Italy's Federico Pellegrino rolled to his fourth-straight skate sprint victory on Saturday, and Stina Nilsson of Sweden won her second World Cup race as the regular season resumed in Slovenia following the 10-day Tour de Ski.
Len Valjas (CAN) led the Canadian men on Saturday in Lahti, Finland, with an strong eighth place finish. His performance was just as fueled by frustration as it was fitness. Valjas toed the line today after a miserable run of sickness. “I was sick for nine days,” he said. “I had strep throat, then a chest cold, and laryngitis. It felt good to get out of bed.” The timing of the sickness couldn’t have been worse,...
Nobody really knew what to expect when Québec City hosted its first World Cup last weekend. Between the spectators, course and conditions, everything was a bit of a surprise. International athletes and coaches sum up their experiences.
From the qualifier through to the A-final, recently crowned Tour de Ski champion Dario Cologna (SUI) skied a “perfect” sprint day by all accounts in Otepää, Estonia on Saturday. The current overall World Cup points leader made a statement from the word get-go, posting the fastest qualifying time by an unbelievable 4.2 seconds in a 1.4 k classic. He then went on to decisively win his quarter, semi and final heats. Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR)...
Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov was 100 yards away and three minutes from the start of his own classic sprint final when his teammate Elena Soboleva crashed out of the front of the women’s race. Rather than collecting a medal, Soboleva was last in the heat, leaving it up to Ustiugov to cash in. And cash in he did, overpowering Norway’s Sondre Fossli and his own teammate Gleb Retivykh on the homestretch to take World Junior Championships...