We previously reported that Raimo Vīgants, one of the leading Latvian skiers, took part in the famous final stage against the alpine skiing mountain for the first time in his career on Sunday and finished in the prestigious long-distance skiing series “Tour de Ski”, becoming the third Latvian after Induļis Bikše and Patricija Eidukas to do so.
“It turned out to be a better start than I expected in the classic style distances. I covered the 20km freestyle distance very well, it’s a pity that only a faster skier didn’t start behind me earlier, it was only the Frenchman Jouvs (started half a minute behind Vigant – author’s note), who “torn” a bit on the hill. I felt that I could go ahead of the Frenchman, but I realized that it is better not to risk it. Later, the Swede Angers (started one and a half minutes behind Vigant and in the end took 12th place – author’s note) drove up, and together with him we worked the remaining 5 km to the finish line,” recalls Raimo Vigant.
“Also in the skiathlon on Saturday, I managed to start very well, losing only four minutes on 20km. In the skiathlon, after the classical part, I did not lose much (one and a half minutes – author’s note), and in the skating part, I was able to move up a few places, which was generally quite good,” lists the positive things from Madonia.
“On the last stage towards the mountain, the skis let us down a little, which prevented us from fighting for better places in the top 50, because before the mountain, while driving on the plain, it was difficult to stay in the main group. And that’s precisely because of the skis. Because it could be called a mistake, that on Saturday evening we decided to stick with the skis I was riding with before, but on Sunday I realized that Sunday was warmer and not really suitable for those skis, but we couldn’t really do anything to change it at the moment,” says the Latvian skier from Madona who won the “Tour de ski” for the first time.
“The last stage up the hill was difficult, I won’t deny it, but if I had a little better skis, I could definitely finish a couple of positions higher. Before the start, it seemed that this mountain stage would be more difficult than now that I have done it,” admits Raimo and continues: “If I were offered to ride again, I would probably do it.”
“Overall, the tour was interesting. Maybe one more sprint stage in the skating rink was missing. We almost “fell” in the second sprint in the classic, where you could feel the fatigue in the legs, because there were many stages in the classic, and the legs made themselves felt. And you could also feel the general fatigue from the starts of several stages, but, for example, in the skiathlon, I rode better and was more lively than some who were in the forties in the overall standings,” says the only Latvian who made it to the end this year.
“In general, I would say that the tour has been successful with several high-value results, e.g. 44th place in the skiathlon, also 55th place obtained in the 20km freestyle distance, which is not high in itself, but it is pleasing to be less behind the leaders – 2:42, which is the lowest I’ve had in a World Cup. This alone shows what a high level the World Cup stages are at the moment,” says Wiegants.
“I also positively evaluate the performance of the rest of our boys – both Nika Saulīšanas, to whom I take my hat off, for going as far as he could, undeniably Lauris Kaparkalējs also fought well, showed himself from the best side. It was a pleasure to see three Latvians in the elite men’s competition “Tour de ski”, which was the first time in history,” emphasizes Raimo Vīgants, winner of the 2024 World Cup in roller skiing.