Davos, Switzerland — Marit who? At least that’s how it appeared in the World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, during the 1.5 k freestyle sprint, as it was American Kikkan Randall who destroyed the field rather than the usual Marit Bjoergen devastation. The Alaskan native blasted her way to her second consecutive World Cup sprint victory of the year, skiing away from the other five women in the final, leaving Russian Natalia Matveeva to grab...
Davos, Switzerland – Petter Northug served notice to the World Cup field Saturday in Davos, Switzerland that the Norwegian superstar has to be taken seriously – no matter where or what the World Cup race is. The odds were supposed to be against Northug Saturday. The 30 k freestyle distance individual start doesn’t suit his strong mass-start finishing style. The strong distance field taking to the start line was rounding into shape, especially home-town favorite...
Davos, Switzerland – There is no doubt that the Norwegian women’s ski team is currently the best in the world. On Saturday morning, during the 15 k individual start freestyle in Davos, Switerland, they absolutely dominated the leader board, putting six women in the top ten, and taking the first four places. Surprising no one, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) crossed the line with the fastest time, leaving Vibeke Skofterud the silver medal, 41.8 seconds back. Therese...
Davos, Switzerland – If you’re a ski fan anywhere, you were probably disappointed to find out that stars Canadians Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey were sitting out of the 30 k freestyle World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, this Saturday. Both Kershaw and Harvey are talented skaters, and seem to be in good shape – both have already recorded top 15 finishes on the World Cup already this season. Last year, they finished in the top...
After a weekend of city sprinting in Germany, including gluhwein, spills, and DSQ’s, the FIS World Cup heads to Davos, Switzerland, this weekend for another pair of skate races. Saturday sees a rare beast on the World Cup — a long distance individual start skate race (15 for the women, and 30 k for the men) — while Sunday features what might be the most intense sprint of the World Cup season. While Dusseldorf...
Elbows, crashes, spills and thrills – that’s an average World Cup freestyle Team Sprint event in Dusseldorf, Germany, and the action on Sunday was no different. Sweden’s top pairing of Jesper Modin and Teodor Peterson emerged from close-quarters racing to take the top step of the podium, narrowly edging out Russia I, Nikita Kruikov and Alexey Petukhov. After taking gold and bronze in the sprint Saturday, Ola Vigen Hattestad and Paal Golberg of Norway I...
For the second straight day of sprint racing in Dusseldorf, Germany, the American women brought the fireworks. During the second day of World Cup racing in Dusseldorf, the Norway I team of Mari Eide and Maiken Caspersen Falla took the win. In a surprise move, United States I featuring Sadie Bjornsen and Kikkan Randall crossed the line second, 1.6 seconds back of the Norwegians. The bronze medal went to Natalia Korosteleva and Natalia Matveeva of...
Despite cold rain pelting down on the city, Dusseldorf, Germany, was hopping Saturday afternoon. And rightly so, as even without Swedish sprint star Emil Joensson taking part, the best of the World Cup sprinters were on hand to tackle the rocket-fast course. The venue consisted of roughly 1900 meters of snow with an icy glaze on top. While the women did just one lap, the men were primed to race two loops of...
DUSSELDORF, Germany — Kikkan Randall is a World Cup Overall threat. At least, that was the way it felt in the city of Dusseldorf Saturday afternoon, when Randall hammered around the 900-meter manmade loop on her way to her first World Cup victory of the season. In the freestyle sprint, Randall out-gunned Natalia Matveeva (RUS) in the rush for the line, while Laurien Van Der Graaf (SUI) picked up the bronze medal in her first-ever...
Rain and chilly temperatures didn’t dampen the rocket-fast qualifying round at the World Cup freestyle sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Saturday morning. In fact, with rain falling early in the day and never letting up, the course turned icy very quickly, and the rock-hard snow resulted in the already short and fast course becoming incredibly fast. The short optimistically-measured 900 meter womens’ course was blazing fast. In just one loop around the mostly flat course...
