MILAN, Italy – Inside or out was the question of the day, and the right choice in the men’s final was in. Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) won his first race of the season, and just the second of his career when he held the inside line into the homestretch in the Milan freestyle sprint. Germany’s Josef Wenzl was just behind in second, with Teodor Peterson (SWE) riding an aggressive lane change in the final 200 meters...
Norway fields one hot medal contender for the 30K pursuit: defending world champion Petter Northug, as well as three proven distance racers. But more surprisingly, sprinter Eirik Brandsdal rounds out the 5-person squad.
Gearing up, getting ready and talking smack. Norway’s sprint teams are kings of the hill. But their competitors are on their mind, and the Americans are in that mix.
Just seven months after knee surgery, Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal had no business gunning for the podium in a classic sprint in late January. But knees were all but unnecessary in Sunday’s race in Estonia, which saw every single one of the six men in the finals forgoing kick wax on a tame course. Brandsdal rode his skate gear to third place in qualifying, two seconds behind his teammate Ola Vigen Hattestad, then just pipped Hattestad...
Since 2002, the city sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany, has become a fixture on the International Ski Federation’s (FIS’s) World Cup calendar. One of three regular city sprints on the circuit, Dusseldorf features a flat, extremely fast, and almost dangerously narrow and twisty sprint course. Over the last eight seasons, the German city has become renown for carnage and upsets, almost as much as for cross-country skiing in a unique location and with a great crowd...
John Kristian Dahl won the men's sprint final in a tight race with Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) and Øystein "Sausage" Pettersen. Northug did not advance and considers sitting out tomorrow's 15K classic race.