Beginning this Saturday in Toblach, Italy with a freestyle sprint is the 13th edition of the Tour de Ski (TdS). According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), over the course of seven stages the men will race 80.918 kilometers, the women 60.67 k. The TdS has become both a staple and a spectacle of the annual World Cup calendar. With a jam-packed series of races primacy is placed on both the ability to recover well...
Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka weekend in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24 with a classic sprint. *** Finland Overall in Nations Cup Last Year:4th Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 4th Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 7th Finnish Skiers to Watch: If there are two names Finland’s cross-country ski fans loves to cheer–and will...
*Note: this article has been updated to include comments from U.S. women’s head coach Matt Whitcomb as of Monday, Jan. 30. After sealing her 105th individual World Cup victory on Sunday, and her yesterday’s sprint winner — and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski. Also within firing range was American Jessie Diggins, skiing in seventh, along with Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Maiken Caspersen Falla, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. However, within another four kilometers, the Norwegians had broken away, a close...
U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): 10 k skate [UPDATED] Don’t bet against Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) in a distance skate event. The 36-year-old took another national title in the 10-kilometer freestyle individual start at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, earlier today in the first event of the 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships. Gregg’s winning time was 27:00.6 on a cold, slow-snow morning at SoHo. Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University) was second, 2.2 seconds back,...
Maybe it was because she wanted redress. Maybe it was because there was less pressure to perform. Or maybe it was because the yellow Tour de Ski (TDS) leader’s bib was with Sweden, calling her Norwegian name. Whatever it was, when Ingvild Flugstad Østberg lined up for the women’s 5-kilometer classic mass start on Sunday in Val Müstair, Switzerland, she was ready to race for the win. After being eliminated in the semifinal of Saturday’s...
All Norway in La Clusaz and the Weng and company win the 4 x 4k relay. Finland placed second with Sweden third. The U.S. women skied to 7th and Canada placed 12th.
Jessie Diggins rocketed to her second-best result of the season and first individual World Cup sprint podium on Saturday at the Lahti World Cup. She broke up a Norwegian sweep, placing second behind Maiken Caspersen Falla and ahead of Heidi Weng, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen.
At Sunday's Holmenkollen 30 k classic mass start, Norway's Therese Johaug dominated. She won by a margin of 3:46.5 over teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. FIS reports Johaug's margin of victory was the largest ever for a women's cross-country World Cup.
It's been a steady climb of success for the U.S. women's cross-country team. On Sunday in Nove Mesto, they took a collective step higher in the 4 x 5 k relay, placing second to a hard-charging Norway, while besting Finland by nearly 14 seconds.
Therese Johaug attacked from the gun and began to run away with the lead just 800 meters into Saturday's 15 k classic mass start in Lenzerheide. The Norwegian World Cup leader won Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski to take the lead in the Tour by 4.5 seconds over teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. Another Norwegian Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen had a scary episode at the finish.
Sweden's Stina Nilsson surged past Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Østberg to win the World Cup women's 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint in Otepää with the same crew that won the Olympic bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
This week's workout comes from U.S. Ski Team Women's Coach Matt Whitcomb shortly after the team's on-snow camp in Bend, Ore., where they practiced improving technique after watching video clips, then created some footage of their own.
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.
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.
Kerttu Niskanen proved there are plenty of others outside of Team Norge that can win Tour de Ski stages, and the 25-year-old Finnish national team member did just that on New Year's Day winning the first race of her career in the 10 k classic mass start in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
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.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk remained unbeaten in the classic technique this season, skiing to an uncontested win in the World Cup sprint in Asiago, Italy. Anne Kyllönen of Finland finished second with Norwegian Maiken Caspersen Falla in third.
While the Norwegian women's team seized a predictable victory in the Lillehammer World Cup 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday, Finland and the U.S. duked it out for second, with a late crash taking the Americans out of the running for their best-ever relay result.
When you’ve already got 11 World Championship golds, it takes something really special to bring you to tears for the 12th one. Marit Bjørgen was overcome with emotion after winning Saturday's 30 k classic mass start, a race she had been focusing on for the last few years.
Canadians Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova hung tough and charged late to pick up their first podium of the season, notching third in Sunday's classic team sprint at the Sochi World Cup. Finland's Mona-Liisa Malvalehto and Anne Kyllönen skied away from Russia for the victory, winning by more than five seconds.