On Sunday, January 15th, Kikkand Randall and Jessie Diggins placed second in the World Cup team sprint, part of a weekend of racing in downtown Milan, Italy. This was the second silver medal World Cup performance of the year for the American women in the team sprint—Randall and Sadie Bjornsen paired up in Dusseldorf, Germany to finish second as well back in November. While Randall has continued her remarkable season, and top results have become...
MILAN, Italy – Italy is a place of great history, with ruins from ages past, ancient works of art and a culture that existed long before North America felt the footfall of Western civilization. Americans and Canadians generally travel to Italy to admire the history of the country, not make it. But on another brilliant sunny day in the northern Italian metropolis of Milan, Kikkan Randall, Jessie Diggins, Chandra Crawford and Perianne Jones did just...
MILAN, Italy – You would have to be a fool to get between Alexey Petukhov and the podium too many times in one weekend, but we will never know what would happen thanks to Nikolay Morilov. The Russian duo, anchored by Morilov, skied to a convincing win in the men’s team sprint in the downtown Milan Parco Sempione on Sunday, besting Swedes Calle Halfvarsson and Teodor Peterson and Italians David Hofer and Fulvio Scola. Peterson...
MILAN, Italy – Inside or out was the question of the day, and the right choice in the men’s final was in. Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) won his first race of the season, and just the second of his career when he held the inside line into the homestretch in the Milan freestyle sprint. Germany’s Josef Wenzl was just behind in second, with Teodor Peterson (SWE) riding an aggressive lane change in the final 200 meters...
MILAN, Italy – Eat your heart out Justyna Kowalczyk, there is a new sheriff in town — or in this case, sheriffs, and they are hanging out in central Milan. Kowalczyk, the ironwoman of cross-country skiing, who rarely misses a race, is back in Poland, recovering from the Tour de Ski, and preparing for the next phase of World Cup racing, while Ida Ingemarsdotter (SWE) and Kikkan Randall (USA) are duking it out in the...
MILAN, Italy – The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, runners circle the Parco Sempione in shorts, on benches couples stare lovingly into each others eyes—just another Saturday morning in the center of Milan. Or is it? Among these scenes of urban tranquility, in the shadow of the looming Castello Sforzesco, the fastest skiers in the world engage in ritual battle, competing for a one of 30 spots in the sprint heats. The World Cup...
MILAN, Italy – Benvenuti a Milano, the fashion capital of the world! No, FasterSkier has not expanded coverage to the catwalk (though you have to wonder how those French suits would fare)—the conclusion of the Tour de Ski does not mean a break on the World Cup—racing continues this weekend in the heart of Milan, Italy with a city sprint weekend a la Dusseldorf. In this in-between year of no World Championships, and no Olympics,...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – With the conclusion of the 2012 Tour de Ski, it may not make sense to mention bridesmaids to Devon Kershaw (CAN). Kershaw may hold a World Championship gold in the team sprint, but after a fourth in the Olympic 50k in 2010, and now a fourth in the Tour de Ski, he is getting a little tired of being runner up in the individual events. “I had dreams of being...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – If an instant can last a lifetime, Marit Bjørgen (NOR) had more than enough time to watch the 2012 Tour de Ski slip away. Locked in a battle with rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for eight races, Bjørgen matched the Pole stride for stride on the lower part of the final climb up the Alpe Cermis. An then, in that interminable moment, Kowalczyk was gone. The two-time defending Tour champion accelerated,...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Eldar Roenning (NOR) spent much of the eighth stage of the Tour de Ski working for Petter Northug (NOR), but as the final kilometer rolled around, he submitted his resignation, packed up his skis and poles, and headed out on his own. Roenning attacked on the final climb of the unforgiving Val di Fiemme 4.5 kilometer loop, opening a 10 meter gap entering the stadium, a lead he never relinquished...
TOBLACH, Italy – A year ago Devon Kershaw (CAN) entered the 35-kilometer point-to-point Tour de Ski pursuit sitting in second, and primed for a run at the top-5. Just under an hour later, he was struggling to hold onto the large chase pack that had gobbled him up at the 20k mark. Ever since that day this event has been on his mind—through summer training camps, early fall racing, and right up until the start...
TOBLACH, Italy – Alex Harvey (CAN) advanced to a World Cup sprint final for just the second time in his career on his way to a 6th place finish in the Tour de Ski skate sprint. Harvey posted his best-ever sprint qualification result, throwing down the fifth fastest time in the morning time trial. He saw that as a good sign, and followed up by winning his quarterfinal. He told FasterSkier that he “didn’t have...
TOBLACH, Italy – Like two great deities of Greek mythology, locked in an epic struggle for supremacy, Marit Bjørgen (NOR) and Kikkan Randall (USA) came together to do battle on the open plains of the Toblach Ski Stadium. The talk of the 2012 Tour de Ski has been the competition between Bjørgen and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), and with the two women combining to win every stage thus far, and just 4.8 seconds separating the pair...
TOBLACH, Italy – With consecutive Tour de Ski stage victories, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) is pounding on Justyna Kowalczyk’s (POL)_door, looking to serve an eviction notice for the top of the Tour podium. Kowalczyk still holds the overall lead in her quest for a third Tour de Ski title, but with a win today in the 3-kilometer classic prologue, Bjoergen not only crept closer, but also showed a form that has been missing since illness took...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Four down, five to go, and an epic battle is developing in the men’s 2012 Tour de Ski. Over the course of the four events thus far, only 1.1 seconds separate Dario Cologna (SUI) form leader Petter Northug (NOR). Northug took his second stage victory of the Tour, but Cologna actually closed the gap due a strong showing in the intermediate sprints in the men’s 20km skiathlon in Oberstdorf, Germany. Despite...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Based on the idiom “the proof is in the pudding,” American Kikkan Randall has been serving up heaping portions of whatever custardy delight a ski fan might fancy, and today was just one more dessert to welcome the new year. As the season progresses, Randall has demonstrated time and time again that she is no longer just a skate sprinter, posting results that very much prove she is one of the world’s...
Canadians Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey entered the Tour de Ski as legitimate contenders for the top-5 after both placing in the top-10 last season. Both men are capable of podium results in just about any race, a key to Tour success, but neither has broken through yet, though Harvey had an excellent prologue, placing sixth. After a rough ski day in the pursuit, they were looking to bounce back in the classic sprint in...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Three wins in three days over a range of distances and in both techniques—exactly what many expected in the Tour de Ski, just not from Justyna Kowalczyk (POL). Norwegian Marit Bjoergen dominated the first World Cup period, winning five of the six races she started, most in dominating fashion. Despite taking a pass on the Tour for two years, Bjoergen entered the 2012 edition as the favorite. Two consecutive overall Tour wins,...
OBERHOF, Germany — After several years of playing a dour second fiddle to Petter Northug (NOR), Axel Teichmann (GER) struck a different chord on Friday, besting the Norwegian at his own game with a strong attack on the last climb to win the second stage of the 2012 Tour de Ski. On snowy afternoon at the ski stadium in Oberhof, the race was rife with waxing challenges—temperatures holding at right around freezing, a mixture of...
OBERHOF, Germany – Of all the Tour de Ski stages, none matters less than the prologue. Runner-up Dario Cologna didn’t hesitate to say exactly that, and American Andy Newell concurred. “I don’t really care about today,” he told FasterSkier. “I don’t mind being flat today. You can make up four times tomorrow any time you lose today,” he said in reference to Friday’s pursuit. Newell wasn’t merely covering for an off day as his sentiments...
