Despite the lack of face-to-face rivalry between Bolshunov and Klebo this season, fans continue to compare the best skiers of our time with each other. Like Klebo, who complained about health problems, our Alexander also lubricated the preseason.

But at the first competitions of this winter, failures in the preparatory process did not prevent either of them from winning race after race with apparent ease. However, a month later, an unexpected failure occurred.

Alexander, with a record lag for this season, lost the 30-kilometer race in Kirovo-Chepetsk. Although the winner could not take part in it at all.

Confident pace

The preparatory period for the new season for the best athlete of the country this year was accompanied by pleasant chores. The birth of a child predetermined the need to adjust the training process, so there could not be a full-fledged work with Wartko.

At the first starts of the season, the lack of training hours probably had an effect, since Alexander lost both the sprint and the freestyle “trimming”. Moreover, in the distance race, the advantage of Artem Maltsev, who became the winner, was a significant 34 seconds.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

True, the three-time Olympic champion himself looked calm and urged all fans not to take these defeats to heart. And it turned out that he was right. A few days later, at the second stage, all at the same Top of Choi, the main star of our skis won the 15-kilometer race with apparent ease with the “classic”. The winner of the previous race Maltsev Bolshunov “brought” more than a minute.

It’s no secret that Artem can hardly be called a generalist, so he focuses on skating. But in the next two freestyle races, Bolshunov confidently took gold: both in Khakassia and Chusovoy. Maltsev climbed to the third and fifth positions, but the gaps were decent.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Fruits of working with a new coach

Alexander confidently led both the overall standings and the distance race rating, so everything seemed to fall into place. The 25-year-old athlete began the fourth stage in Kirovo-Chepetsk with a long-awaited victory in the sprint, then took the gold in the classic “cutting” and, by all accounts, should have triumphantly finished the stage with a victory in the 30-kilometer freestyle race.

But exactly the opposite happened. Alexander started the first lap not bad, but Chervotkin and Maltsev were nearby, the gaps of which were measured by one and three seconds. And then, unexpectedly for everyone, Bolshunov began to lose to both Alexei and Artem, despite the fact that the leader of the team knew their results at the cutoffs. Strategically, his position was more convenient for an attack, but he could not cope with the pace of his compatriots.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Maltsev brought 12 seconds to Chervotkin and 55 seconds to Bolshunov at the finish line, although both started behind the winner. A catastrophic lag for Alexander – this season he has never lost so much. For Artem, this victory was the second after four stages. What is remarkable is the absence of his name in the starting list a few hours before the race. A formal oversight could cost Maltsev the victory, but the bureaucratic processes were overcome.

As well as the loads that Artem experienced in the off-season in a new training environment. Now we see the obvious progress that has been made since the start of work with the Borodavko group, and, hopefully, now Maltsev is ready to systematically take first places from Bolshunov in freestyle races.

Interesting coincidences

Such misfires for Bolshunov, strictly speaking, are rare. But it is noteworthy that last year for the entire World Cup and the Olympics, he allowed himself such a luxury only once. In Davos on December 12, in the free style cut-off, but at a distance twice as short (15 km), he lost more than a minute to Simen Kruger from Norway.

An interesting parallel: the main rival of our skier, Johannes Klebo, who also started this season brilliantly, unexpectedly lost last Sunday. Moreover, like Bolshunov, almost a minute (+52.5 seconds), and this happened in Davos, where Kruger again won.

Simen Kruger / Photo: © Federico Modica / NordicFocus / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Whatever one may say, it is impossible not to compare Klebo and Bolshunov even without face-to-face meetings. Both of them are forced to compete only with their compatriots. True, the Norwegian does this at the World Cup, and the Russian – within the framework of domestic competitions.