Skrevet av: Morten Broks/ Trine Kvidal-Røvik
Dato: 13.03.2017 09:05
While the juniors receive honor and glory in Markedsgata at 11 a.m. today, there is an ongoing battle for the lead in both FL-500 and FL-1000. FL-500 is only a day away from Alta, while FL-1000 still has more than half the distance to go.
All juniors arrived at the finish Sunday, and the medal ceremony will be today at 11 a.m. in the city center. FL-500 and FL-1000 are still going on, and there is a lot of suspense associated with both classes. Let us take a closer look at both classes:
Wingren seems tough in FL-500
Ronny Wingren has kept the highest speed so far. Out of checkpoint Levajok, he has done 355 out of a total of 550 kilometers. He will go out with a lead of 46 minutes, ahead of Harald Tunheim. Harald is 15 minutes ahead of Vidar Uglebaken, who is in third place.
Ronny Wingren has maintained a speed of 14 km/h. He was photographed by our media team at checkpoint Levajok. (Photo: Ida-Helene Sivertsen)
Wingren is in a clear lead and has maintained an impressive average speed of 14 km/h. But he is in front on the trail, and with a lot of snow and heavy conditions, the gap can quickly decrease – and thus the excitement is far from over in FL-500!
16-hour resting time in FL-1000
The leg over the mountain between Levajok and Tana turned into quite a challenge for the participants in FL-1000.
The lead of FL-1000 are approaching checkpoint Neiden and will by then have travelled 388 of the 1070 kilometers in the race. Those that did not take their 16-hour long required rest in Tana, will most likely do this in Neiden. When all teams have finished their 16-hour rest, it will be more clear who are standing out and in fact in the lead of the race.
Last year’s winner Petter Karlsson dropped three dogs in Tana. It probably cost him to be in front on the trail for most of this challenging stretch. Now he has ten dogs in his team. The battle over this year’s win will be a tough nut to crack for the Swede, but regardless of this, he will be part of the battle for the Saltdalshytta cabin, which will be awarded the team with the best result from FL-1000 in 2016 and 2017 accumulated.
The teams in the lead, which did not take out their 16-hour rest in Tana, can possibility get a good lead if they go straight through checkpoint Neiden. But it is more likely that these mushers will choose to take out their long rest here. After Neiden, many FL-1000 teams are still contending for the top positions.