ÅLGÅRD (VG) Peter Northug (36) was grinning from ear to ear and deceived the competitors when he showed his level to a rally and took home one of two Blink Classics long-running awards.
– Maybe they just think “Here comes God, move, there’s no chance here.” It must be tough for them, but that’s it – the world hasn’t changed much in recent years, says Northough’s regular breeze for VG after taking home the sprint award after just over 40km of Thursday’s long-distance race in roller skates.
In other words, the former skate king, who last season ran a few long runs as an exerciser, made his mark on Algard’s just-over five-mile stake test.
The performance that stayed ten kilometers was particularly impressive.
Northog moved from a field made up of the best long-distance and national team runners, including Simin Hegstad Kreuger, Hans Christer Holland and Havard Solus Taugboul, to take home one of the sprint awards along the way.
– Then the five-mile muscles woke up. I’ve seen that the “kids” (the kids) are starting to slow down, so I can go in and pick them up, says Northough.
No one was able to follow and Northough crossed the line first.
– It’s madness. Northough gave up a long time ago. Now he’s driving and winning the last sprint here. What a man, NRK expert Torgeir Bjørn commented during the channel’s broadcast.
– Tan Bagas
One of those who saw Northog win the sprint award was specifically national team runner Krueger.
He brags about the 36-year-old and believes he could make a difference in some races in the future. As for Northog’s general comment, the rest of the field thought it was God who came walking on roller skates, Lane Runner disagreed.
– I didn’t think so. I thought it was Tan Bagas having a good speed there. And the weight descended with him. Then it came like a cannonball, says Krueger and smiles brilliantly.
Novak wins ahead of Musgrave
But there was no more Northough after that. After a series of maneuvers forward in the way of television to show himself at the front and then the Grand Prix, the 36-year-old was upset. The speed also increased dramatically in the last mile.
It ended in a sprint race between Britain’s Andrew Musgrave, Amund Rieg and Max Novak, with the latter eventually beating Musgrave.
Riege messed up wildly during the run and lost the last place on the podium to Magnus Vesterheim.
On the other hand, Northog dropped to 48th place, less than three minutes behind the Swedish winner.
Northug, on the other hand, continues his search for new achievements during Blinkfestivalen.
And on Friday, he will stop at the starting line during a 15-kilometer joint staging in central Sandnes.
After the fall, the 36-year-old will take part in several snowboarding races in Sweden as well, in order to get fit for the winter.
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