The competitive season began today for the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) at the MSU Invite at Bohart Ranch in Montana. After an early lead on Friday, the Colorado Buffs won the nordic portion of the meet with another good day on Saturday.
Methow Valley, WA – For the week prior to the first ever Methow Valley Super Tour the weather was bleak and organizers were understandably stressed. A nice base of snow remained, however temps were hovering in the critical 29-38 degree range and it rained Wednesday and Friday, threatening the event. The Methow had been in a dark and gray misty fog for a week. Alas…Friday night the sky began to clear and you could feel...
Chaux Neuve, France – The US Nordic Combined turned in another stellar performance, edging closer to sweeping the World Cup podium, placing three skiers in the top six this morning. Todd Lodwick led the squad in third, 7.1 seconds behind winner Magnus Moan (NOR). Jason Lamy Chapuis, the overall World Cup leader finished 2nd. Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong took 5th and 6th respectively, after leading most of the race. Lamy Chapuis started with a...
Otepää, Estonia – Lukas Buaer (CZE), fresh off his second Tour de Ski title, won the men’s 15km individual start classic in Otepää this morning. Bauer skied to a 17 second victory over classic distance specialist, and hometown hero, Andrus Veerpalu (EST). Another Estonian, Jaak Mae, finished 3rd, +41.6. The field was relatively small and weak – with many skiers resting after the Tour and preparing for the Olympics. But that does not diminish Bauer’s...
Otepää, Estonia – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) showed no signs of fatigue after winning the Tour de Ski, edging a fresh Marit Bjoergen (NOR) by 4.2 seconds in the 10km individual classic this morning. Kowalczyk led at every time check and held off a hard-charging Bjoergen. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) claimed 3rd, just under 30 seconds back. Bjoergen skipped the Tour de Ski to focus on the Olympics, and is still in good form – but...
RUHPOLDING, Germany – The first U.S. women’s relay of the 2009-2010 season turned out to be a good test event for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The Swedish women took their first ever victory in today’s relay ahead of Russia and Norway. Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY), Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) and Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) finished 19th following some challenges on the track and shooting range. “I think despite the...
Ruhpolding (GER) – Jeremy Teela (USA) is rounding into form at just the right time. With the Olympics just around the corner, Teela posted his second consecutive top-20 World Cup biathlon finish, placing 17th in today’s 10km sprint competition. Teela finiahed 1:25.8 behind winner Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) with a single penalty. Svendsen shot clean, as did the two other men on the podium. Ole Einar Bjorndalen (NOR) was 2nd, just 3,2 seconds back, with...
Oskar Svärd and Sandra Hansson, both from Sweden, won their respective titles in the second FIS Marathon Cup this Sunday. The Jizerská Padesatka is a 50km classic race held in Bedrichov, Czech Republic. Estonian Andrus Veerpalu took the early lead in the men’s race, but there was a large pack of very strong racers such as Oskar Svärd, Jerry Ahrlin, Thomas Alsgaard, Mario Cattaneo and Stanizlav Rezac who skied together until the end. Alsgaard (NOR), who...
The weekend of college races in Jackson, New Hampshire started off with an excitingly fast, criterium style race format. The snow was thin, but perfectly cold and the trail crew at Jackson had groomed the course to a sparkling cut under blue-bird skies. The criterium was a mass start, with nearly 50 competitors in each field toeing the line. The course raced across the stadium and up a steep wall of a hill climb before dropping back down an S-turn back into the...
Val di Fiemme, Italy – Lukas Bauer (CZE) became the first man to win two Tour de Ski titles, skiing away from Peter Northug (NOR) on the Final Climb for a clear victory. Entering the day, the big question was what strength would win out – Bauer’s hill climbing ability, or Northug’s determination and finishing ability. At the press conference following yesterday’s mass start each man selected the other as the favorite. But Northug was...
