Ski Classics race in long-distance skiing Jizerská Padesátka, February 12, 2023 in Bedřichov na Jabloneck. Pictured is Stadaas Kasper from Norway.
Bedřichov (Jablonecko) – Norwegian skier Kasper Stadaas surprisingly won the Jizera fifty. He decided to escape four kilometers before the finish line. The best Czech was the twentieth Jan Šrail. The women's race was dominated by the leading woman of the Ski Classics series, Magni Smedasová from Norway, who decorated her debut in the Jizera Mountains with a triumph. The best Czech Sandra Schützová took ninth place.
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Photogallery: Jizerská podesátka 2023
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The Swedish representative with Czech roots, Max Novak, who won the premium on Jizerka about halfway through the race, was often at the forefront of the numerous men's elite field. At that time, the best Czech racers Šrail and Fabián Štoček were also in the front group. Then there were several escapes on the wet snow, but in the end only the final one was successful.
In the final descent, Stadaas entered the finish line and built up to a thirteen-second lead. The group with the biggest favorites closed the gap, but could no longer catch up with the fugitive. The 28-year-old Norwegian thus won by 2.2 seconds ahead of three-time winner and defender of last year's triumph Andreas Nygaard. The Norwegian podium was completed by Amund Riege. The winner of all Ski Classics races this season, Emil Persson from Sweden, finished eleventh at the stadium in Bedřichov.
The top twenty was closed by Šrail, who lost more than two minutes to the winner. Štoček finished right behind him. Stanislav Řezáč, the three-time winner of the Jizera fifty, lost from the start and did not finish today's race.
In the women's field, Ida Dahlová from Sweden was the most active defender of victory in the first half of the race. Gradually, however, Smedasová took over the activity, and in the last ten kilometers, thanks to the cooperation with the Czech skier Václav Sedláček, she developed a significant lead. Two weeks after her triumph at the Marcialonza, she scored another great success.
22-year-old Swede Karolina Hedenströmová finished second behind her with a distance of one minute and 5.5 seconds, Silje Oyre Slindová from Norway lost another more than a minute. The Swedish favorite Dahlová was only fifth this time. The best finish in the Ski Classics was achieved by Schützová in ninth place, who lost more than seven minutes to the winner. Former two-time winner of this race, Kateřina Smutná, who has already ended her professional career, was fourteenth.
