The Tour de Ski has long been one of the main events for sports fans during the New Year holidays. In the 2016/17 season, Sergei Ustyugov gave the Russians a lot of positive emotions, and before the famous stage race he was considered one of the favorites. Although the excitement before the first race was certainly present, because our skier’s opponents were incredibly strong guys who clearly did not want to give him the victory.

However, Sergei did something phenomenal, which is now shown as an example of ideal work on the ski track.

Podiums are good, but what about first place?

A year earlier, Ustyugov was already aiming for high positions in the Tour de Ski. The attempt was ultimately very successful, the Russian became third in the overall standings of the stage race, losing only to two Norwegians – Martin Jonsrud Sundby and Finn-Hagen Krogh. After 12 months, Sergei felt that he was in even better shape, so the experts carefully predicted that he would again at least fight for a place in the top 3 in total.

Ustyugov himself knew and understood that he was capable of even more, but due to sports superstitions, of course, he did not talk about it. The Tour de Ski traditionally began with a sprint in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. At the last competition, Sergei came second in this discipline on the Tour, losing to the brilliant Italian and part-time good friend Federico Pellegrino.

He was also considered the Russian’s main rival this time. Ustyugov won the qualification, and Pellegrino was third – absolutely normal situations. If the opposite happened, no one would be surprised either, because at this stage the main thing is to confidently get into the main round, and not waste extra energy. Although Sergei had, apparently, more than enough. And psychologically, he probably wanted to wear a bib with a one on his chest.

Sergey Ustyugov / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Domination and brilliant victory

In the sprint, perhaps, one could name two more people who could ruin life. Of course, the favorites were the Norwegians Krogh and Sundby, and the Frenchman Luc Chavant also looked great. Actually, they all eventually reached the finals along with Canadian Alex Harvey. Moreover, Pellegrino was so strong in his semi-final that it became alarming for Ustyugov. The Italian’s form instilled fear in the Russian’s fans, but obviously not in him.

The way Sergei conducted that final can, without exaggeration, be considered a teaching aid. And this is not a cliche. From the starting meters he took the lead, pushing Krogh to second position, but the Norwegian then acted quite aggressively and was able to become first again. About a third of the distance, Finn-Hagen and Sergei ran side by side, until the Russian jumped ahead at the turn along the inner radius. And then began something that will go down in history.

Ustyugov waited for the nearest rise and rushed into it so that no one could even come close to supporting him. And then Pellegrino stumbled a little in the fight with Krog, depriving himself of even minimal chances of catching up with the Russian. Sergei continued to play around and increase his advantage over his opponents. Long before the finish it became clear that the first place that day was leaving for Russia.

It was a real destruction, in which Ustyugov acted as the true dominator. Pellegrino eventually finished second after two seconds – a colossal gap for the final of a sprint of this level, which shows how cool Sergei did everything. Krogh and Sundby remained third and fourth. In addition to the prize money and leadership, the Russian received the most important psychological boost, after which he remained fully involved in the fight for victory at the Tour de Ski.