Francesco de Fabiani broke through an 18-year barrier for Italy with a World Cup classic-distance win in the men’s 15-kilometer individual start in Lahti, Finland. Also on Sunday, Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby clinched his second-straight Overall World Cup title.
This FasterSkier series will examine the growing challenge to the national team model by privately funded ski teams and independent sponsorship agreements. Will national teams be able to support themselves in the future, or will corporate teams take over cross country skiing? This first article in the series will look at Petter Northug’s record deal with Coop and the implications it has for the Norwegian National Team and the sport as a whole.
Twenty-five days before the Olympics open in Sochi, Russia, Nikita Kriukov couldn’t have timed Sunday’s 6 x 1.6-kilometer team-classic sprint victory much better. The 28-year-old Russian’s execution was right up there as well. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell teamed up for one of the best U.S. men's team-sprint finishes in recent memory.
Just a few meters ahead coming into the homestretch, Ola Vigen Hattestad stayed ahead and outlunged Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan by a couple centimeters on Sunday, giving Norway I the victory as Kazakhstan placed second and Norway II finished third.
Showing strong form as World Cup period I winds down, Russian Nikita Kriukov held off Kazakh Alexey Poltaranin at the line to take the win on a soft and slow course in Asiago, Italy. Gianlucca Cologna of Switzerland was third.
Athletes hit a breaking point on Thursday before the last three stages of World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, where they threatened not to race on courses they deemed too dangerous. In successfully pressuring FIS and the race organizers to make the requested changes to the trails, athletes hope they've drawn a firm line between what they will and will not compete on in the future.
Petter Northug, Jr., joined rare company on Sunday in becoming the second Norwegian in history to win more than one overall World Cup crystal globe. He kept Alexander Legkov and Dario Cologna at bay with his victory in the 15 k pursuit at World Cup Finals to finish off a memorable season in Falun, Sweden.
The typical plot line never materialized. Norway's Petter Northug was supposed to spend the first several laps back in 25th and then surge to the front for the victory in the final 100 meters at World Cup Finals in Sweden. Instead, Northug's teammate Eldar Rønning salvaged a tough season with a surprise 15-kilometer classic mass start victory, posting a time of 43:26 minutes on the 2015 World Championships course.
Johan Olsson surprised most everyone and held his own for nearly 30 k on Sunday, skiing alone with a relentless drive for gold in the World Championships 50 k classic mass start on a hot-and-slushy afternoon.
Petter Northug played a main role in what turned out to be a nail-biting final leg of Friday's 4x10 k relay, which didn't get interesting until the last kilometer. The Norwegian attacked and proved too strong for his contenders, beating Sweden, Russia and Italy in a sprint finish.
Norway's Sjur Røthe proved Sunday he, too, can beat Sweden's Marcus Hellner -- even if his last-second move was controversial -- as the Norwegians topped the Swedes in the 4 x 7.5 k relay in La Clusaz, France.
The Norwegian women dominated the World Cup opener Nov 20-21, and the Norwegian men want revenge on the Swedes. However, will likely have to achieve the task without reigning World Champion Petter Northug in the Kuusamo (FIN) mini-tour.