World Cup – Page 25 – FasterSkier.com

Fastenal Parallel 45 Festival and World Cup Cancelled (Press Release)

FasterSkierMarch 12, 2020

Official Public Statement Due to ongoing and evolving concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the International Ski Federation, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the local organizing committee, working in concert with local health officials, have made the difficult decision to cancel the Fastenal Parallel 45 Festival, the Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup race, and all associated events scheduled for March 14-17, 2020 in Minneapolis. We are devastated to announce this cancelation. In keeping with...

Racing World Cup

World Cup Finals in Canmore: Hosting Challenges

Gerry FursethMarch 12, 2020

FasterSkier dropped in at Canmore on the way to Québec City and got an update from Norbert Meier on the challenges of hosting in North America, all the activities that aren’t ski races, and the challenges of dealing with daily updates on managing the Coronavirus pandemic. While the World Health Organization upgraded Coronavirus to a pandemic a few hours before this interview, the status change is not a surprise as it was simply a matter...

News World Cup

Norway out for North American World Cups due to Covid-19 Precautions

FasterSkierMarch 10, 2020

According to several news reports, including a story from Norwegian Broadcaster NRK, the Norwegian Ski Federation has pulled its World Cup team from competing at the upcoming North American series of World Cups. “It is a total assessment of the situation we see in Norway and the rest of the world. We do not want to contribute to more infection,” cross-country manager Espen Bjervig told NRK according to a translation. It was also announced on Tuesday...

Racing World Cup

Here Come More Americans: Your Guide to the U.S. Men Racing in Québec City and Minneapolis

Gavin KentchMarch 10, 2020

You may have heard that the World Cup is returning not only to North America, but also to American soil, within the next few weeks. The world’s best skiers will be contesting sprint races in Québec City on March 14 and 15; a sprint in Minneapolis on March 17; and distance races plus a mixed relay in Canmore on March 20-22. For all six races, including the five across the border, the U.S. has an...

Racing World Cup

Here Come the Americans: Your Guide to the U.S. Women Racing in Québec City and Minneapolis

Gavin KentchMarch 10, 2020

Racing World Cup

Attrition in the Fog: Bolshunov pips Krüger for the Oslo 50 k Classic Win

Jason AlbertMarch 8, 2020

Oslo in late winter – it’s be hit or miss. Fog. Bluebird. A maritime climate, with plentiful moisture in the air, a slight drop in temps can morph the Holmenkollen ski complex into a ping-pong-ball-world. Athletes were mere shadows striding into and out of view on a foggy- drizzly day at the Holmenkollen. As spectators were limited to trail side spots as the main stadium was closed due to the Covid-19 virus, for some concerned,...

World Cup

Sans Fans, Sweden’s Karlsson Takes Johaug at the Holmenkollen Line

Rachel PerkinsMarch 7, 2020

Racing the Holmenkollen without spectators is a bit like not getting a white Christmas. It does not change the end result, here racing a 30-kilometer mass start classic race on the famed tracks above Oslo, Norway. But the experience loses some of the magic. Race organizers announced Thursday that spectators would not be allowed to attend the race due to the increased risk of spreading COVID-19. On a typical year, crowds in numbers up to...

Community General News World Cup

Stress Fracture Ends Østberg’s Season Prematurely

Rachel PerkinsMarch 6, 2020

Earlier this morning, the Norwegian news outlet NRK posted that Ingvild Flugstad Østberg has been forced to end her season early after sustaining a fracture in her heel. The news was announced by the Norwegian Ski Federation, after Østberg spoke with the press while carrying crutches and wearing a protective boot, which she will be wearing for the next five to six weeks. Østberg believes that the injury, which team doctors are calling a stress...

News Racing World Cup

Relocated to Konnerud: Drammen will wait 365 Days while Klæbo and Sundling Celebrate Now

FasterSkierMarch 4, 2020

Men’s Sprint Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Norwegian men showed up on form for today’s freestyle sprints in Konnerud, just outside the city of Drammen. As the venue was used for the Norwegian National championship at the end of January, most of the team has already had a dress rehearsal racing on the windy course. It seems that Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who sat out the national championships, did not need a dress rehearsal. He won the qualifier...

News Racing World Cup

With a Klæbo Anchor Leg – Norway Claims 4 x 7.5 k Relay in Lahti

Jason AlbertMarch 1, 2020

Sunday, for the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in Lahti, Finland the scene was decidedly more fitting for winter sport: The race began amidst falling snow despite bare firs and hardwoods lining the course. It’s been a sparse winter in Lahti. Eleven teams contested the relay, with ten nations represented; Russia fielded two teams. The U.S. was not represented. For the first 7.5 k leg, Russia I’s Ilia Semikov and Russia II’s Andrey Sobakarev...

Racing World Cup

Norway With the Win, Finland With Its First Relay Podium on Home Turf

Rachel PerkinsMarch 1, 2020

Sports fans talk a lot about home field advantage. Which team will play at home at Game 7 of the World Series? Or in the playoffs before the Stanley Cup? Home turf and the swells of a crowd whose numbers are skewed toward the home team has an undeniable effect. Yes, the Norwegian team of Tiril Udnes Weng, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Therese Johaug, and Heidi Weng won yet another 4×5-kilometer relay with a time of...

