#SpeedSkating

Andrea Giovannini (ITA) retained his Mass Start World Cup title on the final day of action in Heerenveen (NED) on Sunday. The defending champion won the final sprint, pushing Bart Hoolwerf (NED) down to second place in the ranking after the Dutch skater missed out on the breakaway. In the 500m, Yevgeniy Koshkin (KAZ) followed up Friday’s bronze with another gold after last week’s maiden World Cup win, and the USA won the Team Pursuit to seize their fourth consecutive World Cup Trophy.

Giovannini breaks away to win back-to-back Mass Start trophies 

Bart Hoolwerf (NED) had a nine-point lead over Bart Swings (BEL) in the ranking at the start of the final Mass Start race. Timothy Loubineaud (FRA) and Andrea Giovannini (ITA) were also still in striking distance of the leader. 

Halfway through the race, Giovannini followed Jorrit Bergsma (NED) in a breakaway group which left Hoolwerf, Swings and Loubineaud back in the pack.

Andrea Giovannini (ITA, right) sits back early in the Mass Start as Bart Swings (BEL, #2), Bart Hoolwerf (NED, #1) and Daniele di Stefano (ITA, #5) lead the way. © ISU

Giovannini explained: “All the other people on top of the general ranking were in the bunch [behind the lead group], so it was really perfect. I couldn’t have imagined a better situation, so I had to stay up there and try to win.”

Bergsma said: “It’s a pity because we wanted to skate for the World Cup Trophy with Bart [Hoolwerf], but then It so happened that we got a gap with a big group, and I had to skate for my own chances to win the race.”

Bergsma tried an early attack with three laps to go, but didn’t manage to get away.

“Giovannini was sharp and reacted quickly,” he said. “I had hoped to take a slightly bigger gap, but they caught up with me with two laps to go.”

Once Giovannini got back on Bergsma’s tail, it came down to a long sprint of about a lap-and-a-half. On the final straight Giovannini passed Bergsma to take gold, with Chung Jae Won (KOR) coming in second and Bergsma holding on to third place.

Jorrit Bergsma (NED, right) sparked the breakaway that helped Giovannini to gold and the Mass Start Trophy. Chung Jae Won (KOR) beat the Dutch skater to the silver. © ISU

“Jorrit [Bergsma] started really early,” Giovannini said. “It was a superlong sprint and in the end I managed to take the victory.”

Giovannini was happy to retain his World Cup title after a rough start to the season. “I’m really happy, because I was low in the ranking and I worked hard to work my way up. Winning once is great, but taking back-to-back wins is even harder. 

“I want to dedicate this victory to my wife and my child that we’re expecting this April.”

Koshkin the new golden boy 

He was slower than he had been when he took a bronze medal in Friday’s 500m, but Yevgeniy Koshkin (KAZ) upgraded to gold on Sunday nonetheless.

The Kazak sprinter finished the last 500m of the World Cup season in 34.46s after a difficult race. Starting fast from the outside lane, he entered the back-stretch level with pair-mate Bjørn Magnussen (NOR). Skating next to each other, Koshkin was clearly faster and Magnussen eventually gave way.

New kid on the block Yevgeniy Koshkin (KAZ) won his third medal in three 500m World Cup races with gold in the final sprint of this World Cup season. © ISU

“It did not hamper me too much,” Koshkin explained. “He gave way and I could cross in front. It’s only that my second corner was not perfect because I couldn’t enter it the way I wanted to.”

Koshkin seized his career maiden World Cup gold in his first race after being promoted to the A Division last week in Poland. He followed that up with the bronze on Friday and another gold today. 

“Winning once doesn’t mean too much, but taking another medal and winning today, is a confirmation that I am a contender,” he added.

“I can feel the respect from the other skaters and coaches, they look at me differently now.”

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) took silver in 34.51s and Jenning de Boo (NED) bronze just one-hundredth of a second behind him.

The silver earned Dubreuil second place in the World Cup ranking, behind Jordan Stolz (USA) who had already secured the Trophy but who didn’t skate on Sunday to rest and recover on his way to the World Championships in Hamar [13-16 March].

