Andreas Almgren 26:46, where would he have finished in the World Cross?

Uh, what does it matter? He wasn't there.

You're correct -he wasn't there but had he been there where do you think he might have finished?

I don't.

This guy is an incredible responder to carbon shoes. In XC you actually have to run.

The top Swede in the race (in World Cross yesterday) by the way was 27 year old Simon Sundström, who finished an excellent 28th (30:01), beating many monsters like McDonald (31), Daguinos (32), Gonduin (33), Young (36), and Indian idol Gulveer Singh (40) a 12:59/27:00 Indian behemoth record holder.

Sundström has bests of 1:53/3:39/7:45/13:34/28:11 and an excellent 8:17.01 steeple. He also ran a 1:03/half last year (2024) as base training, not all out.

You make a very good point in that in cross country you're running in more minimalist shoes which is almost akin to running bare feet - a skill at which the Africans are much more adept and used to compared with Europeans and Americans in general.

Anywhere between 6th and 15th seems like the most likely scenario. But if he’s surprisingly good or bad at XC despite his obviously great fitness maybe 3rd or in the 20s are on the table

Hmmm..6th was Mehari - the Ethiopian teen prodigy who just floats over the surface as he runs and I don't think Almgren would touch him.

Personally I'm thinking anywhere between a high of 15th (Gressier) and 20th, just behind Blanks (19th). This is all guesswork and we'll never know.

By the way for those who didn't notice - Mo Ahmed of Canada dropped out. Will he ever get back - that remains the question ❓

Mehary bit off more than he could chew and suffered the last loop. Better track guy than XC.

Why should he bother running an event with lax testing, that’s known for looking the other way and covering up for malfeasance by muh Africans? At least some testing has been ramped up for track events.

Yeah ‘cause a time trial type road race in Valencia is 100% drug free 👍

You are I think missing the sort of shape he is in. He’s run 12:44 and is at that level based on his recent workouts. Gressier is not at his absolute best and is world champ based on his speed and kick more than being fitter than Andreas. Thierry is in good shape too obviously and a good XC runner but in a road race I’d favor Andreas. On this surface I might favor Thierry, but if he’s losing to Jimmy in an XC race it’s because he’s not as good on the surface more than about fitness.

Almgren ran 26:46, which is 2:40.5 per km.

Kiplimo's half marathon WR Is 56:42. So this is 2:41.3 per km.

So Kiplimo's half marathon WR is almost as fast per km as Almgren's 10k road european record

Kiplimo versus Almgren

Kiplimo: 7:26.64/12:40.96/26:33.93/26:48 km/56:42/2:02:25

Almgren:

1:45.66/3:32.00/7:31.42/12:44.27/26:52.87/26:46 km (Valencia yesterday), 58:41 (Valencia, October 26, 2025)

Conclusion: Kiplimo superior, 3000 and up.

Had Almgren participated yesterday, I think Jacob would have put 30 - 60 seconds on Almgren. More likely 60 seconds.

Technical:

With his more compact body shape (and lighter weight, BMI, etc) and adaptable stride I think Kiplimo can shine on every surface and adapt to every caveat on a course as he proved yesterday with his nimble handling of all the different types of challenges whereas the Swede moves like a well-oiled machine with the type of stride which never varies from gun to tape and would have had more trouble adapting to a cross country course with dips and turns as well as hills to negotiate.

Almgren's weight (he looks to be around 70kg/155), is a significant disadvantage against someone who looks to be about 50-54 kg (110-120). Weight counts.

Kiplimo’s half marathon time hasnt been ratified as a WR to my knowledge. Something seems to be off with that race

Why would he beat Nico?

Almgren's scientific Norweigen Method approach works really well for him on flat track courses in great conditions, because he can predict based on his training exactly how he should run and how it should feel.

This won't translate as well to XC where there are so many environmental factors, but as we saw for the previous Euro XC, he can still run decently. So I don't think he would be challenging for medals, but he could have been the first white dude in.

Almgren is Grant Fisher soft, so about 16th place.

That sounds about right and just from the race yesterday "the first white dude" was Dr Yann Schrub from France who finished in 11th place just a minute behind Kiplimo (28:18-29:22). Personally I think the Good Doctor would have beaten the Swede but of course I'm biased.