With four men in the Tour de Ski, Alex Harvey led Canada with a season-best of sixth in Saturday's 4 k prologue. While it probably wasn't going to make or break his season, it was still a good sign for him and teammates like Ivan Babikov, who posted a personal best of 32nd.
In the kickoff stage of the 2013 Tour de Ski, Kikkan Randall kept on rolling with a 4.4-second win in the 3.1 k prologue. Charlotte Kalla took second and Justyna Kowalczyk a close third. "I knew I had a decent chance," Randall said.
Last year's Tour de Ski prologue winner, Petter Northug of Norway started the 2012/2013 Tour on another strong note, winning Saturday's 4 k freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, ahead of Marcus Hellner and Alexander Legkov.
Just when you thought you couldn’t go another day without races to follow and results to check, the Tour de Ski is here to deliver a concentrated dose of cross country drama. The seventh edition of the event begins on Saturday with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany. Here's a taste of what to expect.
By all accounts, Petter Northug’s 2011-2012 campaign was an unexpected failure. The high-profile Norwegian star, who usually finished at or near the top of every podium he contended for, specifically set out to do two things last winter: take the Tour de Ski and win the Vasaloppet. He came up short on both counts; Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and Marcus Hellner of Sweden both beat him in the Tour in first and second, respectively, and a...
During Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, spectators standing at just the right spot on the race course could have witnessed something surprising enough to make them choke on their cappuccinos: two Swedish fans screaming at the top of their lungs for Kikkan Randall, the American cross-country ski racer. The scene made little sense, until one realized that the fans were the parents of Emil Jönsson, the star Swedish sprinter and...
As with most stage races these days, the Tour de Ski included some handicap start pursuits. Generally, the athletes will start in a staggered fashion based upon their time back in the overall standings, and the first person to the finish line wins the stage. This creates some very unusual incentives for the athletes, depending [...] Related posts:
I didn’t do nearly as much writing about the Tour as I would have liked, but here are some graphs summarizing the way things shook out. Men Here’s a bird’s eye view of the men’s Tour, measured using seconds behind the median skier: These sorts of bump charts are nice, as they can allow you [...] Related posts:
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – By the time most athletes arrived at the top of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday, in the final stage of the Tour de Ski, they were ready for a nap. Or a massage. Or a beer. Or all of the above. Not Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen, though. No fewer than eight hours after crossing the finish line here, they were already competing in another race: a team sprint on...
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 – The hill today, and the races, were epic. Here are FasterSkier’s images from the way up. Enjoy.
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Tour de Ski winners are all alike; every Tour de Ski loser is a loser in his own way. Petter Northug (NOR), Marcus Hellner (SWE), Devon Kershaw (CAN), Lukas Bauer (CZE)—each had his own problem that torpedoed his hopes for a Tour victory, whether it was bad skis, a broken pole, a weak discipline, or an uncooperative body. Dario Cologna, on the other hand, had nothing go wrong. The Swiss...
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 – Kris Freeman (USA) raced to a poor result yesterday, consistent with his highly variable season, finishing the day in 55th place, and losing his hopes of a respectable Tour de Ski finish. He vowed, however to finish the event, completing the 9th stage and crossing the finish line on the Alpe de Cermis. “Yesterday, any sensible person would’ve dropped out, but I wanted to race today. ” He did just...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – If anyone wanted a preview of how next season’s World Championships here might unfold for American skier Kikkan Randall, they had to look no further than the women’s lead pack in Stage 8 of the Tour de Ski on Saturday. For half of the race, a 9 k mass start classic competition, Randall skied at the front with big names like Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)—and even led...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – The bell lap of the 2012 Tour de Ski kicks off on Sunday with the famed climb up the Alpe Cermis, and after a decisive victory over Marit Bjørgen (NOR), Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will start with an eleven second lead. Kowalczyk demonstrated that she may have been down for a few days, as Bjørgen won four consecutive stages, but she was certainly not out. Back in her preferred classic technique...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Kris Freeman (USA) started off stage 8 of the 2012 Tour de Ski, a 20k classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, with a bang. He was skiing at the back of the tight lead group. He looked strong and smooth. He reported that “I didn’t…feel like I was going out too fast…the first lap felt easy.” But then something happened, and he was gone. Each lap he fell farther...
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...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – The course today for Stage 8 of the 2011/2012 Tour de Ski was tough! There was not much in the way of flat, and those poor World Cup souls who did not have perfect kick – amazing athletes every one of them – fell back quickly. Here are FasterSkier’s pictures on the day.
TOBLACH, Italy – Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski, which took place Thursday, is the event’s crown jewel: a 35-kilometer point-to-point race that sent competitors up an over a mountain pass, with the craggy Dolomites as a stunning backdrop. Or, to be more precise, it sent male competitors up and over a mountain pass, with the craggy Dolomites as a stunning backdrop. The women, meanwhile, skied three laps of a standard five-kilometer course on...