The Tour de Ski has been a rock 'em-sock 'em set of races so far. In addition to the crazy weather, we've seen an unusual number of crashes, ranging from the meaningless to Kikkan Randall's digger in the classic sprint today. And we've seen some unexpe...
December 31, 2011 A – AutoBahn: Driving fast, in the dark, en route to Oberstdorf. If you get the red ‘flash,’ you just earned yourself a speeding ticket (you’ll get it in the mail). We are unsure how many teams got tickets yesterday…. the numbers are still coming in… B – Birthday: Happy 29th Birthday Kikkan! C – Corny: Corny Big. The best German gas station candy bar eaten thus far while in Germany. D...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Three wins in three days over a range of distances and in both techniques—exactly what many expected in the Tour de Ski, just not from Justyna Kowalczyk (POL). Norwegian Marit Bjoergen dominated the first World Cup period, winning five of the six races she started, most in dominating fashion. Despite taking a pass on the Tour for two years, Bjoergen entered the 2012 edition as the favorite. Two consecutive overall Tour wins,...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Kikkan Randall’s pink tiara will have to wait until next year. The birthday girl had a cardboard crown on hand for Stage 3 of the Tour de Ski on Saturday—a gift from her mother that Randall was ready to pull out if she made the final heat of the classic sprint race. Unfortunately, the tiara had to stay in her backpack, as the Alaskan got a 29th birthday present of an unexpected...
There are so many great things about being home for the holidays. I especially enjoy skiing with the local junior kids and my past coaches, and past Olympians, Leslie Hall and Laura McCabe. It's so much fun to see kids skiing and havin...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – If there’s one thing more dispiriting for a cross-country skier than having a bad day, it’s having a good day that’s limited by equipment. Andy Newell (USA) was on the rebound from a potential illness in Stage 3 of the 2012 Tour de Ski on Saturday, a classic sprint. But his race was stymied by the soggy, sloppy conditions that prevailed here all day. After qualifying in 28th, Newell couldn’t make his...
Once again, we’re shaking up the Pro Workout series by giving busy skiers a chance to add some simple weight training (simple in principle, harder in practice) to their fitness regimens. This is the second “quick” workout in a series about gym exercises. We started with Canadian Senior World Cup team member
OBERHOF, Germany – Kris Freeman had a good day, notching the 20th-fastest standalone time of the race and moving into 30th place. His thoughts on the race: “I wanted to move up into the points, and I got a point, so I’m pretty satisfied on the day. It’s only the second time I’ve taken points this year, so it feels good to know I can still race. I’ve come back from a lot of stuff,...
OBERHOF, Germany – Two days into the 2012 Tour and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) remains uunbeaten, looking more and more like the two-time Tour de Ski defending champion she is. Kowalczyk was locked into a battle through the last kilometer of the race, tailing a Norweigan over the crest of the final climb, before double poling past to win by .2 seconds. The battle however, was not with Marit Bjoergen as expected. Therese Johaug just missed...
The format and qualification procedure for the World Youth/Junior Biathlon Championships Team Trials were introduced in Thursday’s race reports. In any qualifying series, it all comes down to the last day of racing – when bubble athletes make or break it, when a single amazing performance can catapult a racer upwards in the standings, when men and women go home either elated or heartbroken. In Anchorage, Alaska, Friday was that day for junior biathletes as...
Tour de Ski Day 2 — A to Zeller A – Axel: the Diesel Engine is back. He seems to have awakened from his nap of the last year. B – Big: Four BIG hills per 3 km lap. An anonymous Fasterskier reporter skied 6 laps beforehand and proceeded to tap out…Herring boning in front of World Cup fans is poor form. C – Crash: Men’s race, 200m before the finish. Talk about a cluster… D –...
OBERHOF, Germany – Kikkan Randall should consider a job with the U.S. Postal Service, because she just keeps on delivering. Not pain, not snow, nor gloom of Oberhof could stay Kikkan Randall from the swift completion of her appointed rounds here on Friday. By the time she arrived at the end of her three laps of the race course, Randall had notched yet another stellar distance result, finishing Stage 2 of the 2012 Tour de...
Four days after Jennifer Caldwell passed away at home, the former U.S. Ski Team member and University of Vermont graduate will be remembered at a memorial service on Saturday, Dec. 31, at St. Katharine Drexel Church (11 a.m.) in Wolfeboro, N.H. Caldwell died at home on Tuesday at age 53. She is survived by her daughter Anya, husband Howie Bean, parents John and Hep Caldwell and three older brothers: Tim, Sverre and Peter Caldwell. Among...
Penned for SkiTrax Magazine: Visit SkiTrax HereRiding the cable car up, up, up high into the high Austrian air to the Dachstein Glacier for the first time, I get the feeling Garrison Keillor echoes on his News from Lake Wobegon when he says “All the ...
How unexpected was Teichmann's win in the Oberhof classic pursuit? Unexpected enough that none of the 187 guesses on XC Predictions included ol' Axel for any of the three podium spots. The wisdom of crowds? Of course, who'd have thought Teichmann had ...
OBERHOF, Germany — After several years of playing a dour second fiddle to Petter Northug (NOR), Axel Teichmann (GER) struck a different chord on Friday, besting the Norwegian at his own game with a strong attack on the last climb to win the second stage of the 2012 Tour de Ski. On snowy afternoon at the ski stadium in Oberhof, the race was rife with waxing challenges—temperatures holding at right around freezing, a mixture of...
OBERHOF, Germany — There’s no shortage of grit among the top men on the Canadian cross-country ski team. Each year, Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, and Ivan Babikov train for hundreds of hours, climbing dozens of steep hills through sun, rain, and snow. The training has powered the athletes to some pretty impressive accomplishments this season. But even after all that preparation, Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski on Friday threw a challenge at the...
Austin, Corky, Hamish & Gino - post TT.Heather Mooney and Noah Hoffman skied away with the victories in this mornings classic time trial at Grafton Ponds. The flat loop, with granular snow turned the TT into a d-pole race. Some who waxed paid the ...
The prologue is a grueling test of speed, strength and will. Here is a look at yesterday’s ladies’ race on a brutally difficult course as the much anticipated 2012 Tour de Ski got started.
As the second day gets started on the Tour de Ski, we take a visual look back at day one, the prologue.