Federico Pellegrino, 10th place finish with cramps

Federico Pellegrino tenth

It was a one-two for Norway in the men’s 50km, the final event of the World Cross-Country Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia. Paal Golberg secured success with a time of 2h01’30″2, mocking favorite teammate Johannes Klaebo by just 1″ at the end of a vibrant and emotionally charged race. He was followed by two Swedes, bronze medalist William Poromaa by 1″2 and Carl Halfvarsson, only 4 hundredths away from the medal.

Francesco De Fabiani and Federico Pellegrino tried hard, leaving the competition with some bitterness in their mouths. In particular, De Fabiani had a really good race, leading until the last lap, when he ran into a fall that caused a broken pole, then logically losing ground to the top of the class when there was little left to the final finish line. The Valdostan born in 1993, finished 11th, overtaken in the final by an excellent Federico Pellegrino (10th), who really gave it his all, running a very intelligent race before gradually pulling away at the end of the penultimate lap. Dietmar Noeckler finished in 20th, more detached Giandomenico Salvadori, 37th.

Federico Pellegrino’s words at the finish: “The goal was to have a great experience and I received good answers. In the sixth lap I started to cramp, I had to forcibly control the pace. It closes a positive World Championships with the nice medal in the team sprint, the relay unfortunately was unlucky and also today De Fabiani was penalized by the breaking of the stick right at the crucial moment of the race.”