For Canada’s Devon Kershaw, the biggest moment in Saturday’s classic pursuit in Oberhof, Germany, came not on the homestretch, but with four kilometers left in the 15-kilometer race—the second stage of the 2011 Tour de Ski. After working his way up through the field, Kershaw found himself at the front of the race, with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and a few other skiers on the attack. But rather than charging ahead, the 28-year-old Kershaw did something...
The 2010/2011 Veissmann Tour de Ski is nothing if not draining. Consisting of eight events in ten days in two countries, the fifth edition begins December 31st and runs until January 9th. The Tour begins with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, on December 31st, followed by a classic pursuit start on January 1st. The Tour then moves to Oberstorf, Germany, for a sprint on January 2nd, and a pursuit on the 3rd. After a...
Remo Fischer used a strong attack late in the third leg of the men’s 4x10km relay in La Clusaz, France, to open up a gap on Russian Petr Sedov, and set up the first World Cup relay win for the Swiss men. Fischer’s move rested on the foundation built by teammate Dario Cologna. The former World Cup overall champion teamed with Alexander Legkov (RUS), the current World Cup leader, to break apart the usual early...
In the loaded field that is men’s World Cup sprint racing, advancing to the finals with any consistency is no mean feat, making Emil Joensson’s (SWE) back-to-back sprint victories that much more impressive. Joensson used a slick move on the second lap of the two loop Davos sprint course to move into the lead, and his breathtaking finishing speed to seal the deal in the final. Alexei Petukhov (RUS) held off Dario Cologna (SUI), rounding...
Two weeks ago, young Alexei Poltaranin (KAZ) stood on the start line in Kuusamo wearing bib two. The race was the final event of the Ruka Triple, a World Cup mini-tour in Kuusamo, Finland. Powered by strong results in the preceding classic races, Poltaranin was in position to battle for the overall podium. And battle he did, but despite holding position through the early part of the race, he was dropped by the leaders, swallowed...
You can tell that North American skiing has come a long way when a day with two men in the top 15 of a World Cup race is closer to disappointing than exciting. In the final stage of the “Ruka Triple”—a three-day mini-tour in Kuusamo, Finland—Canadian Devon Kershaw led the way for the North Americans with a 10th place in the 15 k skate pursuit. But with Alex Harvey dropping 13 places and Kris Freeman...
Swedish fans must have been crushed after Norway’s Marit Bjoergen knocked off their hometown hero Charlotte Kalla in the 10 k skate on Saturday morning in Gallivare. But they must have been equally thrilled in the afternoon, when Marcus Hellner (SWE) skied to an 11-second victory over Switzerland’s Dario Cologna—finishing in the stadium that was named for him after a double gold medal-winning performance at the 2010 Olympic Games. “I felt like I had control today,”...
Switzerland Nations Cup Ranking: 9th (2013 pts) Men: 7th (1729 pts) Women: 15th (284 pts) 2010/2011 World Cup Team Men Dario Cologna Curdin Perl Toni Livers Remo Fischer Women Silvana Bucher Bettina Gruber Doris Trachsel What you may have missed last season: After going from zero to hero between 2007 and 2009, Dario Cologna took a step backwards in 2010, falling to fourth in the race for the Crystal Globe. While he was still undeniably...
OSLO, Norway – Olympic champion Dario Cologna (SUI) is in Oslo to check out the courses that will be used for the upcoming World Championships in Holmenkollen.
Coming straight from a national team training camp, Petter Northug Jr. (NOR) welcomes Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA), Anders Soedergren (SWE) and Jack Mae (EST) and other international racers in the 3-race Tour de Troendelag events next week.
What? Yeah, that’s right, there are lots of great reasons to be a Nordic skier, but one of them is that there are a whole lot of fit, attractive people wearing spandex. Here is a list of some of the hottest European skiers on the World Cup. We may have forgotten a few so feel free to write them into the comment section and we will add them to the list. We did not want...
The distance of the first race of the World Cup finals may have been unfamiliar, but the pair of names atop the results sheet on Friday were anything but. Though rarely raced on the World Cup, the 3.3/2.5k prologue was just right for Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, as each skied to a convincing victory in the first of three races held in Falun, Sweden. Men Cologna finished five seconds ahead of Mats...
The Engadin Ski Marathon is a 42 kilometer skate race which is run between Maloja and S-chanf near the southern border of Switzerland. Winding around castles and across frozen lakes, the course runs through St Moritz, then down to Pontresina, before heading back uphill toward the finish in S-Chanf. The Engadin had its first race on March 16th, 1969, and is always run on the second Sunday of March. The Engadin is the next-to-last Worldloppet...
With a few hours to go before the start of the men’s 15k freestyle this morning, what was Dario Cologna thinking about? Not the pressure he was under. Not that the race was his Olympic debut. In fact, Cologna wasn’t thinking about cross country skiing at all: Instead, he was watching alpine skiing on TV, waiting to find out how his Swiss countrymen would fare in the men’s downhill race. Cologna ended up five minutes...
Canmore, Alberta – Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer wouldn’t mind moving his family to Canmore. “I just need to teach them English and we can come,” he said following his 2nd place finish in today’s 15km individual start freestyle. According to Piller Cottrer, Canmore is very similar to his home in the Italian Dolomites. “I have always raced very well here, and have now finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in Canmore.” Piller Cottrer joined teammate...
2009 overall World Cup Champion and Tour de Ski winner Dario Cologna injured his leg while training last Tuesday. Cologna, the first Swiss skier to ever win the Cross-Country Overall World Cup, suffered the injury while sprint training. Langrenn.com reports that the injury is to the groin, while TheSKiChannel.com states it is a hamstring issue. Either way, Cologna will supposedly miss 6 weeks of full training. The 23-year-old is also considered a medal favorite for...
One of the summer highlights for the Cross-Country skiers is the so-called Tour de Trøndelag, in Meraker (NOR). The three-day event again attracted many of the leading Cross-Country stars to test their mid-summer shape last weekend. This summer Tour included two roller ski races (mass start and pursuit) and a cross-country race on snow. Racing on his home turf, the triple world champion from Liberec 2009, Petter Northug (NOR) again demonstrated his invincibility in the...