Babikov and Strandberg Win SuperTour

The US SuperTour, one of the top Contintental Cup Series in the world, was a multinational affair this year – Ivan Babikov, a Russian, just granted Canadian citizenship, won the men's overall title. Kristina Strandberg, a Swede living and training in the US, took the women's crown. Karin Camenisch of Switzerland was the women's sprint champion, and Garrott Kuzzy, representing the US, captured the men's sprint title. Babikov and Strandberg also won the men's and women's distance titles.

Babikov, skiing for the Factory Team, dominated the SuperTour events he attended, including victories in four of four US Nationals distance events. He also took home two Canadian National Titles. His Factory Team teammate, Andrey Golovko of Kazakhstan was second in the overall rankings, 29 points back. CXC's Kuzzy took third with 276 points.

Marius Korthauer, racing for the University of Alaska Fairbanks added to the strong international presence. The German native claimed the 4th spot, buoyed in part by a strong performance at the final SuperTour event in Fairbanks. Leif Zimmermann (USST) rounded out the top 5.

Babikov took home an impressive $10,755 in winnings. Kuzzy ranked second with $6,600.

Overall, Babikov started only seven of the twenty SuperTour races. But he won six of those, including two events at US Nationals that earned double points.

On the women's side, Strandberg cruised to a 98 point victory over Rossignol's Karin Camenisch. Laura Valaas was third, two points behind Camenisch. With both Camenisch and Valaas heading to Europe in February to race on the World Cup – Camenisch for Switzerland and Valaas for the US – Strandberg easily took the lead. She earned a total of $7,050 for her efforts, with Camenisch claiming $6,300 in prize money. The SuperTour paid out $130,000 in prize money this year, and passed the $1 million mark given out since the inception of the series.

Maritna Stursova, of the Czech Republic, skiing for Rossignol, was fourth and the US Ski Team's Lindsay Williams, 5th. Stursova also finished second in the sprint rankings to Camenisch.

Strandberg scored points in an impressive 16 of 20 SuperTour races, including four victories.