The decision by Canada’s Alex Harvey to skip Friday’s World Championships relay left a train of his disappointed teammates passing through the mixed zone after the race. Of all four athletes, Len Valjas probably summed it up best: “It’s probably a good call—it just sucks for us.” Each of the Canadian starters had his own take on the situation, ranging from relative indifference to stern disappointment. But while it was clear that many of them...
Much to the Americans’ and Canadians’ chagrin, the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at World Championships on Friday did not unfold as it often does. “At the start, they usually jockey for a bit,” Canadian leadoff skier Stefan Kuhn told FasterSkier. “But one Swede, Daniel Rickardsson, was thinking otherwise today, because he had two bad races. So he wanted to prove a point.” Instead of a tactical first leg, where many of the teams...
Late last February, Canadian Alex Harvey got the tag from his teammate Devon Kershaw to ski the second leg of the 4×10 k men’s relay at the Vancouver Olympic Games. Kershaw was having a bad day, and he’d dug his team into a hole—Harvey started out his race with a 30-second deficit to the leaders. The 22-year-old Quebec native fought as hard as he could, burying himself in an effort to chase down Norway, Sweden,...
With a squad consisting of Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, and Len Valjas, Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth thought his team would have a chance at its second World Championship medal in three days in Friday’s men’s relay. But those chances have just taken a hit. According to Wadsworth, Harvey, who won gold with Kershaw in Wednesday’s team sprint, will skip the relay, worn out by a tough race and a long day in...
When Matti Heikkinen caught Kris Freeman just three kilometers into Tuesday’s 15 k classic race at World Championships, Freeman was surprised. “I was thinking, holy God, what is going on,” Freeman told FasterSkier. “Turns out he was having the race of his life.” The Finn has just one World Cup victory to his name this season, and came into the individual start race more favored than Freeman, but only barely. So when he had made...
Two-thirds of the way through Sunday’s World Championships pursuit, Alex Harvey was taking a page out of Johan Olsson’s book. Harvey, the 22-year-old Canadian, had launched a surprise, solo attack reminiscent of the move made by Olsson, a Swede, in the same race at the Vancouver Olympics last year. The Swedes took two medals in that event, with Olsson getting bronze. And for a while, it looked like the Canadians were on their way to...
Last year the Canadian men proved that performance a week before a major championship event is meaningless as a predictor. The hope is that that is the case this time around, as well. Both the Canadians and Americans did not impress in their final distance tune-up prior to this year’s World Championships – but the general consensus was that there was little to be concerned about. Devon Kershaw led all North American finishers in 26th...
Europe seems to suit Sadie Bjornsen just fine. Nearly a month into her first long-term overseas tour, Bjornsen is skiing fast and appears to be getting faster. She led a contingent of a US World Championship skiers in the 5km classic FIS race in Beitostolen, Norway, placing 8th overall. The race was won by former overall World Cup runner-up and current Norwegian World Championship team member, Astrid Jacobsen. The veteran posted a time of 15:02,...
The Canadians will field an experienced 11-person roster for the World Championships in Oslo, Norway at the end of February, and all 11 will also ski the World Cup in Drammen, Norway, the week before. The roster is almost identical to the Olympic roster from last year – 9 of the 11 skiers competed in Vancouver, and all 11 have at least one World Cup start. According to Cross Country Canada (CCC)’s selection criteria, the...
Two lines of burly men, attired in identical red and white shirts, each carrying a massive cow bell that reached from waist to ground, marched in synch up the trail. They stopped in unison, and then with less then perfect acumen settled their bells and cheered. Behind came a larger crowd, carrying massive banners and countless flags. The Dario Cologna fan club was out in force, and the parade up the final 100 meters of...
One stage, the renowned final climb up the Alpe Cermis, remains in the 2011 Tour de Ski. Devon Kershaw sits in fourth, just 5.5 seconds off the podium, while teammate Alex Harvey is another 5.3 seconds back in seventh. In previous years, Kershaw’s Tour has been defined by one main factor – illness. He has always excelled in the multi-stage event, and his ability to race with the best in any discipline over any distance...
In Monday’s 20 k pursuit, in Oberhof, Germany, instead of Petter Northug (NOR) turing heads with an impressive sprint finish, it was Finland’s Matti Heikkinen who displayed remarkable finishing speed to secure victory in the fifth stage of the 2011 Tour de Ski. The Finn, who has had difficulty on the World Cup so far this season, put on a massive attack on the final steep uphill, surprising the field. Heikkinen had been very quiet...
The Tour de Ski is a hellishly difficult event for the teams that take part. Ten days, eight races, and five different venues in two countries make for a schedule that often results in massive fatigue, illness, and injury. However, the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) has come up with an innovative way to deal with those demands – this year, the Canucks have equipped themselves with a huge tour bus. Emblazoned with the Cross...
For Canada’s Devon Kershaw, the biggest moment in Saturday’s classic pursuit in Oberhof, Germany, came not on the homestretch, but with four kilometers left in the 15-kilometer race—the second stage of the 2011 Tour de Ski. After working his way up through the field, Kershaw found himself at the front of the race, with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and a few other skiers on the attack. But rather than charging ahead, the 28-year-old Kershaw did something...
Marcus Hellner (SWE) has ended 2010 on the top step of the podium. The Swede used his powerful skating to capture the stage victory in the 3.75 k prologue in Oberhof, Germany, on the opening day of the 2010-2011 Tour de Ski. Hellner beat out Alexei Petukhov (RUS) by 2 seconds for the win over the short distance. While Petukhov has never competed in the Tour before, he is no slouch – the Russian is...
The 2010/2011 Veissmann Tour de Ski is nothing if not draining. Consisting of eight events in ten days in two countries, the fifth edition begins December 31st and runs until January 9th. The Tour begins with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, on December 31st, followed by a classic pursuit start on January 1st. The Tour then moves to Oberstorf, Germany, for a sprint on January 2nd, and a pursuit on the 3rd. After a...
While Canadian Ivan Babikov has recorded only one top-30 finish on the World Cup circuit so far this season, the man who has been billed by his teammates as one of the toughest skiers on the circuit remains undaunted. “I’m always a bit slower than other guys in early season,” Babikov said in an e-mail to FasterSkier. “Usually, I need at least a good month of skiing and racing to feel fast.” As a result,...
In Switzerland last weekend, Russia’s Alexander Legkov skied to his second podium of the year, continuing a strong start to the winter. But in an interview afterwards with the Russian newspaper Sport Express, he said he was trying to relish the results as much as possible, knowing that soon, Norwegian star Petter Northug would be back on the circuit at full strength. “Make no mistake—a couple of races, and Northug will return to the level...
Following on the heels of two North American podiums in Dusseldorf, Canadian and American distance skiers turned in a mixed bag of results in the 10/15km individual start classic race in Davos, Switzerland. The top distance skiers from both countries, with the notable exception of all-rounder Kikkan Randall, skipped the Dusseldorf sprint weekend in order to prepare for the longer event at altitude in Davos. Devon Kershaw (CAN) led the way, skiing to an impressive...