Watch The Men’s 4 x 10-K Relay Live Here On FasterSkier.com
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/050223image001-9.jpg width=440 height=286 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana>The last men’s World cup relay was December 12. Norway won, but five teams were within 0.6 seconds of each other! – from www.newspower.it</font></center><BR> </p>
<p>“Relay is relay†and anything can and will happen in the men’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay at Worlds on Thursday morning! Can Italy keep up with Norway on the classic legs? If yes, can Norway’s skaters keep up with Italy’s silver and gold medalist from the 15K on the two freestyle legs?</p>
<p>Norway and Italy is on paper based upon the results in the 15-kilometer freestyle and the 30-kilometer pursuit race the two teams that should battle for gold in Thursday’s 4 x 10-kilometer men’s relay. Norway’s Estil on the first or second classic leg could be tough to handle and they have another 2-3 skiers that are all eager to ski the first leg, including classic specialist Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset which captured fifth in the sprint race on Wednesday. On the skate legs they can chose between the skiers that finished 3, 4 and 11 in the 15-kilometer skate race.</p>
<p>History has however shown that nothing can be taken for granted in a Championship relay. Over the years we have witnessed a number of head-scratching, hair-pulling, nail biting and heart-stopping incidents like:</p>
<p>– The favorite team’s start person lost a binding on one of his skis when the gun went of at the start</p>
<p>– The favorites missed the wax, pole and ski breaks</p>
<p>– The leading team’s skier with 15 second lead crashed with 2-k to go on the third leg and was suddenly 15 seconds behind (1982 Worlds).</p>
<p>– The two leading skiers on the last leg stopped on top of the last long downhill with 1-k to go and one said; – after you sir! (2002 Olympics)</p>
<p> – The leading team’s skier blew up with less than 4-k to go on the last leg (2003 Worlds)</p>
<p>The list goes on and that’s why a number of teams have a shot at winning:</p>
<p>The Germans have disappointed big time and need to give the home crowd something to celebrate. They will ski their hearts out, scratch and claw to stay in the lead group. The Swedes haven’t done well either, but Tuesday’s sprint results should have lift their spirits many notches. They have skiers that know how to finish on the last leg if they are able to keep up the pace on the early legs. And don’t rule out Estonia, Russia and Austria either! And what about France? Can they hang on and give Vittoz and chance to sprint for gold? A surprise could also come from the Czech Republic: Bauer, Magal and Koukal could be tough if they can find a fourth skier ready to step it up.</p>
<p>Canada and USA will realistically not fight for top six, but it should be interesting to see how they do against each other. USA beat Canada by more than five minutes in 2003 but Canada looks on paper a hair stronger than USA at this point. Keep an eye on that duel.</p>
<p>The relay starts 12.30 PM European time on Thursday or 6.30 AM Eastern standard time. Watch the race live here on Fasterskier.com. Look for that option on the right hand side of the home page. You get constant updates on each team’s position as they pass certain kilometer markers. Make it an all-nighter, don’t go to bed, buy some pizza, drink lots of coffee and Red Bull and enjoy! </p>
<p>Option two: get up early!</p>
<p>Last World Cup relay — December 12: Read the story: <a href=http://www.fasterskier.com/racing1634.html)
Relay 4×10 Men:
1) Norway 1.34.07;
2) Italy + 0.0;
3) France +0.5;
4) Russia +0,5;
5) Germany +0,6;
6) Italy II +1.48.5;
7) Austria +1.50.1;
8) Switzerland +2.08.4;
9) USA/SWE +2.08.5;
10) Sweden +2.26.9.
Fasterskier.com 2003 Worlds relay report: Play By Play of the Men's World Championship Relay http://www.fasterskier.com/racing265.html
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/050223image002.jpg width=440 height=421 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana>Men's podium – Norway, Italy, France – from www.newspower.it</font></center><BR></p>
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