After several seasons of declining results, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar was dropped from the Norwegian national team in April. Now, he has established a private training plan and is gearing up for the World Championships season. And it seems that the 33-year-old is back on track. 

On Saturday, Skar finished in second place at the international summer ski festival, just one-tenth of a second behind the winner in a fiercely competitive 12-kilometer mass start, where the Norwegian outpaced World Cup stars like Richard Jouve, Lucas Chanavat, Hugo Lapalus, and Jules Chappaz, as well as the Chinese sprint star Qiang Wang and Britain’s James Clugnet.

Also Read: Rejected from the National Team, now he’s targeting the World Championships

Thriller to the Finish Line 

Heading into the final of the ten laps, Skar was one of six contenders vying for the win. On the home stretch, three of them had broken away from the rest of the pack, setting up a thrilling race to the finish line. It ended with a narrow victory for Michal Novak of the Czech Republic, one-tenth of a second ahead of Skar, while the Frenchman Mathis Desloges secured the final podium spot.

Top 3 Men, 12km Mass Start F 

1. Michal Novak, Czech Republic, 24:55.1 
2. Sindre Bjørnestad Skar, Norway, +0.1 
3. Mathis Desloges, France, +0.8 

Unusual Competition Format 

Saturday’s competition program included a total of four showcase races: two in cross-country skiing and two in biathlon with specially invited stars from both home and abroad. Both biathletes and cross-country skiers competed in mass starts, but the competition format was different from the standard FIS and IBU races. 

For the cross-country skiers, 20 invited athletes competed in both the women’s and men’s classes. The last skier on each lap was eliminated, and cash prizes were awarded to sprint winners on each lap. 

The women competed over a total of eight laps on the 1.2km course, while the men completed ten laps, covering 9.6km and 12km, respectively. 

For the biathletes, the event was set up as a mass start with four shooting stages, where nine specially invited athletes competed in both the women’s and men’s categories. 

The women raced a total of 8.5 kilometers, and the men raced 10.2 kilometers, covering five and six laps, respectively, on the 1.7km course. There were four shooting stages, two prone and two standing, with three extra shots and a 10-second time penalty for both women and men.

Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival

The prestigious summer ski festival, the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival, was established in 2019 and is held in Annecy, France. This year, the festival was held for the fifth time, after the 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Over 30,000 spectators are expected. The competitions are broadcast live on four TV channels, and around 1,000 participants are expected in various children’s and recreational events. The festival started on the afternoon of Friday, August 30th, and concluded on the evening of Sunday, September 1st. 

The French biathlon legend Martin Fourcade is the initiator and driving force behind this prestigious international summer ski festival. His vision is for the festival to become the most important and prestigious of its kind.

More information HERE

Are you interested in traditional cross-country skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.