The top Canadians solved some shooting frustrations, while Susan Dunklee turned in a course time just 6.8 seconds off the fastest of the day to make up for three penalties. Marie Dorin Habert and Anais Bescond gave France both gold and silver in the 15 kilometer individual in Oslo.
With the Sprint World Cup already in the bag, Italy's Federico Pellegrino entered the last sprint of the season in Canmore on Tuesday without any pressure. "When you realize your goals, it’s so good,” the eventual race winner said. Meanwhile, Canada's Lenny Valjas fed off his home crowd to place 11th for his second-best result of the season.
Wondering what Lenny Valjas was thinking after the Quebec City skate sprint, or how Noah Hoffman is feeling going into Canmore? Check out these images from the pursuit stage as well as North American quotes from the last two stages of the Ski Tour Canada.
A first-time racer and a former champion returning after a long absence skied to convincing victories in the Anchorage Tour 30 k freestyle on Sunday, the shortened version of the 50 k Tour of Anchorage which took place on a 3 k loop at Kincaid Park.
One name notably absent from the World Cup results this year is Kikkan Randall. As the U.S. Ski Team veteran nears the due date of her first child, she talks about pregnancy, training and how next season might look. "We'll go over to Europe early next year as a family," she explains. "While it’s a lot to figure out, we've got some time and we've got some good options."
Susan Dunklee was skiing in the top five of the biathlon World Championships pursuit until the third shooting stage, where she missed three targets and dropped to 20th. But with the second-fastest ski time of the day, she could salvage her second top ten of the weekend by the finish.
Martin Fourcade easily won the 12.5 k World Championships pursuit, despite three penalties. More surprised was Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who repeated his silver medal performance from the sprint. Nathan Smith of Canada placed 15th and Tim Burke of the United States 17th.
Despite Petter Northug's greatest efforts, he couldn't catch Sergey Ustiugov during Saturday's four-lap 15 k freestyle pursuit in downtown Quebec City. The Russian held Northug off by 17 seconds for the win to keep the Ski Tour Canada leader's bib heading to Canmore, Alberta. Behind them, Alex Harvey outlasted Martin Johnsrud Sundby for fourth place, 44.5 seconds behind Emil Iversen in third.
After Heidi Weng nabbed the Ski Tour Canada leader's bib from her Norwegian teammate Therese Johaug, Weng intended to keep it after the women's 10 k pursuit on Saturday. “[Therese] is very strong in the distance and she has won so many times now, so it was very good to take her,” Weng said.
Susan Dunklee was eighth in the first individual race of World Championships, despite a missed shot in standing - and the American wants more. "That Presque Isle podium really got me excited again- motivated, and confident, and very hungry," she said.
Martin Fourcade surged to the biggest World Championships sprint victory margin in over a decade, besting a field including 42-year-old Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway. After taking silver, Bjørndalen - whose record 94 World Cup wins may never be matched - said he thought Fourcade was a better biathlete.
On a cold, clear day in historic Quebec City, Canada's Alex Harvey didn't take the win, but he stole the show. In an impressive run, Harvey placed second to France's Baptiste Gros in the Ski Tour Canada's Stage 3 freestyle sprint. The U.S. had three in the heats, with Simi Hamilton finishing eighth, Erik Bjornsen a career-best 20th and Andy Newell 29th. Canada's Jess Cockney notched 10th for his best result in four years.
Sweden's 22-year-old Stina Nilsson bested four Norwegians to top Stage 3 of the Ski Tour Canada, the women's freestyle sprint in Quebec City. Maiken Caspersen Falla missed out on her fifth-straight skate sprint win, but locked up the overall Sprint World Cup title, and four Americans finished in the top 20, led by Sadie Bjornsen in eighth.
FasterSkier previewed the Quebec City courses before the third and fourth stages of the Ski Tour Canada, another freestyle sprint and 10/15 k freestyle pursuits, with the sprint on Friday on the historic Plains of Abraham. We also joined a press conference with the local celebrity, Alex Harvey. "A top-five placement overall is still realistic," he said of the entire Tour. "Even the podium is not out of reach."
Notes, quotes, photos and even a video of several of the North Americans you've been waiting to hear from at the Ski Tour Canada.
Martin Fourcade versus Simon Schempp: Two perennial rivals duking it out on the final loop of Thursday's mixed relay. It was a fitting end to the first race of the 2016 IBU World Championships in Oslo, Norway. While Fourcade anchored France to gold and Germany took second, the U.S. placed 10th and Canada 11th.
Therese Johaug overcame an unusual starting position in the fourth row to win the women's 10.5 k classic mass start by a minute over her Norwegian teammate Heidi Weng. With the win, Johaug claimed the Ski Tour Canada lead, while American Jessie Diggins raced to eighth to put herself in fifth overall.
Jessie Diggins felt right at home on Tuesday in Gatineau, Quebec, racing to her fourth podium in the last two months in the first stage of the Ski Tour Canada. She timed her strikes and finished third overall, while three other U.S. women made the heats and Canada's Maya MacIsaac-Jones achieved 29th.
The U.S. Ski Team rocked the first stage of the Ski Tour Canada with back-to-back podiums, starting with Jessie Diggins in third in the women's freestyle sprint, followed by Simi Hamilton in third as well in the men's sprint.
A "void-drink-wait" strategy, used by some dopers to avoid detection in analytical tests, also has impacts on Athlete Biological Passport blood markers, a Danish research team has found. There remains no accurate method to detect blood plasma volume manipulation.