Canada's Alex Harvey started seventh and finished ninth to maintain his place in the top 10 of the Tour de Ski after three stages, and American Noah Hoffman posted the 17th-fastest time of the day to finish in the top 25 for the second-straight day in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Two Canadians landed in the top four in Sunday's 15 k freestyle FIS race in Gällivare, Sweden, with Alex Harvey reaching the podium in second and Devon Kershaw missing it by 23 seconds in fourth. Noah Hoffman finished sixth for the U.S., Canada's Ivan Babikov was eighth, and Erik Bjornsen (USA) notched his second-straight top 10.
With Canadians and Russians to contend with, American Andy Newell placed second overall in Saturday's FIS classic sprint in Gällivare, Sweden. “I think what you’ll see more from me more this year is I’ll be the one making attacks and not responding to other peoples’ [attacks],” Newell explained.
Dario Cologna was victorious in Friday's 15 k freestyle in Rybinsk, Russia and in the process thwarted four Russians who were gunning for a home-country podium sweep.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway overtook teammate Petter Northug at the base of the Alpe Cermis hill climb to win the final stage and secure his second Tour de Ski title in the process.
In the tightest race of the 2015 Tour de Ski, German Tim Tscharnke outsprinted four other non-Norwegian skiers to claim his best World Cup result of the season. The current Tour standings now leave the potential for a dramatic final Tour stage on Sunday.
Alexey Poltoranin proved that once in a while you just need to muscle your way to first place. He opted to use skate skis and double poled his way to the victory in Wednesday’s 10-kilometer classic race, the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy.
A critical mistake at the end of a quarterfinal heat prevented Canada's Alex Harvey from moving on to the semifinals of the Tour de Ski 1.4 k freestyle sprint in Val Müstair, Switzerland. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton led the American skiers with an eighth-place finish.
For the second sprint in a row, Italy's Federico Pellegrino came out on top of a stacked World Cup field. Petter Northug of Norway, however, finished second, and retained his overall Tour de Ski lead. “Today, one of my big dreams has come true: to beat Petter (Northug) in the sprint final,” Pellegrino said.
Sunday was for the distance racers in Gällivare, Sweden, with five Canadians -- four men and one woman -- getting a chance to test their form in the 10/15 k classic races. Alex Harvey notched his second-podium performance in third, Emily Nishikawa was fourth, Devon Kershaw fifth, Ivan Babikov sixth, and Graeme Killick eighth.
Regulars for the last week in Gällivare, the Canadians put themselves in the mix in Saturday's classic sprints with Perianne Jones winning the women's final, Alex Harvey taking second to Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in the men's final, Lenny Valjas placing fourth and Jess Cockney bringing it home in sixth.
Fog blanketed the hillsides of Szklarska Poreba, Poland, as the men of the World Cup lined up for the start of the 15 k. In a field that lacked the esteemed Scandinavian racers, the predictions of who might win were about as unclear as the visibility on course.
The Russian men put on another demonstration of their astonishing strength and depth in Liberec, Czech Republic, on Thursday in the men’s 15 k freestyle individual start. Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) stomped the field, leading from every checkpoint. He finished the course in 35:44.1, a commanding 19.7 seconds ahead of his teammate Evgeniy Belov (RUS). Thomas Bing (GER) completed the podium, trailing in 42.4 seconds after Ustiugov in a time of 36.26.5. Ustiugov, a 20 year...
Germany's Tim Tscharnke made a good day into a great one, capturing his first World Cup win (and individual podium) on his birthday in the 15 k classic mass start at the Alberta World Cup in Canmore, Alberta.
ERZURUM, Turkey — It’s short, but we were able to film parts of the men’s 30 k skiathlon at U23 World Championships on Saturday. Russia’s Raul Shakirzianov won by 0.9 seconds over teammate Evgeniy Belov. Noah Hoffman (USA) sat in near the front for much of the race but finished eighth in a close sprint finish. Results
ERZURUM, Turkey —No matter what the level or competition, mass starts have a tendency to separate the men from the boys. Saturday’s 30 k skiathlon at U23 World Championships was no different—and with the top 11 U23s on the FIS ranking list present at Kandlilli for the skiathlon, the competition was certainly stacked. After over an hour of alternately hammering and dogging the pace, the lead pack got serious in the final kilometers. Russia’s Raul...
If there’s one takeaway from the Junior and U23 World Championships thus far, it’s that Russia is a well-oiled machine. Evgeniy Belov (RUS) won his country its sixth gold medal of the week on Thursday, ahead of Noah Hoffman (USA) in second and Hannes Dotzler (GER) in third. Based on Belov’s delight on the podium, the run of success isn’t getting old. “I cannot express how happy I am today when I defended the...
ERZURUM, Turkey — With two gold medals in as many days at the World Junior/U23 Championships, Russia is clearly on top of its mens’ sprint game. Gleb Retivyk (RUS) took home a decisive win on Tuesday, skiing into the stadium in the final out of reach of his competitors, and maintained his lead all the way around the last corner and through the straightaway. His compatriot Evgeniy Belov (RUS) took second, and in a fight...
left Marcus Hellner and Dario Cologna standing still. And Legkov wasn’t alone in impressing the crowd with his finishing skills – Vylegzhanin did what most possible consider to be impossible, did a fantastic job of reeling in and then dispatching Frenchman Jean-Marc Gaillaird in the 20 k pursuit in Rybinsk, Russia. But despite having possibly the strongest team on paper, the Russians had the most devastating relay experience at World Championships in Oslo. After taking...
Since the tail end of the 2011 Tour de Ski, Russia’s star distance skier, Alexander Legkov, has been missing in action. He fell ill with swine flu and couldn’t finish the Tour, then, with an abysmal performance in the relay at World Championships in Oslo, singlehandedly dashed his country’s hopes for a medal in that event. While the relay result stung, Legkov’s drought has been balanced by some strong performances by his teammates. There’s Maxim...