Lager 157 Ski Team win the Pro Team Tempo

Ph. vismaskiclassics

Lager 157 Ski Team was the undisputed champion of the day while Team ParkettPartner had everyone gasping for air after the men’s race.

Pro Team Tempo in Pontresina, Switzerland, kicked off the Visma Ski Classics Season VIII with a splendor as the sun was shining and the conditions were perfect for a 12 km high tempo race. Men started first, skiing together as a team in an interval start format. The time was taken from the third best skier, forcing the Pro Teams to come up with the best possible tactic.

Team ParkettPartner started really strong and led the game until the best Pro Teams from last year finished the race. In the end, Lager 157 Ski Team’s men were the strongest and were able to give a 21 second time gap for their female skier Britta Johansson Norgren. Team Koteng, formally known as Team United Bakeries, had a good day on the tracks, and their male team played well together which secured them the second place before the women’s pursuit. Today’s dark horse Team ParkettPartner was third giving everyone a storm warning of things to come as the season progresses. Unfortunately, their female skier could not keep up with the pace and the team dropped down.

The women started their pursuit after the men’s race, and Britta Johansson Norgren did not give Astrid Øyre Slind a chance to catch up. On the contrary, she was able to gain some distance making this a perfect day for her team. Astrid tried her best to catch her opponent without succeeding but managed to get a great performance nevertheless. Behind these two ladies, there was an extremely tight fight for the last podium place. Team Santander, who had a pretty bad day in the men’s race, was able to take home the third place. Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes showed her excellent sprinting abilities and beat Katerina Smutna, SkiTeam Bauer, and Sara Lindborg, Team Serneke. Heli Heiskanen took her Trentino Robinson Trainer team to the sixth place in the final results.

“It was a great day for us,” Britta Johansson Norgren acknowledged at the finish. “Our guys did a wonderful job securing me a good lead and I just had to make sure that I paced myself in the beginning. I felt confident and this is a good start for all us. I believe this will be an exciting season, and I’m ready for it!”

Top 5 Pro Teams in the Pro Team Tempo:

# Pro Team Points
1 Lager 157 Ski Team 200
2 Team Koteng 170
3 Team Santander 140
4 Bauer Ski Team 120
5 Team Serneke. 100

The tour continues on Saturday, December 2, when Sgambeda takes place in Livigno, Italy.
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