Skier Ardashev won the overall standings of the Cup of Russia ahead of schedule

On April 1, the final of the Russian Cup in Cross-country skiing of the 2025/26 season took place in Kirovsk, Murmansk region. Sergey Ardashev, taking second place in the pursuit race, secured victory in the overall standings of the tournament ahead of schedule.

After this stage, Ardashev has 980 points. His closest pursuer, three-time Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov, is almost 300 points (697 points) behind, which makes it impossible to change the leader even in the two remaining races of the season. Bolshunov won the pursuit, while Ardashev finished second.

Ilya Semikov closes the top three overall (571 points). Before the end of the Russian Cup, athletes will have to hold two more starts — a sprint on April 3 and a 10 km freestyle race with a mass start on April 5.

Debut run-in: how was the international season for our skiers?

Korostelev and Nepryaeva showed that Russians are able to compete for high World Cup places, despite a long ban.

On March 28, skier Veronika Stepanova won the 3 km race in the final of the Cup of Russia. The Olympic champion finished with a score of 7 minutes 27.6 seconds.

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