Martin Johnsrud Sundby didn't waste any time squashing the field on Sunday in the final stage of the Ruka Triple and won the men's 15 k classic pursuit by 44.7 seconds over a late-charging Petter Northug. Canada's Alex Harvey started sixth and ended up seventh for his best finish in the Kuusamo mini tour.
Alex Harvey’s second place on Saturday remains a single drop in the bucket, but it’s a reminder that his quest for the World Cup overall is for real. With "new" legs post-surgery, the 27-year-old Canadian is now a contender in strenuous skate races as well as classic sprints and distance events.
Alex Harvey enjoyed the leader's chair for quite some time during Saturday's 10 k freestyle, the second race of the Ruka Triple World Cup. He ended up second to Martin Johnsrud Sundby, but the Canadian was pleased with his podium in a hilly skate race, especially in the first distance race of the season.
In the big leagues this season, Finland's Iivo Niskanen, 22, not only notched his first World Cup podium on Sunday, but he won the men's 15 k classic individual start in front of a packed stadium in Kuusamo. Two Finnish skiers made the top three, and Norway's Martin Sundby took second.
Noah Hoffman likes some strange things, such as raw meat and raw eggs, but hey, if it makes you fast... Here's some more random info about the 24-year-old Aspen native, who wants to live in the big city someday.
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.
Noah Hoffman (USA) was the fastest World Cup skier today, posting the best time on the final day of the Kuusamo mini-tour, an effort that moved him up to 9th overall. The result paid off, both in valuable World Cup points, and Swiss Francs.
The high hopes for today’s final stage of the Ruka Triple, in Kuusamo, Finland failed to materialize for the Canadian National Team, as they were unable to place anyone in scoring position. The Canadian men fell short of their expectations with Ivan Babikov, a traditionally strong distance skate skier, giving the team it’s best result in the 15k pursuit, with 37th place overall.
The North American men made a solid showing at the second stage of this year’s Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland. The men’s individual 10k classic was what each team described as a productive start to the season - headlined by Ivan Babikov of Canada, who tied for 21st and American Noah Hoffman who placed 28th.
When the season starts, it starts in full force. On the second weekend of World Cup and SuperTour racing, the NorAm season kicked off as well. Up in Canmore, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for two days of domestic racing that determined Canada World Cup starts.
The most successful member the US Nordic Combined Team so far this season, Bryan Fletcher shares some insight on Kuusamo, Finland, and what went down on the second weekend of World Cup competition.
Petter Northug skied his own race and hung on for dear life at the finish to edge a Russian for the first time in this weekend's Ruka Triple and defend his overall title from Kuusamo last year.
It didn’t look like Marit Bjørgen ever looked back Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. It would’ve been pointless to do so; she was always more than a minute ahead, and the white-out conditions made the visibility near zero. Bjørgen won by more than a minute and 20 seconds, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug.
Perianne Jones tied her career best of 12th and Dasha Gaiazova placed 14th to give the Canadians something to celebrate on a day that was sub-par for others, including its men.
Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeseth (NOR) thinks the conditions reported from Kuusamo, Finland, caused many skiers to withdraw from the FIS Norway Cup/BUL-sprint events at Gålå, Norway, this weekend.