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!
With their eyes on the prize of a holiday break (for biathletes and non-Tour de Ski participants, two weekends off of the World Cup), a number of North American skiers notched competitive results, and for some -- even career bests -- in the last week.
None of the venues slated to host stages of the Tour de Ski seem ready, given the warm temperatures and lack of snow in central Europe. FIS is reportedly in emergency meetings today to develop a backup plan for the event.
The USST was ready to make some big moves Sunday when five of its athletes had strong qualification in the 1.4 k freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. However, with four of five athletes crashing, the American squad was left wanting more. Kikkan Randall led the day in 9th, making her first semifinal appearance of the year. “It was a weird start to the season so I'm glad to be feeling like I am coming back,” she said of the day.
How much did Norway’s Marit Bjørgen have left and could anybody beat her? That was the question on Sunday in the women's 1.3 k freestyle sprint on the last day of racing before the holiday break. One young Swede came close.
Canadians Lenny Valjas and Jesse Cockney skied well enough to finish in the points in the final race before the holiday break, a 1.3 k freestyle sprint on Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. It was Cockney's best individual World Cup result in more than two years.
There was no shortage of action in the men’s 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint on Sunday as 24-year-old Federico Pellegrino fought his way to his first-ever World Cup win and Italy’s first victory of the season. “I hope it's a good omen," he said after the race. "I hope it is the first in a long series of triumphs.”
Liz Stephen entered Saturday’s 10 k freestyle in Davos, Switzerland with a goal of placing in the top-10. While she missed her target by 4.9 seconds and earned a 12th place on the day, the result was a promising step for the 27-year-old as she continues to improve with every race.
Canadians were well behind the leaders in Saturday's World Cup 10/15 k freestyle in Davos, Switzerland. Ivan Babikov and Alex Harvey were the top men, finishing 34th and 38th, while Emily Nishikawa squeaked into the top 50, finishing 49th despite a crash.
Anders Gløersen had planned to sit out Saturday’s World Cup 15-kilometer freestyle interval start in Davos, Switzerland in order to rest for Sunday’s sprint. However, as fate would have it, several teammates came down with illness and Gløerson was placed on the start list. It turns out fate was in the Norwegian’s favor, as he earned his first World Cup distance victory in convincing fashion.
Marit Bjørgen had a lot of history riding on Saturday's 10 k freestyle -- if she or any other Norwegian woman won it, their team could go down in the record books with the longest World Cup winning streak. But mostly Bjørgen was looking for her first distance win of the season.
Arnaud Du Pasquier, a member of Colorado University's 2014 squad to NCAA Championships, will be a senior next year. For now, though, he's taking a year to complete his mandatory military service in his native Switzerland - which he's doing by skiing full-time, including in the Nations Group at the Davos World Cups.
American Caitlin Gregg had big plans to before heading to the World Cup this winter as the SuperTour leader, with qualification for World Championships at the top of the list. Disappointed in her results the last two weekends, she's got one more World Cup weekend then will try to make a statement at U.S. nationals.
Catch up on what you may have missed this weekend, as nordic competitions across the globe are begging to heat up. Here, we recap everything from biathlon in Austria to the cross country World Cup in Switzerland and everything in between.