Under pressure from two young Norwegians, Patrick Roest rode the 5,000m very hard. With a time of 6:04.36 he won gold at the World Cup competitions in Heerenveen, raising his own field record at Thialf by almost a second.
It had been five kilometers covered for the sixth time so far.
Roest was put to a tremendous test by 20-year-old Sander Eitrem and 22-year-old Hallgeir Engebråten, who took silver with 6:08.24 and bronze with 6:09.44.
Young Norwegian skaters are emerging as the Dutch’s biggest rival in the five and ten kilometers, after Swedish Olympic champion Nils van der Poel is no longer in the start. “Eitrem made the most of me,” Roest later said. “Maybe it’s even harder when we’re racing against each other.”
Before Roest hit the track, Eitrem had significantly increased the pressure. With 6:08.24, the Norwegian set the fifth fastest time ever set at Thialf. Only Roest and Jorrit Bergsma were faster. Related: Great gentlemen like Sven Kramer and Nils van der Poel never made it to Heerenveen.
Roest suddenly had to adjust his race schedule and took off like a rocket. Boldly he dived into the schedule of his (now obsolete) route record from 05/06/14 when he left. The Dutch then recorded 28 laps in a row. Only two laps went in 29 seconds, including the final lap.
In the final round, Roest proved to be a valiant resistance to Norwegian pressure. Eitrem’s advantage over his previous fastest time was more than three seconds, and Roest beat Olympic bronze medalist Norwegian offensive player Engebråten in his race.
The course record and this second World Cup victory in the five kilometers to Stavanger are good for Roest, who moved from Team Jumbo-Visma to Team Reggeborgh this year. “I still have a good feeling that I’m as strong as I was back then, maybe even stronger. It gives me a lot of self-confidence.”
“Patrick’s Back”
Roest’s old rival, Van der Poel, also saw the race and said, “Patrick is back.” Roest replied with a grin: “This is great. I hope one day he will come back and compete. Hopefully. Maybe not this year or next year, but maybe he will return to the games.”
Without Van der Poel and with two World Cup victories this new season, Roest is once again the king of the five kilometers, but his throne is far from secure with the Norwegian ace around.
Engebråten and Eitrem are two of a handful of talented youngsters on the Norwegian squad specializing in long distances of five and ten kilometers. Eitrem won Group B in Stavanger – even faster than Roest – and Engebråten has already won the Olympic bronze medal in Beijing.
You are definitely not afraid. Eitrem, who appears to be in a slightly higher skating position than usual and corners with a very high leg speed, has a very clear goal this year: to become the world champion.
Meet Sander Eitrem and Hallgeir Engebråten below:
A new great talent has emerged behind Engebråten and Eitrem. Sigurd Henriksen, 18, set the eleventh fastest time at Heerenveen with 6:17:67 on Saturday. A world record for juniors. He was faster than Jorrit Bergsma.
Bergsma opened the ball at five kilometers on Saturday afternoon. It came to 17.6.99 in the first place. He crossed the line sullenly. Bergsma was still absent from Stavanger due to his illness, so not much can be drawn from his twelfth position.
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Beau Snellink’s performance faded into the background in the violence of Roest and the young Norwegians. His personal record on November 6, 1981 was fantastic. The result was a respectable fourth.
The final deal was with Kars Jansman and Marcel Bosker, who met in the final stage. From 6.15.22 to 15.6.31 the Dutchman drove well and looked balanced. However, the level of promising Norwegians is still very high at this point in the season.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
