![Andy Newell (US Ski Team) racing to the fifth-fastest qualifying time on Saturday at the World Cup in Asiago, Italy. Newell later crashed in his quarterfinal to finish 26th overall. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/12/Asiago-IndividualSprint-Newell.jpg")
Temperatures in the 40s and classic sprinting simply don’t mix, as shown Saturday at the World Cup in Asiago, Italy. People crashed left and right (mostly on the same sharp lefthand corner at the bottom of a sweeping downhill) in the men’s 1.65-kilometer sprint, but it all started with American Andy Newell in the third quarterfinal.
After qualifying in fifth without much of a problem, Newell and fellow US Ski Team member Simi Hamilton went on to lead their quarterfinal — with Hamilton taking charge over the top of the first hill on the rolling, open-aired course. Hamilton led into the long downhill and made it out unscathed, but Newell wasn’t so lucky, dropping from second to last in an instant. His binding caught the snow around the corner, and Newell tumbled and lost his ski. He got up, walked back to it, and crossed the finish over a minute behind the winner, Russian Alexander Panzhinskiy.
Hamilton continued on but ultimately ran out of “petrol,” as Eurosport commentators would say, and finished fifth in the heat ahead of Newell. Neither advanced to the semifinals, and remained the top Americans out of four in 23rd and 26th overall. In the qualifier, Torin Koos (Bridger Ski Foundation) placed 67th, and Mikey Sinnott (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) was 78th. All of the U.S. men raced on skate skis.
Ultimately, Russia’s Nikita Kriukov endured the soupy conditions best to win the final, beating Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin by 0.15 seconds. Switzerland’s Gianluca Cologna notched his first World Cup podium in third by making sure he didn’t ski too aggressively, finishing second in his quarterfinal behind Emil Jönsson (who ended up fifth in the final after Norway’s Eldar Rønning in fourth). Cologna later gapped Jönsson and four others to win his semifinal.
But for Hamilton and Newell, who were eager to get out front early, the outcome was less exciting. After advancing to the heats in 25th behind qualifying-winner Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway, Hamilton rustled his way to front of the pack, but became bogged down in the soft snow and slipped behind in the second half of the race.
“It’s the worst place to lose momentum. There’s no catching up, but Newell finishes races.” — US Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb
“As a bigger guy I tend to excel when conditions are fast and firm,” Hamilton wrote in an email. “It was a good day out there for me, I thought, especially since days like today have historically been rough for me. During qualification I focused on just keeping my skiing light and snappy so as not to bog down in the massive pole ruts and soft tracks. However, In my quarterfinal I felt great for the first 800 meters, but on the long climb on the men’s extension I just got bogged down and couldn’t carry my snappiness and momentum like I had done up to that point. I trailed toward the back of the pack unable to sustain the spark that skiing fast in those conditions calls for.”