It's not easy picking a World Cup team. Ask Cross Country Canada's High Performance Director Tom Holland, who recently spoke to FS about this season's goals and how they selected their best athletes to achieve them.
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Emily Nishikawa
"What role did you mom play in your development as a skier?" was the single question we raised to North American cross-country, biathlon and nordic combined national-team members. Many of them had a hard time holding back in their responses.
It's a big day for national-team nominations as Canada released its list of top-tier cross-country skiers -- with six men and one woman on the World Cup A and B teams -- for the 2016/2017 season.
After eight races in 12 days, 14 Americans and 12 Canadians completed the Ski Tour Canada, a season-long goal for most of them. Here are some final thoughts from several North Americans after the seventh and eighth stages.
In case you missed the action, FasterSkier provides a gallery capturing the top scenes of Stage 7 at the 2016 Ski Tour Canada. Four American women finished in the top 30, with Jessie Diggins leading the team in 5th and Chelsea Holmes scoring her first World Cup in 22nd overall.
STC Photo Gallery: Stage 6 Skiathlon
BrainspiralMarch 10, 2016
Stage 6 of the Ski Tour Canada featured a brutal course for both the women's 15-kilometer and the men's 30 k skiathlons. It was simply survival of the fittest as the classic loop featured a grueling 1.2 k climb while the skate leg was punctuated by dicey soft-snow corners navigated at high speed.
Wondering what Lenny Valjas was thinking after the Quebec City skate sprint, or how Noah Hoffman is feeling going into Canmore? Check out these images from the pursuit stage as well as North American quotes from the last two stages of the Ski Tour Canada.
Notes, quotes, photos and even a video of several of the North Americans you've been waiting to hear from at the Ski Tour Canada.
With fewer than two weeks remaining until the Ski Tour Canada visits Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, and Canmore from March 1-12, we spent some time breaking down the provisional North American picks and estimated costs for Canadian nation's group skiers at the season-ending World Cups.
Johaug Wins 14th World Cup; Diggins Fourth in Gutsy Falun 10 k Skate
Kaitlyn PattersonFebruary 14, 2016
In the first freestyle mass start of the season, Jessie Diggins gave the Norwegians a run, ultimately finishing 15 seconds off the podium in fourth. Therese Johaug dropped teammate Heidi Weng in the final kilometers to secure her second win of the weekend and record-tying 14th World Cup victory overall.
Bjornsen Leads Three Americans in Top 25 at Soggy Holmenkollen 30 k
Kaitlyn PattersonFebruary 7, 2016
Three American women cracked the top 25 in Sunday's 30 k classic at the world-famous Holmenkollen, finishing within 1.6 seconds of one another. Sadie Bjornsen led them in 22nd, closely followed by Liz Stephen in 23rd and Jessie Diggins in 25th. Rosie Brennan and Caitlin Patterson raced to 33rd and 36th, respectively, and Canada's Emily Nishikawa was 39th.
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.
U.S. Women Step Up to Best-Ever Second in Relay; Norway Seals the Deal in Nove Mesto
Jason AlbertJanuary 24, 2016
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.
Sargent and Caldwell Fifth for U.S. in Planica Team Sprint; Newell and Hamilton DQed
Kaitlyn PattersonJanuary 17, 2016
In their first team sprint together, Americans Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell placed fifth on Sunday, while the U.S. men's team of Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton missed an early tag and ended up being disqualified in the final. “It was disappointing for sure, but it was a good call by the jury," U.S. head coach Chris Grover said.
Valjas 5/100ths of a Second from Qualifying; MacIsaac-Jones Also 31st, Beatty 32nd for Canada
Alex KochonJanuary 16, 2016
Three Canadians missed the heats by slim margins on Saturday, with Len Valjas placing 31st for the third time in a World Cup skate sprint this season and Maya MacIsaac-Jones finishing 31st in the women's race, followed by Dahria Beatty in 32nd. “It’s a great start, it’s exciting and that’s why we have them over [there],” head coach Justin Wadsworth says.
Born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, Dahria Beatty of the Alberta World Cup Academy recently packed her bags for the second period of World Cup races in Europe and is ready to represent Canada on the U25 B-Tour.
Johaug Tallies 25th World Cup Win in Toblach; Bjornsen 19th, Diggins 20th
Kaitlyn PattersonDecember 20, 2015
Therese Johaug once again dusted the women's field, this time in the 10 k classic individual start at the World Cup in Toblach, Italy. There, two U.S. women finished in the top 20, about two minutes behind her.
Sadie Bjornsen Rides ‘Patience and Optimism’ to Best-Ever 14th in Ruka Triple
Alex KochonNovember 29, 2015
Whatever Sadie Bjornsen was doing the first lap of Sunday's 10 k classic pursuit wasn't working for her, so she revamped and tackled the final three laps with a whole new attitude. "I gave myself a little smacking and realized I had to make my opportunity today," she said after placing 14th in the Ruka Triple for her best overall finish in Kuusamo, Finland.
Valjas Qualifies for Canada, 22nd on Kuusamo Course He Calls Both ‘Terrible and Amazing’
BrainspiralNovember 27, 2015
Lenny Valjas was the lone Canadian to qualify on Friday in the first World Cup race of the season, the Ruka Triple classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. “Today’s goal was just to qualify and to make it into the points," Valjas explained. "There was no huge expectations."
Jessie Diggins did it again, winning her second-straight race in Gällivare, Sweden, on Sunday by 10 seconds over Czech skier Petra Novakova. Caitlin Gregg also reached the podium -- in day reminiscent of the 2015 World Championships 10 k -- and Liz Stephen and Rosie Brennan placed fourth and fifth.