Posted 11. March 2005 by Editor

The men?s 50k classic in interval start in Holmenkollen, Oslo, on Saturday, is the ultra classic cross-country event, its first winner came in 1900.

After a long season with a world championships having ended in late February, there are always some unexpected results coming late in the season.

There may be snow on Saturday and temperatures around 0 C will make waxing challenging.

Andrus Veerpalu has won in Holmenkollen before and is one favourite, he was 4th in the worlds. Jaak Mae may also finally get a strong race.

Lukas Bauer and Anders Soedergren are 2 skiers that are strong but have not succeeded 100 percent this season (well, Buauer has won 2 world cup events).

The same goes for Mathias Fredriksson who has been close but not quite this season, he was 5th in the worlds.

Frode Estil peaked in the worlds (won the 50k) and has not races since, he may be a little uncertain.

Oddbjoern Hjelmeset has been sick and is uncertain.

Anders Aukland recovered from sickness most of the season to earn the silver on the 50k mass start in the worlds, he is likely not strong enough yet in the interval start to win.

The Russians have strong classic skiers and have a strong team.

Vittoz may still catch Teichman in the overall world cup standings and may be a top 5 contender.

Keep in mind that the 50k in the 2005 worlds was in snowy weather and with a mass start, the best skiers likely were in the top 10 but time differences would have been massively higher with interval start.