Val di Fiemme, Italy – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) staged a come from behind win to win her first Tour de Ski. the defending overall World Cup champion overtook Petra Majdic (SLO) and skied away with 800 meters to go. Kowalczyk started 34 seconds behind Majdic, a gap created by Majdic’s fine performance in yesterday’s mass start. The Pole slowly closed over the first 6.5 kilometers, and one kilometer later she was on Majdic’s tails. Looking...
Editor’s Note: The cross-country portion of th race was held on the same course as the Tour de Ski final climb. VAL DI FIEMME, Italy (Jan. 10) – It was history in the making in Italy Sunday as World Champions Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) and Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) took first and second, marking the first time two U.S. athletes have made the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup podium together. Demong had built a...
Val di Fiemme, Italy – Petra Majdic (SLO) won a tightly packed 10km mass start classic in the 7th stage of the 2010 Tour de Ski. The short format led to thirty skiers finishing within 30 seconds. Eleven of the first 12 places were decided by the photo finish camera. And at the end of it all, Majdic was atop the podium, 45 bonus seconds in hand, and the overall Tour lead. She outsprinted Elena...
PREDAZZO, Italy (Jan. 9) – The U.S. Ski Team’s three world champions played a key role in a back-and-forth battle Saturday in the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Predazzo. But in the end, it was Austria’s Felix Gottwald taking the win with Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) fourth. It was the Olympic champion’s first win since coming out of retirement. Spillane, along with Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) and Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO), were...
Simone Hauswald of Germany gained a narrow victory over Helena Jonsson of Sweden in the Women’s 7.5K Sprint on a windy, snowy afternoon today in Oberhof. Both Hauswald and Jonsson had single penalties, but Hauswald crossed the finish line in 22:15.1, with Jonsson trailing by 8.7 seconds. Nervous Jonsson in Second Jonsson, wearing the combination Yellow/Red bib was quite happy to finish second. She said, “I was surprised to finish second. I was quite nervous...
Toblach, Italy – Daniel Rickardsson (SWE) skied to a narrow 1.7 second victory over Lukas Bauer (CZE) in the men’s 10km classic as the 2010 Tour de Ski continued in Italy. Rickardsson, who had never finished on the World Cup podium, battled with Bauer for the entire race. The pair held the top two positions at every intermediate time check. Rickardsson held the advantage, starting 30 seconds in back of Bauer, enabling him to get...
Prague, Czech Republic – Natalia Korosteleva (RUS) won the fourth stage of the 2010 Tour de Ski, and her first ever World Cup race, riding a late charge in sloppy conditions in Prague. Korosteleva won an exciting final with numerous lead changes and one major crash. Slovenian Vesna Fabjan, the top qualifier, led early followed closely by Korosteleva, Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) Celine Brun-Lie (NOR) and Arianna Follis (ITA). Fabjan crashed on one of the...
Oberhof, Germany – Eldar Roenning (NOR) won a hotly contested sprint final in the third stage of the 2010 Tour de Ski. Roenning prevailed through challenging conditions to claim his sixth career World Cup victory, and his first since 2008. The weather was far from ideal in Oberhof this afternoon, with heavy snow falling and soft tracks. These conditions combined with a long course of 1.6km, made for slow qualification times and an uncommonly spread...
In the women’s freestyle sprint at the 2010 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, it was never a question of who, but rather how much. After a dominating eight-second win in the qualifying round, Kikkan Randall skied her way to an easy victory here this afternoon over Rebecca Dussault and Laura Valaas. Though Randall’s margin of victory dwindled slightly as the day went on, she was never seriously challenged by any of the competitors...
Oberhof, Germany – Petter Northug (NOR) held on to the lead in the 2010 Tour de Ski, edging Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS) in a photo finish. Northug won yesterday’s prolugue by .8 seconds. With sprint bonus seconds added, he began today’s 15km classic pursuit with a six second lead on Sweden’s Marcus Hellner. Northug set a fast pace out of the start, but with 60 skiers starting within 40 seconds, gaps quickly closed, and a large...