Women's 20k Mass Start Freestyle will finish the weekend

The last Cross-Country race of the weekend will be the Women’s 20k Mass Start Freestyle as they will be off at 11.45 am (CET) on Sunday the 30th of November. The conditions will change a little bit the night before the start. It will most likely rain through the night and it will be a few degrees celsius colder than Friday and Saturday. 

Last year at Ruka Jessie Diggins battled to win the Women’s 20k Mass Start Freestyle in a narrow matter with Jonna Sundling coming second only 0.3 seconds behind. They have both looked solid this weekend and are in contention again. 

Last season Astrid Oeyre Slind lost the overall Distance World Cup by only two points to Jessie Diggins. Slind will kick off her season on Sunday, having not raced this weekend before. She is one of the favorites, her condition after not racing yet is the only thing in question. 

Heidi Weng is another Norwegian who could do damage in the 20k freestyle. She was eight in last year’s Overall World cup and Distance World Cup rankings. On top of that she was second on Friday in the Women’s 10k Interval Start Classic and last year at Ruka in the 20k Mass Start Freestyle she was third. 

On top of Jonna Sundling the Swedes also have contenders in Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson and Moa Ilar. Frida Karlsson won the Women’s 10k Interval Start Classic on Friday while Moa Ilar was Third and Ebba Andersson fourth. They have all been good this weekend and should carry their form for Sunday’s race. 

If you’re looking for Finns who could challenge the others in the 20k Classic Jasmin Kahara and Johanna Matinpalo are the most likely. 

Text: Pietu Enne
Image: Noora Luukkanen