Warm temperatures have plagued the World Cup all season long, but the city sprint in Düsseldorf, Germany, has always been a lock on the calendar. On Friday, 13° C temperatures and rain pelted down on the German city, which overlooks the Rhine River. This weekend’s races mark the 10th year in which Düsseldorf has hosted the city sprints on man-made snow, but the production of the course seemed to have met its match in the adverse weather...
If you’ve ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right, you should be able sympathize with the Canadian men, because things could probably not have gone much worse for the first two legs of Canadian mens’ 4×10 k relay team Sunday in Sjusjeon, Norway. Devon Kershaw, a veteran of the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) who is known for his skill and love for the 10 k classic opening-leg of the...
With the Norwegian women taking the top two spots earlier in the day in the 4×5 k, the Norwegian men had the bar for success set high for their four-man relay effort. As always, Petter Northug Jr. was anchoring Norway I, supported to Eldar Roenning and Finn Haagan Krogh on classic skis, while Lars Berger, biathlete, brother of Tora Berger, and occasionally cross-country relay selection skied third in the 4×10 k race in Sjusjøen, Norway,...
After packing seven women into the top 10 on Saturday, it was undisputed that Norway was the team to beat in Sunday’s 4×5 k women’s relay. And the Norwegians showed no signs up letting up, starting four teams that all contained talented skiers. However, it was obvious that only one was a clear standout – Norway I. Featuring the same quartet — Vibeke Skofterud, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Marit Bjoergen — as they...
where she pulled away from Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk to become World Champion in the 30 k skate. Most importantly, Johaug’s prowess broke up the Bjoergen-Kowalczyk club, and introduced a new power into womens skiing. With Bjoergen knocking the stuffing out of every single woman on the circuit this year, and Johaug stepping up to a new level, the Norwegians have an unbeatable 1-2 punch in women’s skiing. Add in the aging but putting...
At this time of year, Noah Hoffman is focused on one thing; getting as ready as he possibly can for the first races of the season. FasterSkier caught up with the USST B-team member, who has been training in the ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden in preparation for the start of the World Cup season on November 19th and 20th in Sjusjøen, Norway. Hoffman set up the time trial so he’d have to treat the entire day...
man-on-a-mission dethronement of Petter Northug on the Norwegian superstars home turf in Oslo which was unforgettable. Not to be out-done, Charlotte Kalla incredibly dramatic (or heart-breaking if you’re Canadian) fashion. While their sprinters are great, FasterSkier would be remiss if we failed to mention the distance skiing ability the Swedes displayed. Daniel Rickardsson led the men’s squad, finishing third in the World Cup Overall, skyrocketing up from his previous-best of 17th. The late-blooming Rickardsson (he...
left Marcus Hellner and Dario Cologna standing still. And Legkov wasn’t alone in impressing the crowd with his finishing skills – Vylegzhanin did what most possible consider to be impossible, did a fantastic job of reeling in and then dispatching Frenchman Jean-Marc Gaillaird in the 20 k pursuit in Rybinsk, Russia. But despite having possibly the strongest team on paper, the Russians had the most devastating relay experience at World Championships in Oslo. After taking...
apparently likes running in one-piece suits. Renato Pasini turned back the clock to 2009, and finished in the top 10 three times on his way to 9th in the Sprint Cup. But it was young Pellegrino who punched his way onto the World Cup in style, winning qualification during the skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland, before ending his day last in the final. He qualified in the top 15 four other times, and also picked...
winning the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski before going into hibernation for a few weeks, only to reappear at World Championships, winning the 15 k classic. Jauhojaervi was frustratingly inconsistent, either finishing in the top 10, or out of the points, and ended the season with just one medal, a bronze from Kuusamo, Finland. But the biggest ride of the season for the Finnish men was the two World Championship relays. During the...