On Monday, the Canadians waved goodbye to their tour bus, one only rivaled by Petter Northug's on the Tour de Ski. B2ten founder Dominick Gauthier explains how they paid for all the "rock star" ride, and why it's been a staple for the team for three years.
Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman improved in the overall Tour de Ski standings, but neither were psyched about their results, considering Hoffman fell and Freeman's been fighting an uphill battle since he crashed in stage two. Andy Newell broke two poles and skied a total of about seven kilometers on broken ones, settling for 67th.
Alex Harvey topped his performance from Saturday and notched fifth in Sunday's pursuit, putting him in fighting position through two stages in the Tour de Ski. Ivan Babikov also made the top 20 for Canada, rising to 19th.
Three Russians worked together to swallow Sunday's pursuit leader, Petter Northug, in the second stage of the Tour de Ski. Maxim Vylegzhanin and Alexander Legkov held the pace and secured a 1-2 finish while Northug settled for third.
Last year's Tour de Ski prologue winner, Petter Northug of Norway started the 2012/2013 Tour on another strong note, winning Saturday's 4 k freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, ahead of Marcus Hellner and Alexander Legkov.
By all accounts, Petter Northug’s 2011-2012 campaign was an unexpected failure. The high-profile Norwegian star, who usually finished at or near the top of every podium he contended for, specifically set out to do two things last winter: take the Tour de Ski and win the Vasaloppet. He came up short on both counts; Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and Marcus Hellner of Sweden both beat him in the Tour in first and second, respectively, and a...