The 16th starter, Jessie Diggins landed in the leader's chair for a few minutes before Germany's Nicole Fessel and Norway's Therese Johaug finished on Saturday in the 15 k freestyle at the Davos World Cup. Diggins ended up 11th and the U.S. had two in the top 20 with Caitlin Gregg in 20th.
Therese Johaug raced to a 1-minute-and-10-second victory in the women's World Cup 15 k freestyle in Davos, Switzerland, and her teammate is calling the deficit scary. “She is completely a machine," third-place finisher Heidi Weng said. "What is it exactly you're made of?”
After a disappointing 2015 season that was unable to bring back the high points of her first Olympics and national title in 2014, Heidi Widmer regrouped - and decided to take advantage of her dual citizenship and race for Switzerland next year, not Canada. She's moving to Davos in June.
With their eyes on the prize of a holiday break (for biathletes and non-Tour de Ski participants, two weekends off of the World Cup), a number of North American skiers notched competitive results, and for some -- even career bests -- in the last week.
How much did Norway’s Marit Bjørgen have left and could anybody beat her? That was the question on Sunday in the women's 1.3 k freestyle sprint on the last day of racing before the holiday break. One young Swede came close.
Canadians Lenny Valjas and Jesse Cockney skied well enough to finish in the points in the final race before the holiday break, a 1.3 k freestyle sprint on Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. It was Cockney's best individual World Cup result in more than two years.
Canadians were well behind the leaders in Saturday's World Cup 10/15 k freestyle in Davos, Switzerland. Ivan Babikov and Alex Harvey were the top men, finishing 34th and 38th, while Emily Nishikawa squeaked into the top 50, finishing 49th despite a crash.
Arnaud Du Pasquier, a member of Colorado University's 2014 squad to NCAA Championships, will be a senior next year. For now, though, he's taking a year to complete his mandatory military service in his native Switzerland - which he's doing by skiing full-time, including in the Nations Group at the Davos World Cups.
It's tough to swallow getting destroyed by Norwegians week after week. Reese Hanneman is still absorbing a huge jump in training hours from the summer and fall, but also: "I think people really underestimate how hard it is to go from racing well in the U.S. to racing well here on the World Cup.”
Three women in the quarterfinals and one just barely outside? U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb was thrilled with Ida Sargent's and Sophie Caldwell's quarterfinal appearances and pleased to see Kikkan Randall a bit more like herself, he also stayed realistic: "I wouldn’t use any other word that celebrates it more than [good]."
DAVOS, Switzerland— “I’ve been feeling pretty good this season,” U.S. Ski Team veteran Andy Newell says after the finish of today’s skate sprint. “I think I was carrying a little bit of fatigue just from the fall training, but still I think I’m a top 15 World Cup sprinter right now, I just haven’t had a chance to show it.” He was one of the 15 best sprinters in the world today, qualifying in 15th...
It has been a year and a half since Lenny Valjas last made an appearance in World Cup sprint heats. Let that sink in. The tall Canadian is thrilled that not only is he back and feeling like himself, but he didn't just squeak in - he qualified tenth and missed a lucky loser spot in the semifinals by just 0.03 seconds.
Photos from an exciting day of World Cup racing in Davos, Switzerland. Take some lessons in classic technique from the best!
Before Saturday, Canada's Alex Harvey had never cracked the top 30 in a distance race in Davos, Switzerland, and Emily Nishikawa was shooting for her first career top-30. Both checked off those markers in the men's and women's classic distance races on the first day of the Davos World Cup.
Liz Stephen wants to ski like skiing really matters: "I was focused on that aggression, and wanting to win more than I’ve ever wanted to win." That took her to 20th place in the 10 k classic, leading teammates Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen who all finished within a few seconds. Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 48th place in the 15 k classic.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby had 99% decided to use skate skis in today's 15 k classic World Cup race in Davos. But then at the last second, he changed his mind. The choice worked, and he earned a 6.6-second win over teammate Didrik Tønseth. Dario Cologna went with skate skis and finished third.
The World Cup races in Davos, Switzerland, have been shortened due to lack of snow, but the OC has been working hard, spending 70+ hours transporting snow from up high to the race course below. They host this weekend's classic-distance races and freestyle sprints, as well as next weekend's World Cup after the La Clusaz races were canceled.
What does a World Cup racer do after, say, a mini tour for recovery? We asked Canada's Alex Harvey, who placed 10th overall in last weekend's Lillehammer triple. He opted for an hour-and-15-minute run on Monday in Davos, led by coach Tor-Arne Hetland, who lives in Davos.
What happens when you live in a ski-crazy country and have a breakout race on home soil? We talked to Roman Schaad, a 20-year-old Swiss sprinter who shot into the top 10 in his very first World Cup in Davos last December. That day, it took him 2 hours to finish interviews before he could go home - to his apartment literally next to the finish line. Sponsors and an Olympic appearance followed.
Guri Hetland spoke with FasterSkier on Monday about how she and Swiss-Ski were at odds when it came to the direction of the team, a stumbling point that ultimately ended in the non-renewal of her contract. "I had planned to work longer in Switzerland and I hoped and I thought that we could agree on the proposal ... but my bosses in the ski federation wanted some changes," she says.