Jordan Stolz (USA, center) rested up this weekend but took to the podium to collect his 500m Trophy. Laurent Dubreuil (CAN, left) was second in the rankings and Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN, right) third. © ISU

Dubreuil had come sixth on Friday. “That wasn’t bad, but the field was extremely good,” he said. 

“Actually I was a bit slower today. But today was more open and after a good race in the 1000m yesterday, I knew I could do well.

“I’m happy to be back on the podium, and second in the standings, it’s a good place to be in.”

Dubreuil welcomed Koshkin as a new kid on the block in the 500m.

“He’s amazing, and his openers, oh my God… He opened 9.35s, Only Gao [Gao Tingyu, CHN] ever opened faster in 9.32s. It’s some of the best skating we’ve ever seen.

“It’s great to have this young generation. I’m 10 years older than him, 11 years older than Jenning [De Boo] and 12 years older than Jordan [Stolz]. It’s going to be interesting in Hamar [at the World Championships in Norway from 13-16 March].

“I feel like I have the experience and there’s no pressure on me at all. I’ve won many prizes in my career and I have two kids now. I don’t care too much about winning anymore.”

Jenning de Boo (NED), however, does care about winning, but happily took bronze after claiming his first two World Cup golds in Friday’s 500m and Saturday’s 1000m. 

Like Koshkin, Jenning de Boo (NED) has confirmed his potential with two World Cup golds. Could the two mount a challenge to Stolz at the World Championships? © ISU

“This was a very good weekend,” said De Boo. “Today was a bit less than I had hoped for. It was probably the false start [by pair-mate Marek Kania (POL)]. After that I was too eager to stand still.

“My start was 0.25s slower than Friday [in fact it was only 0.18s slower], so that’s the biggest difference with Friday’s race.”

Business as usual for USA in Team Pursuit

In the Team Pursuit, USA defeated Italy in a head-to-head battle to take home the World Cup Trophy for the fourth consecutive year. Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran (USA) stopped the clock in 3 minutes and 39.40s, leaving Davide Ghiotto, Michele Malfatti and Andrea Giovannini 1.74s behind in second place.

The Netherlands (Chris Huizinga, Beau Snellink and Jorrit Bergsma) took bronze in 3:41.48.

USA Team Pursuit trio Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran power their way to victory and a fourth consecutive World Cup Trophy. © ISU

“It was just all-around solid,” Cepuran reflected on the race. “It wasn't amazing, but it was far from bad. Nothing went wrong.”

The Americans almost considered winning the World Cup Trophy to be business as usual and have set their sights on this month’s one-off race.

Lehman said: “We've gotten the World Cup overall a couple times, so at this point, we need to do it when it really matters - at the World Championships.”

Lehman, Cepuran and Dawson have skated together for years. At the beginning of this season, Team USA experimented with adding Stolz in the line-up and duly won gold at the Four Continents Championships in Hachinohe, Japan. 

“It was originally a plan for him to give it a go here at this World Cup again,” Lehman said in Heerenveen. But Stolz, also with the World Cup in mind and with his three World Cup Trophies secured, decided to take some rest this weekend.

Lehman continued: “I think the three of us have some unfinished business at the World Championships, but it’s good to have him as a fourth. He’s the fastest skater in the world, so I don’t think there’s a better back-up plan than him.”

The Americans' main rivals Italy took silver in Heerenveen and second in the rankings. Norway completed the World Cup Trophy podium. © ISU

Heerenveen program

The Heerenveen ISU World Cup Speed Skating will start with the first of two 500m races and the 1500m for both genders on Friday, February 28th, 2025. The program on Saturday March 1st comprises the 1000m for both genders, followed by the 3000m for women and the 5000m for men. On Sunday March 2nd, both genders will skate the Team Pursuit, the second 500m, and the Mass Start, before the event concludes with the Mixed Gender Relay.

ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series events 2024/25:

Nov 22  - 24, 2024                     Nagano / JPN 

Nov 29 - Dec 01, 2024              Beijing / CHN

Jan 24 - 26, 2025                      Calgary  CAN

Jan 31 - Feb 02, 2025               Milwaukee / USA

Feb 21 - 23, 2025                      Tomaszów Mazowiecki / POL

Feb 28 - Mar 02, 2025               Heerenveen / NED 

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