Bauer Victorious in Tour de Ski Pursuit

Bauer started in the first spot of the men's 15km freestyle pursuit, 6 seconds ahead of Axel Teichmann (GER). This lead stretched to 42 seconds by the finish, and Bauer had his second victory in as many days. The next 30 skiers grouped into a large pack, all finishing within 20 seconds. Two swedes emerged from the pack to claim second and third – young Marcus Hellner and veteran Anders Soedergren respectively. The largest climb of the day went to Emmanuel Jonnier (FRA) who went from 58th to 10th. Russian Dmitrij Liashenko fell from 7th to 46th. Jonnier posted the fastest time for the race – 34:43.9, with Bauer second +9.8.

Said the Frenchman “I was in very good shape today and the race was perfect for me. I knew that the skier before me were only one minute ahead and that I would always have a skier in front of me to try to reach and I also knew that with my skating it was possible to have a good race.”

Soedergren felt that Bauer got some “free” seconds today – “I’m both satisfied and not satisfied with the race today. It’s a pity that nobody wanted to keep the speed up in the big group and I knew that I couldn’t keep it up alone during the whole race, so I think Bauer got too many seconds for free today. Parts of the race went rather slow.”

Canadian Devon Kershaw moved up one place to 24th with another strong effort. “I was able to stay with the lead pack. These guys really put the hammer down going up hills so I’m happy I was able to keep up with the pace.” He went on to say, “it was crazy out there. I was right with the leaders coming down to the final sprint, but with only four lanes and that many guys packed together, it takes time to get to the line.” Kershaw's teammate David Nighbor was less enthused than enthused about his performance. “I got eaten alive and was disappointed with today’s race,” said the 23-year-old Nighbor, who is a relative newcomer to the World Cup circuit. “Still, this is a great experience for me despite losing time on the field. I treat every day as a new race, a new experience and an opportunity for me to post some good results.” Nighbor finished 53rd after starting the day in 37th.

Bauer leads the overall standings, 47 seconds up on Hellner, with Soedergren another .9 seconds behind in third.

Men's Pursuit Results