When Emmanuel Jonnier, a thirteen-year veteran of the French national team, announced his retirement earlier this month, it was picked up by every major news source in his home country. But even then, it was nothing compared to the coverage his teammate, Vincent Vittoz, got two weeks prior when he announced his own retirement – which had happened at about the same time that Roberto Gal, the team’s Italian head coach, also declared that he...
Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA) edged out teammate Maurice Manificat at the line to win the second edition of the Tour de Barents, a four-stage mini-tour in the Barents region of northern Europe. On a unique “final climb” Gaillard teamed up with Manificat to catch overall leader Matti Heikkinen (FIN), who started the day with a 13 second lead in Rovaniemi, Finland on Sunday. Heikkinen started the freestyle race quickly, but was unable to hold off...
When Justyna Kowalczyk stood at the head of the chevron before the 10 k pursuit Friday morning in Rybinsk, Russia, she must have felt a little bit lonely. That’s because no less than 20 of the top 30 women in the current overall World Cup rankings were missing. Kowalczyk’s biggest rival, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) opted to take the weekend off, as did fourth ranked Petra Majdic (SLO), and 6th through 9th, Therese Johaug (NOR), Charlotte...
France Nations Cup Ranking: 7th (2477 pts) Men: 6th (1864 pts) Women: 9th (613 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Jean Marc Gaillard Emmanuel Jonnier Maurice Manificat Cyril Miranda Vincent Vittoz Women Aurore Jean What you may have missed last season: Maurice Manificat, or Maurice the Magnificent, absolutely exploding onto the World Cup. Manificat could very easily be labeled the most improved skier last season. It’s tough to believe that in 2008 he scored only seven...
Charlotte Kalla is Sweden’s rising star of Cross-Country skiing. The 23 year-old youngster stormed into World Cup in 2006. A year later she captured her first World Cup podium in Beitostoelen. In 2008 she won Tour de Ski. She is Olympic Champion from Vancouver over 10 km Free. FIScrosscountry.com had a chance to talk to Charlotte in Ramsau. FIS Cross-Country News: Charlotte, media reported you would be back at Tour de Ski this year. Why...
What? Yeah, that’s right, there are lots of great reasons to be a Nordic skier, but one of them is that there are a whole lot of fit, attractive people wearing spandex. Here is a list of some of the hottest European skiers on the World Cup. We may have forgotten a few so feel free to write them into the comment section and we will add them to the list. We did not want...
Whistler, British Columbia – The heavy snow had stopped, and as Marcus Hellner made his way around the stadium, the clouds broke. For the first time in two days, the sun shown down on Whistler Olympic Park, revealing a golden afternoon for the Swedish men’s cross-country team. It took 22 years and a return to Canadian soil for Sweden to regain the top step of the podium in the 4x10km relay. And for the Anders...