The Toblach World Cup 10-kilometer classic individual start on Saturday provided a few takeaways exactly one week out from the Olympics. Bjørgen made a statement with a definitive win, Kowalczyk missed the podium for the first time in a 10 k classic since 2009, and the U.S. women put four in the top 20, five in the top 22, in a classic distance race.
Missed the action this weekend? Don't worry! FasterSkier has compiled all the top stories to make sure that you stay up-to-date with the latest in the nordic ski world.
It’s not easy being Justyna Kowalczyk — always breaking trail, always having the weight of Poland on her, and in a classic distance race at home on her birthday without any Scandinavians in the field? Forget about it. She was easily the favorite for Sunday’s World Cup 10 k classic mass start in Szklarska Poręba, Poland. That didn’t make winning any easier.
Missed the start to the Tour de Ski? Find out this year's biggest winners and losers in the first two stages. Plus, read about the biathlon World Team Challenge. Catch all the action here with the Weekend Roundup.
FIS Athlete Representative Kikkan Randall weighs in on the format changes to this week's Tour de Ski, which she opted to sit out a while back. Now with the first three stages being short-distance skate events, some racers were not happy and four-time champ Justyna Kowalczyk decided to sit out the Tour altogether. "Sometimes it will be balanced and sometimes it won't," Randall says.
Justyna Kowalczyk's out and Marit Bjørgen's on top. That was the biggest news of the day coming out of the Tour de Ski's prologue opener in Oberhof, Germany, on a rainy afternoon that was slow for everybody. The Americans weren't complaining, with fast skis that helped Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell tie career bests in fifth and ninth, respectively.
The Tour de Ski's four-time defending champion Justyna Kowalczyk was conspicuously absent on Saturday from this season’s Tour opener, the women's 3-kilometer freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany. Ultimately, she withdrew from the Tour because she and her coaches deem it unfair. "Everything was organized so as Justyna Kowalczyk had no chance to win the Tour de Ski," her coach said.
With the eighth-annual Tour de Ski starting 24 hours from 8 a.m. EST, we thought we’d give you a rundown of what’s happening when and who’s racing.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk remained unbeaten in the classic technique this season, skiing to an uncontested win in the World Cup sprint in Asiago, Italy. Anne Kyllönen of Finland finished second with Norwegian Maiken Caspersen Falla in third.
Justyna Kowalczyk ran away with another 10 k classic victory on Saturday, beating Sweden's Charlotte Kalla by 12.4 seconds at the Lillehammer World Cup. This time, Kowalczyk did so in Norway -- where she's never won a distance race before.
The official beginning to the 2014 racing season didn't disappoint with tons of exciting nordic action taking place across the globe. FasterSkier was on-site in West Yellowstone to cover the SuperTour opener, Kikkan Randall opened with her best classic-sprint finish of second in Kuusamo, Noah Hoffman notched the fastest men's time in Sunday's 15 k pursuit to end the Kuusamo Ruka Triple, and Tim Burke had his first podium of the biathlon season.
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) overcame a 25 second deficit to rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), before holding off Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Therese Johaug (NOR) on the final day of the Ruka Triple.
Sadie Bjornsen (USA) continued a strong start to the season, placing a career-best 7th in the 5km classic in Finland.
Kikkan Randall (USA) earned the first classic sprint podium of the year, placing second to Justyna Kowalczyk in the World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin got off to a strong start this weekend, winning two of three opening FIS races in Muonio, Finland. Americans Kris Freeman and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess made it into the top-30s, and several other North Americans competed.
Two days after arriving in New Zealand, Andy Newell romped the men's field in the opening sprint of Winter Games NZ, winning his qualifier and each heat thereafter for the overall win. That's a good indicator for one of the world's best sprinters after a summer of mostly rollerskiing, running and biking.
It wouldn’t quite be accurate to call Marit Bjørgen’s World Cup Finals pursuit performance on Sunday a formality. Sure, Norway’s 12-time World Champion started the 10-kilometer freestyle race a full minute and 20 seconds ahead of the field, with teammate Therese Johaug being the only one that could potentially test her. And yes, chances were Johaug would never catch her, but there’s always several races within a race – and Bjørgen had one going from the start.
Marit Bjørgen stuck with Justyna Kowalczyk during her typical attack on the last lap, and went on to drop Kowaczyk and the rest of the women in Saturday's 10 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals. Norway swept the podium, and a deflated Kowalczyk decided to call it quits.
Sometimes Justyna Kowalczyk has to fight for her wins, and for others it looks almost looks easy for her. "It was a relatively easy victory today," she said in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, where she won her fourth World Cup classic race in a row by 2.2 seconds on the 1.1 k city sprint course. Kowalczyk leads World Cup Finals by 7.1 seconds after the first stage.
Therese Johaug knows how to win big at Holmenkollen, but she outdid herself in Sunday's 30 k freestyle mass start, beating Justyna Kowalczyk by 46.6 seconds and skiing alone for nearly 23 k to do so.