The World Cup continued in Davos on Sunday with the women's 4X5K relay and the men's 4X10K relay. Norway won the women's race, finishing 4.4 seconds ahead of Germany. The Russian team finished third, with Finland missing the podium by .2 seconds. Kristen Muerer Stemland, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Vibeke Skofterud raced for Norway today, notably without Marit Bjoergen; Norway also won the women's relay last month in Beitostoelen.
The men's side was tight: 8 teams finished within 7 seconds of one another. 10 teams came into the final turn together, but Russia and Germany got tangled up. The Czech Republic and Italy crossed the line with the same time; the photo finished determined that Martin Koukal (CZE) edged out Cristian Zorzi (ITA). Marcus Hellner of Sweden crossed the finish line half a second later. The other teams in the lead pack were Norway II, Norway I, France, Kazakhstan, and Finland.
After the race, Koukal told FIS: “It mean a lot for the Czech team. We were many times really close but we often had bad luck and never made it, especially in the Olympics. It's a great day for Czech skiing. The finish was very tight, and I saw Zorzi coming up beside me, but he never moved forward, so the last few meters, I concentrated on pushing my foot tip forward across the finish line.”
Piller Cottrer (ITA) noted, “The race was a mess. We were almost 10 teams on the field … and before the finish line there were so many athletes. That is not exactly the kind of race that I like since there is too much tactics and only full speed at the end of the race. But we did a good job, and this was the first podium for us this season.”