With the wrap-up of this year's World Cup season, many U.S. Ski team members made their way to Craftsbury, Vt., for the final races of the U.S. calendar. Noah Hoffman raced to his first win of the season in Monday's 15 k freestyle individual start. “Honestly, it’s nice to get to win a race every once in awhile,” he said.
The Sovereign Lake NorAm wrapped up on Sunday with the women's 10 k and men's 15 k freestyle distance races. Both race winners, Dahria Beatty and Kevin Sandau said it was a good way to end 2015.
Johan Olsson skied to a convincing victory in Wednesday's 15 k freestyle in Falun, Sweden in front of a home crowd. The 34-year-old who focuses solely on championship race overcame what he called a "mission impossible" after facing a year of illness and time apart from his family. He was followed by Maurice Manificat who won France's first medal in 10 years. Anders Gløersen of Norway finished third.
Canadian Alex Harvey took 10th in the World Cup 15 k freestyle individual start in Rybinsk, Russia, taking 10th, while Ivan Babikov placed 22nd and Devon Kershaw finished 36th for Canada. The American men finished 40th and 50th with Erik Bjornsen and Matt Gelso, respectively.
Saturday's 10/15 k freestyle individual starts marked the final day of racing in the SuperTour opener in West Yellowstone, Mont. In the men's race it was a game of strategy which ultimately favored Matt Gelso (SVSEF), who won the race by 9.6 seconds of Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/Madshus).
Noah Hoffman knew he had to shake UVM senior Scott Patterson with every ounce of energy he had in Saturday's three-lap 15 k skate at SuperTour Finals. By the end of the second lap, Hoffman had built a nearly 5-second lead and extended it to 11 seconds through the finish.
Mads Strøm of the University of Colorado and Norwegian club, Bærums Verk IF, put down a ferocious last lap to win Saturday's 15 k freestyle, the last race of the West Yellowstone SuperTour weekend. Brian Gregg hung tough for second and Sylvan Ellefson edged Matt Liebsch for third.
Ivan Babikov had one of the best races of his life on Wednesday with a career-best fourth in the World Championships 15 k freestyle. After a slow start, the man affectionately known as the Canadian "Bulldog" raced to one of the best finishing times, about 30 seconds off the podium.
Coming off a disappointing team sprint, Petter Northug decided to start Wednesday's 15 k freestyle at World Championships to see what could happen. The Norwegian ended up winning the individual start, not usually his best event, to capture his eighth world title.
MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec — While Alex Harvey was the man of the day at Canadian Ski Nationals on Tuesday, Devon Kershaw, Lenny Valjas and the remaining World Cup crew (including Chandra Crawford, Dasha Gaiazova, Alysson Marshall and Kevin Sandau) also met a strong welcome after flying into Québec late Monday night and racing the next day. Cross-country ski fans, friends, family and media outlets came out to Mont Sainte-Anne to catch a glimpse of the...
MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec – Alex Harvey had no idea what he was in for. Or maybe he did. Fourteen hours after he and several other Canadian National Team members stepped off a plane in Québec City and concluded a 32-hour trip back from the World Cup Finals in Sweden, Harvey was back in his native Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Québec, preparing to race again. If it had been up to Harvey, he would have slept in a little...