Newell Capitalizes on Babikov Blunder, Grabs Yellow Bib

Nathaniel HerzMarch 26, 20103
Ivan Babikov (Canada Ski Team) in the wrong lane at the finish

On his way to the line for what he thought would be a second-place finish in Friday’s men’s 10k classic mass start, Andy Newell (USST) came across a surprising sight: Canadian skier Ivan Babikov skiing backwards in a parallel lane.

Babikov had missed the sign where the finish split off from the lap lane, and was backtracking. In the process, Newell cruised by to take the victory, with Lars Flora (APU) and Torin Koos (USST) right on his heels.

“I count that as a win by default, I guess,” Newell said.

Babikov early in the race

Babikov cut across some v-boards on his way back to the finish lane, and initially, the race’s technical delegate, Jack Jeffery, said that he would be disqualified.

But that decision ultimately lay with the jury, which deemed Babikov to have suffered enough already. Since he gained no advantage from his detour, they let Babikov hold on to his fifth-place finish. And with the bonus seconds he collected along the way, the Canadian still sits in third in the SuperTour Finals overall, just over 15 seconds behind Newell.

The Canadian had some choice words for the race organizers afterwards, complaining that there should have been someone at the intersection to direct him. The finish, however, was clearly marked with signs—and that’s not unusual, according to U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb.

“They wouldn’t necessarily have a course marshal there at a World Cup,” Whitcomb said. “It’s the skier’s responsibility to know which way to go.”

The snafu obscured what was otherwise an exciting race from the gun.

With $250 and a 15-second bonus on the line for the first person to the 1-kilometer mark, the field was strung out from the gun.

Brent McMurtry (Canada Ski Team) leads the way on the first lap

Garrott Kuzzy (USST) just held off a charging Simi Hamilton (SVSEF) and Newell for the cash—and promptly went backwards.

“It’s Spring Series—it’s all about having fun, and I wanted to put on a good show for the crowd and maybe bring home a couple of bucks,” he said. “I didn’t expect those guys to turn it on as much as they did.”

The three sprinters had put a gap on the field, but as soon as they crossed the line, the distance skiers took over. From then on, it was all Babikov.

By the four kilometer mark—the next time the skiers came through the stadium—the Canadian was alone. He said that he’d been feeling sick earlier this week, but showed little sign of that Friday.

Babikov skied the rest of the race by himself, eating up the two bonus sprints at the top of the course to take thirty seconds off his total time. He was well clear of the pack until the episode at the finish.

Behind, Newell said that his goal was to take as many of the mid-race sprints as possible—without blowing himself up. He made the most of his opportunities, snagging bonuses in all four and finishing with thirty seconds worth of reductions in total.

“It was a fun race,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like that, with so many primes [mid-race sprints].”

Newell skied most of the race in a pack with Koos, Flora, and Brent McMurtry, another Canadian, who paid a visit to the hurt locker each time the group approached one up the sprints.

“It was pretty bizarre,” he said. “I didn’t have much snap, and guys would…open up a hole climbing up to the top of the hill, and then it slowed back down and regrouped—each time kind of the same.”

Andy Newell (USST) leads the chase pack on the last lap

On the last lap, though, Newell put in a hard effort to keep Babikov from blowing things apart, and it appeared to work—the deficit didn’t grow much during the second half of the race.

While Newell, Flora, and Koos were the first three across the line, in that order, the time bonuses had a big impact on the overall standings.

After the adjustments, Newell is still first, and will ski in the yellow leader’s bib tomorrow. But Flora wasn’t a factor in any of the sprints, so instead of being in second, just 0.6 seconds behind Newell, he’s all the way back in fourth, more than thirty seconds down.

Flora said he had fun with the new format and said that the mid-race bonuses made things interesting. But he added that he felt the mini-tour is tilted towards the sprinters.

“Either today or Sunday would have been nice to see a longer distance race,” he said. “I think it’s important to have stuff that kind of mimics World Cup skiing–7.5 k on Sunday and 10 k today, I don’t really see that.”

With twenty bonus seconds of his own, Koos climbs to second, with Babikov sitting in third for tomorrow’s classic sprint. The Canadian also will have the polka-dot bib as the hill-climbing leader.

Babikov’s mistake cost him the $250 winner’s check, and could have cost him much more, as the prize for the overall title of the mini-tour is $1,500.

But just about everyone here said that they were glad to see Babikov wasn’t disqualified, as his presence here elevates the level of competition, and—just as importantly—keeps the points penalty low.

“It’s always a bummer when stuff like that happens,” Newell said. “But I guess you’ve got to be on your toes, too.”

SuperTour Finals Men’s Overall Standings:
1. Andy Newell (USST): 25:58.2

2. Torin Koos (USST), +11.6

3. Ivan Babikov (Canadian Ski Team), +17.3

4. Lars Flora (APU), +30.6

5. Brent McMurtry (Canadian Ski Team), +32.5

Nathaniel Herz

Nat Herz is an Alaska-based journalist who moonlights for FasterSkier as an occasional reporter and podcast host. He was FasterSkier's full-time reporter in 2010 and 2011.

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3 comments

  • 2PACmosDEF

    March 26, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    I agree with Flora, these races are way to short 9k really?!?! and it will be the longest race of the weekend!

  • OEB2ODB

    March 31, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    What if Babikov had a) jumped the fence at the finish line or b) gone past the finish, then pulled a 180, stepped acrossed the line in the wrong direction, then crossed back “officially” in the right direction? (does that make sense?) Would the jury have given the same penalty?

    What should I do if in the same situation? At that point, brain freeze is a real danger for any of us. Read tiny signs? I can barely stand up.

  • Andy_Hardy

    April 2, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    If that happens to you, ski backward to the sign, round the sign, and then finish in the proper lane. I think they let this one slide because nobody finished right behind him. In other words, if somebody finished right behind him who would have finished just ahead of him had he gone all the way to the sign before jumping lanes, they probably would have DQ’ed him or at least dropped him behind the skier who finished properly.

    the lesson here is to make sure you know which lane is which before you’ve got “race IQ” and you can’t find your a$$ with two hands, a map, and some kind of a$$ finding device.

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