U.S. Ski Team veteran Kikkan Randall reacts to teammate Sophie Caldwell's first-career podium. "You could tell she was ready to make this happen," Randall said on the phone Tuesday. Randall's husband, Jeff Ellis, also talks about his experience interviewing Caldwell after the race.
Sophie Caldwell beat two Norwegians en route to her first career World Cup victory on Tuesday -- winning the women's classic sprint at the Tour de Ski Stage 4 and becoming the only other U.S. woman besides Kikkan Randall to win a World Cup race.
With the longest races of the Tour de Ski out of the way, sprinters Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton, Sophie Caldwell, and Ida Sargent are looking forward to the classic sprint on Tuesday. They may continue the Tour a stage or two, seeking to score World Cup points in a distance event.
Didrik Tønseth admits that a plan that seemed smart in the morning didn't seem so smart after the race was over - and after Norwegian teammate Petter Northug left him for dead on the trails. With just one more sprint to get out of the way, the distance specialist still hopes for a top Tour de Ski finish.
Americans Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen skied another pair of consistent races, keeping themselves in the top 10 overall in the Tour de Ski. Liz Stephen moved up to 22nd place, while Sophie Caldwell called her effort "maybe my best-ever distance race" in 27th.
Canada's Alex Harvey started seventh and finished ninth to maintain his place in the top 10 of the Tour de Ski after three stages, and American Noah Hoffman posted the 17th-fastest time of the day to finish in the top 25 for the second-straight day in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg of Norway picked up her first World Cup distance victory by doing the unthinkable: dropping seemingly unbeatable teammate Therese Johaug on an uphill. "It was a great victory for me, in many ways," said Østberg, who now leads the Tour de Ski by 14.3 seconds.
Recovering from his first sprint final in a year, Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway took a while to really get going - but then collected a win in the 30 k classic mass start, plus enough bonus seconds to give him a 1:18 lead in the Tour de Ski. Canada's Alex Harvey was in podium position until "blowing up" 3 k from the finish.
With both Noah Hoffman (in 23rd) and Erik Bjornsen (in 30th) notching their best World Cup results of the season, the American men's team was happy at the finish line -- and now only needs one more man to score a World Cup distance point to increase its start quota next season.
With Sadie Bjornsen and Jessie Diggins going 7-8, the U.S. Ski Team had lots to celebrate despite the disappointment of Simi Hamilton crashing out in the quarterfinals. "It’s ski racing, we all come out on the good end of things, we all come out on the bad end of things," Hamilton said.
After a close call in the quarterfinals, Sophie Caldwell advanced as a lucky loser - and adjusted her strategy, going all the way to the final where she finished fourth: "Fourth is always sort of a bittersweet place to get... But this is the best result I’ve had in a long time so I’m really happy with it."
Sophie Caldwell had the best World Cup sprint qualifier of her career: "My legs felt better than they have all year." She's joined by five U.S. teammates in the heats, including Simi Hamilton, who talked to us about the pressure felt after winning this Tour de Ski stage two years ago.
Born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, Dahria Beatty of the Alberta World Cup Academy recently packed her bags for the second period of World Cup races in Europe and is ready to represent Canada on the U25 B-Tour.
It's not often that a NorAm leader turns down their start rights on the World Cup. But Kevin Sandau has a good reason to do so: he's focused on prepping for the last period of World Cups, which will happen at home in Canada.
Therese Johaug once again dusted the women's field, this time in the 10 k classic individual start at the World Cup in Toblach, Italy. There, two U.S. women finished in the top 20, about two minutes behind her.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby double poled all 15 k of Sunday's classic race in Toblach, Italy, for his fifth win in as many World Cup distance races this season. Russia's Alexander Bessmertnykh rivaled him for most of the race, but finished 12.6 seconds back on kick wax. Canada's Alex Harvey placed 16th and Devon Kershaw was in the points in 28th.
Norway's sprint regulars, Maiken Caspersen Falla and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg took the top two spots on the skate-sprint podium at the Toblach World Cup, while two U.S. women landed in the top 10 and four of five made the heats.
Simi Hamilton was feeling his potential and his moment on Saturday. "It really comes down to what makes me super happy, and that’s skiing really fast on a sunny day and in beautiful places, with lots of great fans on a short course, skating especially," the U.S. sprinter said after notching his second World Cup podium in two years.
Simi Hamilton, 28, notched the second World Cup podium of his career on Saturday, finishing second to Italy's Federico Pellegrino by less than half a second in the freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy. Two U.S. women finished in the top 10, with Sophie Caldwell in seventh and Sadie Bjornsen in ninth.
Sweden's Stina Nilsson pulled off a last-minute move from third to first in the women's freestyle sprint in Davos to win her first World Cup, and Sophie Caldwell advanced as a two-time lucky loser to ultimately place sixth in the final. Her U.S. teammate, Jessie Diggins placed ninth overall, and two other U.S. women made the heats.