The American Birkebeiner will not be part of the FIS Marathon Cup, now re-named the FIS Worldloppet Cup, in 2016. But organizers are trying other plans to draw more international racers, and will be back on the Cup schedule in 2017.
While most skiers are heading out on vacation, Holly Brooks is en route to Siberia for the last race of the FIS Marathon Cup. She leads the series by four points over Tatjana Mannima of Estonia, meaning that whether it's in first or in sixth, whoever crosses the finish line first takes the crown.
The 2015 American Birkebeiner 51 k freestyle marathon on Saturday offered no shortage of excitement, as Italy's Segio Bonaldi outsprinted three French skiers to win his second Birkie by half a second. American Holly Brooks used a hard push in the final kilometers to collect her second Birkie title as well.
Press release) This past weekend saw the start of the FIS Marathon Cup for the 2014-2015 season in Livingo, Italy. Birkie Ambassador Holly Brooks (USA) started the season off right with a podium finish. She finished 2nd to World Cup stand out and Olympic Medalist Riita-LiisaRoponen (FIN). The Men’s race was won in a photo finish by former Birkie Champion Benoit Chauvet (FRA) with runner up Petr Novak (CZW) also a veteran Birkie competitor. The...
It's final. Holly Brooks is tackling the FIS Marathon Cup/Worldloppet series this season, with seven of nine races on her schedule and a goal of an overall top three. "I’m ready for new challenges,” she says. “I’m a competitor and I want to be in races where I’m in contention for a podium." As the Birkie's first elite-athlete representative, she's hoping that will simplify some of the international logistics.
The women’s race was destined to be a showdown between the two time Birkie winner and local favorite Caitlin Gregg of Minneapolis and the current leader of the FIS Marathon Cup, Antonella Confortola Wyatt, of Italy. Gregg broke the race apart at 25 k when she skied with the leaders of the men's race. "I watched the men crest the hill, and then thought to myself, 'wait a second, that's an opportunity.' So I just put the hammer down like I never have before, and jumped on that train.”
Most of his competitors train full time; Martin Rosvall, 32, works full time. In March, Rosvall was 15th overall at the Vasaloppet, after having led the podium finishers large portions of the way from Sälen to Mora. No small feat for an amateur.
The Engadin Ski Marathon is a 42 kilometer skate race which is run between Maloja and S-chanf near the southern border of Switzerland. Winding around castles and across frozen lakes, the course runs through St Moritz, then down to Pontresina, before heading back uphill toward the finish in S-Chanf. The Engadin had its first race on March 16th, 1969, and is always run on the second Sunday of March. The Engadin is the next-to-last Worldloppet...
The traditional Vasaloppet (SWE) last weekend represented the eighth of the ten races in this year’s FIS Marathon Cup. As at several other popular cross-country marathons this season, the Vasaloppet week set new records in terms of registered, started and finished racers. Altogether there were 50’553 skiers who crossed the finish line during the full week of activities in Mora, 15’901 of whom participated in the 90km main race. The main race on Sunday was...
This year’s Swedish Vasaloppet saw a record number of racers. There were 15,702 finishers in the 90 kilometer classic race, which saw it’s first running in 1922 with 100 participants. The race’s history comes from the beginning of Sweden’s independence from Denmark, led by nobleman Gustav Vasa. After his first failed attempt at recruiting his countrymen to join in his revolt, Vasa fled toward Norway. Two Swedish skiers were sent to bring Vasa back and...
This year’s Swedish Vasaloppet saw a record number of racers. There were 15,702 finishers in the 90 kilometer classic race, which saw it’s first running in 1922 with 100 participants. The race’s history comes from the beginning of Sweden’s independence from Denmark, led by nobleman Gustav Vasa. After his first failed attempt at recruiting his countrymen to join in his revolt, Vasa fled toward Norway. Two Swedish skiers were sent to bring Vasa back and...
The fastest man on the 63km ski track of 39th Tartu Marathon in Estonia was Anders Aukland (with 2:59:41) from Norway. The second place belonged to Joergen Brink (2:59:42) and third to Oskar Svaerd (2:59:42), both from Sweden. Anders Aukland, the winner of the second consecutive year said that is was a difficult race and the track was very good. “I felt strong during the last kilometers and stayed up front. I had enough power,”...
The third of ten races in the FIS Marathon Cup took place at the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains in Obertilliach, Austria. Now in its 36th year, the Dolomitenlauf is touted as one of the first Worldloppet races and it is the largest nordic ski event to be held in Austria. Over 2000 participants from more than 20 nations took part in the races. On Friday the Dolomitensprint, which is advertised as the oldest cross...
Oskar Svärd and Sandra Hansson, both from Sweden, won their respective titles in the second FIS Marathon Cup this Sunday. The Jizerská Padesatka is a 50km classic race held in Bedrichov, Czech Republic. Estonian Andrus Veerpalu took the early lead in the men’s race, but there was a large pack of very strong racers such as Oskar Svärd, Jerry Ahrlin, Thomas Alsgaard, Mario Cattaneo and Stanizlav Rezac who skied together until the end. Alsgaard (NOR), who...
FIS announced Wednesday that the American Birkebeiner will return to its Marathon Cup circuit for 2009-2010. According to Birkebeiner Director of Race Operations Shellie Milford, the inclusion of the race in the circuit will bring additional elite skiers from Europe to compete for more prize money. Milford said that the decision to participate in the circuit is made by the Birkebeiner, rather than FIS. “It’s kind of a year-by-year decision,” she said. “We consider...