The two-time World Cup sprint champion at SuperTour Finals surprised no one in clocking the fastest women's 3.3 k prologue time on Thursday through a wet snow squall. In fact, Kikkan Randall's time held up as the second-fastest of the day once the men's field had finished. Jessie Diggins took second, 8.0 seconds back, and Sadie Bjornsen claimed third in the opening event of the series.
Erik Bjornsen headed into Thursday's wet-and-blustery 3.3 k prologue at SuperTour Finals with a controlled fire, pacing himself for the first half and attacking for his first SuperTour win by 14.5 seconds. The only man, or woman, to beat Kikkan Randall, he did so on a tough and slow course.
At 7,000 feet and with a serious climb smack in the middle, the 3.3 k freestyle prologue will open up SuperTour Finals on Thursday with a bang. The Americans, Canadians, Europeans and biathletes in Truckee will quickly find out what they have left in the tank as the season begins to close.
There was plenty of sun and snow to go around at the backup course SuperTour Finals at Auburn Ski Club on Wednesday. Professional, junior and college athletes from all over the country were out training and testing skis to dial in their game plans before the races series gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Thursday with the 3.3 k freestyle prologue. A few trailside images.
Snow trouble at major championships is the new normal, apparently. Race organizers for the 2013 SuperTour Finals and Distance Nationals, faced with driest winter on record and insufficient snowpack on the newly-homologated courses at Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Center, were forced to move three events to higher ground last week. The 30/50 k will now take place at Royal Gorge and the freestyle prologue and 10/15 k classic will be at Auburn Ski Club.
We know, we know: it's FAHL-IN. But still. The World Cup wrapped up with spectacular races and plenty of sun in Stockholm and Falun, with Justyna Kowalczyk and Petter Northug winning the season-long titles and Kikkan Randall taking home not only the Sprint Cup but also third place in the overall. Plus, racing on this side of the pond at Whistler and Craftsbury.
Sorry, New Hampshire: the Vermont-based teams of Craftsbury, Stratton, and UVM had a lock on the podium at the Craftsbury Spring Tour after 10/15 k pursuits based on the previous two days' results. Sophie Caldwell consolidated her lead to win by a mile, while Pat O'Brien worked some slick skis through the sunny snow to edge out Eric Packer.
Recently back from Europe, Sophie Caldwell has dominated Craftsbury's mini-tour so far, winning the 3.6 k prologue by over 30 seconds and the sprint qualifier by ten. The men's field is tighter, after Pat O'Brien and Paddy Caldwell dueled it out in the prologue and then the sprint final came down to a drag race between SMST2 teammates Eric Packer and Skyler Davis.
To finish off six races in three countries over nine days, Sadie Bjornsen capped off her European race season with a second place finish at OPA Cup Finals in a close race with Germany's Sandra Ringwald. Sam Tarling led the U.S. with a 23rd in the men's race and Paddy Caldwell skied the sixth-fastest course time to finish 12th in the junior race.
From Drammen to nearby Oslo, to a frigid and snowy biathlon weekend in Siberia, and Norwegian dominance and U.S. junior nationals - a lot of exciting racing this weekend, much of it with extra significance as the end of the season draws near.
After taking third in the prologue at OPA Cup Finals in Toblach, Italy, Sadie Bjornsen followed up on Saturday with an outright win in the second stage of the mini-tour, a 5 k individual classic. Sam Tarling led the U.S. in the men's 10 k and Paddy Caldwell had his best classic race of the year in the junior division.
Sadie Bjornsen (USA), fresh off career-best World Cup results in both distance and sprint last weekend continued her hot streak, placing third in the OPA Cup Finals prologue.
With only a few weeks left of racing across the nordic sports at each competitive level, the season is beginning to show distinct signs of drawing to a close. Most notably, Kikkan Randall (USA) won her one and only shot at a freestyle sprint duel with Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in Lahti, Finland, and in the process locked down the sprint crystal globe a full three competitions before the end of the season. Emil Joensson (SWE) did the...
For some "warm-up" races before hitting the OPA Cup, a group of Stratton and APU athletes competed in Slavic Cup competitions in Nove Mesto this weekend. They made a splash, with Kate Fitzgerald, Sophie Caldwell, and Rosie Brennan sweeping Sunday's 10 k pursuit. Paddy Caldwell also continued his success from Norwegian junior nationals the weekend before.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
Marit Bjørgen of Norway and Nikita Kriukov of Russia both have two gold medals to their names so far this Championships, and Dario Cologna finally got the title he's been search for; but Americans made a splash too, in every discipline, with Sarah Hendrickson winning jumping, Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins the team sprint, and the nordic combined team bronze in the team event. Alex Harvey also made history when he took bronze in the classic sprint, the first individual World Champs medal for Canada.
The cash from Caitlin Gregg's Birkie victory on Saturday will help keep her and husband Brian Gregg on sound financial footing as they train for next year’s Olympics in Russia.
The teamwork and tactics of a group of Italians locked the American men out of the prize money on their home turf, with Sergio Bonaldi leading a sweep of the top four.
Russian Andrei Tiuterev and CXC's Jennie Bender took top honors in the Madison SuperTour city sprint on Sunday.
In front of the capitol building in downtown Madison, Wis., Rosie Brennan and Dmitry Ozerskiy out-sprinted a tight field for the first wins of this weekend's SuperTour.