After leading a chase group in fourth place for the first portion of the race, Sadie Bjornsen finished 14th in today's World Cup 10 k pursuit - closely followed by American teammate Liz Stephen. The U.S. faced some disappointments, with Jessie Diggins dropping 40+ places, but saw one athlete, Ida Sargent, climb through the ranks.
Sunday's 15 k classic pursuit proved to be rough for the American men on the Tour de Ski. Erik Bjornsen led the Americans in 60th, while Simi Hamilton, following a successful prologue, finished just behind in 61st. Andy Newell suffered a crash and finished in 88th.
If you thought this was the year that Marit Bjørgen was beatable, think again. After being bested by Therese Johaug in every 10 k classic so far this year (at least in split time, in the case of the Lillehammer pursuit she won), the Norwegian star turned it around and dominated the Tour de Ski pursuit in Oberstdorf. Also inside: Ingvild Flugstad Østberg throws some shade on Kowalczyk about that snowplow.
By attacking Oberstdorf's long, hard climb on the second lap, Sadie Bjornsen, Liz Stephen, and Jessie Diggins chalked up their best results of the season: seventh, eighth, and fourteenth in the 3.3 k Tour de Ski prologue. Kikkan Randall joined them in the points and the U.S. women's team is confident.
Last year, Canada's Alex Harvey won the Tour de Ski prologue. That wasn't going to happen today: "I haven’t quite found my groove in skating this year," he said, but he's still in a great position for tomorrow's 15 k pursuit. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton of the U.S. Ski Team scored his first World Cup distance points in 26th.
Dario Cologna may have won two Olympic gold medals in Sochi, but it's been a heck of a long time since he won an actual World Cup. By besting the field in Saturday's 4.4 k prologue by 5 seconds, he did just that. Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden bested Norway's Petter Northug for second place.
Unsure of whether she can win the Tour, Marit Bjørgen nonetheless set an impressive pace: she won the first race of the seven-race series by ten seconds, despite it being only 3.3 kilometers long. Norway swept the podium again in a World Cup season that's turning out to be all red.
When Norway's Didrik Tønseth got appendicitis right before Christmas, replacement Simen Sveen called off the holidays and stayed in Davos to train. “I’m not nervous, just excited," he told FasterSkier in an exclusive interview. "There’s a big difference. Being excited helps me bring out the best in me."
Norwegian star Marit Bjørgen has never won the Tour de Ski. On the one hand, who cares - she's won everything else, mostly several times over. But she'd like a win and thinks that if she can have a minute lead on teammate Therese Johaug going into the final climb, she can do it. Read the rest of our Tour de Ski preview inside!
Noah Hoffman was the last American left in the Tour de Ski. Bad ski choice got him off to a slow start, but he powered up the immense climb to find himself in a career-best 25th.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby led the final stage of the Tour de Ski and never looked back as he skied to his, and Norway's, first victory in the event's history. Sundby, who has skied in every Tour de Ski, called his feat a "dream come true" and, overcome, said, "I have a great feeling, deep into the soul." Chris Jespersen of Norway, skiing in his first Tour de Ski, captured second place. Of his effort on the big climb, he said, "towards the end I thought, 'Now I die.'”
Therese Johaug became the first Norwegian to win the Tour de Ski, overtaking teammate Astrid Jacobsen on the Final Climb up Alpe Cermis for the victory in the eighth edition of the event. Heidi Weng placed third to give Norway a podium sweep.
Alex Harvey can walk away from the 2014 Tour de Ski with his head held high. After finishing fifth in the 10 k individual classic on Saturday, Harvey ranked fourth in the overall Tour standings.
Saturday's Tour de Ski stage 6 individual classic race saw Jessie Diggins notch her best ever classic race. Diggins came in 10th, while Liz Stephen finished a solid 21st, and Noah Hoffman in 47th had an off day.
The Norwegian men swept the top four spots in the penultimate stage of the 2014 Tour de Ski. Led by Petter Northug's first victory of the season, Norway moved closer to capturing the nation's first Tour title. Overall Tour leader Martin Johnsrud Sundby was second in the 10 k classic race, and Chris Jespersen was third.
Therese Johaug, second overall in the Tour de Ski, skied a dominating race that was far and away faster than any of her competitors. Johaug's performance went a long way toward her goal of being the first to the summit of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday.
Canadian Alex Harvey skied back onto the Tour de Ski podium, finishing third in the 35 k freestyle pursuit, his third podium of the seven stage event.
Noah Hoffman was beginning to accept that the Tour de Ski was not going to work out as planned this season. That is, until today, when the American U.S. Ski Team member set the second-fastest time of the day in today’s 35-kilometer pursuit in Toblach, Italy, advancing from 69th place to 27th. Hoffman skied the course in 1:19:58.1, only 50.7 seconds slower than sixth-place finisher Johannes Dürr of Austria, who scored the day’s fastest time....
Astrid Jacobsen of Norway, the Tour leader in the red bib, won Friday's 15 k freestyle pursuit race to maintain her lead over teammate Therese Johaug.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby took off like a rocket on Friday and never looked back. The 29-year-old Norwegian had a 32 second headstart in the 5th stage of the Tour de Ski, a 35 k freestyle pursuit race, and he took full advantage of it.