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.
Jessie Diggins and Liz Stephen had a plan. Norway’s Kristin Stormer Steira was starting four seconds ahead of Diggins; Stephen was starting two seconds back in Friday’s 15-kilometer pursuit in Toblach, Italy. The result? Two top-10 performances.
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.
After breaking a pole early in the 35 k Cortina to Toblach pursuit, Canadian Ivan Babikov was still able to move up the rankings in the Tour de Ski.
Liz Stephen was the only American to crack the top-30 in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski, placing 26th in the women's 10 k classic mass start. Noah Hoffman led the way in the men's 15 k, placing 55th.
Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltaranin used a powerful kick to claim victory in the fourth stage of the 2014 Tour de Ski, sprinting away from a surprising Hannes Dotzler of Germany.
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg outshone her fellow Norwegians in Tuesdays freestyle sprint race in stage 3 of the Tour de Ski. Setting the fastest qualifying time around the 1.5 k course, she continually proved her speed throughout the day to seize the coveted red leaders bib of the Tour de Ski.
Hanna Erikson of Sweden won her first World Cup race today in an impressive victory that demonstrated both her strength and tactical acumen.
Headwinds and heavily falling snow couldn’t stop Sweden's Calle Halfvarsson from skiing away from the field to win his first World Cup and the second stage of the Tour de Ski on Sunday in Oberhof, Germany.
Even if you have a wealth of international racing experience, the Olympics are a different thing entirely. Leif Nordgren and Annelies Cook, both of whom narrowly missed making the Vancouver teams, locked up their nominations for the U.S. biathlon squad based on results from the first period of World Cup racing this season.
Of the three nations with two teams in the women's final on Sunday, the U.S. was one of them. After qualifying in second and third in the same semifinal (despite a collision between teammates), the Americans were a factor early in the classic-team sprint final -- before Finland and Norway broke away.
It was a disappointing day in Asiago, Italy, for the U.S. and Canadian men in Sunday's classic team sprint, with neither team making the final. Both Canada I, with Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey, and USA I, with Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell, were in the same semifinal -- the second one, which proved disadvantageous on a balmy 41-degree day.
Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Anne Kyllönen dominated Sunday’s 1.25-kilometer classic team event at the World Cup in Asiago, Italy, giving a lesson to more than 20 other teams on how to get out front and stay there, beating the likes of Norway on the way.
Just a few meters ahead coming into the homestretch, Ola Vigen Hattestad stayed ahead and outlunged Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan by a couple centimeters on Sunday, giving Norway I the victory as Kazakhstan placed second and Norway II finished third.
Dasha Gaiazova was once again Canada’s lone star in today’s World Cup in Asiago, Italy. After qualifying in 28th in the classic sprint, she was the only Canadian to move on to the heats and ended her day in 14th. Despite some improvement, the Canadians are still looking for more.