait to get to race again! I have had the feeling the past two weeks and I am looking forward to the race as one of my season’s definite highlight. It is an important event for me for sure. I assume the fight about top places will be during the last 10 kilometre”, says Varis.
Colliander, known as sprinter also at World Cup level, is naturally looking forward to the last kilometres too:
“That final spurt is my strength”, says Colliander.
Total number of registrated skiers was on the early Friday afternoon 5679. There are 750 skiers representing other than Finland, including 254 Russians, who traditionally tend to have a strong group in the 50 km races.

More than 5600 skiers already set for Finlandia-hiihto

19.02.2010 11:29

Already 5600 cross-country skiers have left their entries for Finlandia-hiihto 2010, taking place February 27-28 in Lahti/Hollola. The number of participants is significantly more than in the 2009’s edition, where there were total of 5183 skiers.

This year, there are 3481 skiers registered for 50 km in classic technique on February 27. The free technique event over the same distance is in plans for 1237 skiers. As a detail, there are total of 867 women who are already registered for Finlandia-hiihto 2010.

As usual, many ski friends from different countries will again travel to Lahti to get the Finlandia-hiihto experience. There are total of 742 registered skiers from 26 nations so far. Most of them come from Russia (247), following by Estonia (86), Italy (85), Norway (56), Germany (47) and Sweden (37).

The host nation’s big names for 50 km classic event are last year’s Finlandia-winners Niklas Colliander and Kari Varis. One interesting name competing in 32 kilometre classical race will be Minna Nieminen, who teamed up with Sanna Sten to win silver at Beijing Olympic Games in rowing.

Already 4500 skiers set to participate in the 37th Finlandia-Hiihto

02.02.2010 9:34

There is already 4500 enthuastic cross-country skiers from 25 nations set to participate in the 37th Finlandia-Hiihto, which will take place February 27-28th.

“We aim at having 6000 skiers finishing the Finlandia-Hiihto this year. The legendary Juha Mieto will again be one of the forerunners”, says Matti Haapoja, director of Finlandia-Hiihto.

The winter in Lahti area has been better than in 10 years. It was snowing in Lahti past weekend, which made the chief of course Jukka Lehtinen happy.

“Having that snow is good news for the Finlandia-Hiihto course. So far everything looks good. We will be grooming the trails during the next two weeks, and in two weeks we will start making snow for areas still needing more of it. There will always be some, like the Messilä station area”, says Lehtinen.

Finlandia-Hiihto is part of Vesijärvi project, which aims at recovering the lake. For every skier finishing the event, Finlandia-Hiihto will be giving 0,20 euro for the valuable project. And as Vesijärvi is an extremely important element for the organizing ski clubs from Lahti and Hollola, the project will also be featured at this year’s medal.