Latvian cross-country skier Patricija Eidukas took 11th place in the 20-kilometer freestyle pursuit on Sunday at the third stage of the “Tour de Ski” in Toblah, while U.S. tour leader Jessie Diggins celebrated the victory.
Eidukas started 17th in the pursuit, one minute, 22 seconds behind Diggins, who demonstrated her superiority over the distance, finishing in 58 minutes, 18.87 seconds.
The second was German Viktoria Karla, who lost to Diggins by 46.5 seconds, but 1.7 seconds later in the fight for third place between two Swedes, Linna Swann prevailed over Joanna Sundling.
During the race Eiduka remained in the group halfway through the second ten, but in the last kilometers the Latvian improved her position, taking 11th place and finishing ahead of the rest of the pursuers. Latvian athlete Diginsai lost one minute and 56 seconds, but was 38 seconds behind Finn Kristas Pemekoski, who finished in tenth place.
In the distance, Eidukas achieved the 13th best result, rated with 20.52 International Ski Federation (FIS) rating points, the third best performance in the athlete’s career.
In the “Tour de Ski” ranking, position and gap are the same as in Sunday’s pursuit.
With 257 points Eiduka is in 26th place in the World Cup rankings. The leader with 943 points is Diggins, who is 115 points ahead of Sweden’s Emma Rybom, who finished ninth today.
On Friday, in the freestyle sprint, Eiduka achieved her highest career position in this discipline – 10th -, but on Saturday she finished 19th in the ten-kilometer classic in a separate start.
Subsequently, on 3 and 4 January in Davos the sprint freestyle and pursuit races will take place in the classic technique, while on 6 and 7 January in Valdifjemme the cross-country skiers will compete over distances with a common start of 15 kilometers in classic technique and ten kilometers in style free.
In the second half of January the stages of the World Cup will take place on the Oberhof track in Germany and in the Goms area in Switzerland, while in February the competition will take place in North America – in the city of Kenmore in Canada and on the Minneapolis track In the USA. The athletes will then return to Europe, completing stages in Lahti (Finland), Oslo and Drammen (Norway), as well as Fålun (Sweden) in March.
Eiduka’s previous season was the best for a World Cup athlete, where she won the U-23 competition. Last January, in the “Tour de Ski” competition series in Oberstdorf, she won fifth place in the 20-kilometer freestyle pursuit, which is the highest place in the history of Latvian skiing at the World Cup stage.
Patrīcija Eidukas, Latvian cross-country skier. Photo: Eddy Palen/LETA
2024-01-01 16:53:12
#Crosscountry #skier #Patricija #Eidukas #takes #11th #place #stage #Tour #Ski