News Racing World Cup

Predictable? Maybe. Niskanen Wins 15 k Classic in Lahti

Jason AlbertFebruary 29, 2020

Some patterns in Lahti, Finland remained the same as it ever was: the top-11 positions in the men’s 15-kilometer classic were populated by Norway and Russia except for a lone Finn. On manmade tracks laid down through the snow-free woods of Lahti’s famed stadium, Iivo Niskanen stuck to his roots. When the World Cup comes to Finland, Niskanen remains the king of the 15 k interval start classic. Prior to Saturday’s race, the twenty-eight-year-old Niskanen...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Keeps Andersson at Bay for the Win in Lahti; Brennan 19th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 29, 2020

In a typical season, you might expect late February in Lahti, Finland to look wintery. 61 degrees North latitude, ample snow on the ground and clinging to the trees, maybe even a reindeer? In fact, in a plug for the venue showed a woman skiing through a snow-laden town and arriving at the base of the towering ski jumps. But it was not so today. Women time-trialed through the woods for two laps on a...

Racing World Cup

All Norway: Pål Golberg takes the Ski Tour Overall as Bolshunov Stymied by Tricky Conditions

Jason AlbertFebruary 23, 2020

Yellow bibbed as the overall leader of the World Cup, out first on Sunday’s 30 k classic pursuit in Trondheim, and Norway’s Pål Golberg starting 34 seconds back: this was the situation Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov found himself in as he pulsed from the start. Thrown into this mix of tension was a helter-skelter mish-mash of weather. On and off again snow, blustery winds, and temps hovering right near that wax tech’s no man’s land of...

News Racing World Cup

Johaug Crushes Stage 6 for Ski Tour Overall Win; Diggins Leads U.S. in Sixth (Updated)

Jason AlbertFebruary 23, 2020

We’ll start with the weather: think all over the place. A moving target for meteorologist with moisture spitting from the skies, and air masses swirling this way and that making the trees sway like a mamba line along the course. A wax tech’s nightmare scenario? Yes. It certainly trended in that direction. By all measures, this was Therese Johaug’s, Norway’s latest version of a cross-country skiing record-breaker, stage and tour. Of six stages total, she...

Racing World Cup

Falla Steps up For the Trondheim Win; Five U.S. Skiers in the Heats

Jason AlbertFebruary 22, 2020

The day began in Trondheim with a centimeter of snow, which then transitioned to big blue skies for the thousands of fans attending the fifth stage of the Ski Tour 2020, a 1.5 k classic sprint. The Norwegians can throw a cross-country race party. The scene, despite the different setting, was reminiscent of the festive cowbell and camp-out sideshow of Holmenkollen’s Frognerseteren. It’s not quite the Yankee stadium of cross-country skiing, but a sign that in...

News Racing World Cup

Bolshunov Goes Down; Klæbo on Form to Capture Tour Sprint Win

Alex KochonFebruary 22, 2020

Takeaways from Stage 5 (of 6) of the Ski Tour 2020? Alexander Bolshunov no longer has his minute-plus cushion to Pål Golberg in the overall, and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is rounding into G.O.A.T. (Greatest-Of-All-Time) form. The 23-year-old Bolshunov, a Russian powerhouse who won the Tour de Ski last month, ranks Stage 5 final results Tour overall standings |

Racing World Cup

Bolshunov Takes a Bold Flyer and the Stage 4 Win

Jason AlbertFebruary 20, 2020

With the course re-routed from the original 38-kilometer mass start skate to essentially an out and back into Meråker, Norway’s ski stadium, the day belonged to Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov who appears, at this point in the season, to be unstoppable in the distance events. In a post-race interview, Devon Kershaw noted that men paced it World-Cup comfortable for much of the first portion of the race. In other words, the effort up-front, although speedy for...

Racing World Cup

Mother Nature Forces a Re-Route; Johaug Fights For the Win (updated with Diggins audio interview)

Jason AlbertFebruary 20, 2020

Nature has a lovely way of being, well, natural. In other words; marginally unpredictable, sometimes downright uncomfortable, and finicky. Prior to the Ski Tour 2020’s Stage 4 weather forecast and on-the-ground big-wind gust reality, the stage had been scheduled to pulse 38-kilometers from Storlein, Sweden to Meråker, Norway in a point to point event. Cool, right? An international border crossing during a race, with a single sanctioned coaching/feed zone for athletes around the 25 k...

Racing World Cup

Klæbo Hop Skates to a Stage 3 Win; Hamilton Settles into 14th as he Returns to World Cup Sprinting

Jason AlbertFebruary 18, 2020

Let’s explain. The format was basic, a freestyle sprint. Otherwise, that’s where sprints as we know it ended. The 0.66-kilometer course shot off from the start up a gradual V2-able climb. It then rounded a left-hander where athletes descended what looked like a salted banked turn found in a X-Games terrain park. Down to the course’s bottom zoomed the skiers. Then things turned skyward. The course ascended a mini-Alpe Cermis lasting around one-minute for the...

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