Milan Cortina: cross-country skiing, last 50 km for Pellegrino, Klaebo for history

Trento, 21 February. (LaPresse) – Today’s 50 km race, starting at 11 a.m. on the Olympic circuit at Lake Tesero, will be anything but “normal”. The cross-country skiing super classic, which closes the first Winter Games in Val di Fiemme for the men, will be the battleground for Norway’s Johannes Klaebo, who is one step away from legend. If he wins, he will be the first athlete to win six gold medals in as many competitions in a single Olympics. And then there is Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, with two bronze medals won in the team relay and team sprint, in his last Olympic effort. At 36 years of age, which he will reach during Milano Cortina 2026, the veteran from Valle d’Aosta will once again be a motivator for the promising Italian cross-country skiers: Elia Barp and Simone Daprà, grandson of Franco Nones, the first Italian to win gold in the 30 km event in Grenoble in 1968. The Azzurri’s goal is to stay close to the favourites, so surprises cannot be ruled out. Also in contention for the podium are France, relying on the emerging Mathis Desloges and the experience of Hugo Lapalus, and Finland with discipline specialist Iivo Niskanen. The American Gus Schumacher and the British Andrew Musgrave, both great long-distance skiers, should not be underestimated.