Update: Early Thursday, Cross Country Canada (CCC) announced that Jess Cockney has been selected for World Cup Period 1, referencing both his Olympic history and last season's World Cup top-10 result.
It's a big day for national-team nominations as Canada released its list of top-tier cross-country skiers -- with six men and one woman on the World Cup A and B teams -- for the 2016/2017 season.
Notes, quotes, photos and even a video of several of the North Americans you've been waiting to hear from at the Ski Tour Canada.
Norway keeps them coming. Norwegian young gun Emil Iversen took Stage 2 of the Ski Tour Canada, the men's 17.5 k classic mass start in Montreal, ahead of an all-star cast, including teammate Petter Northug, Russia's Sergey Ustiugov, and another Norwegian, Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Canada's Alex Harvey skied up to ninth for sixth overall in the Tour.
On a 1.7-kilometer technical course with hustling and jostling, U.S. sprinter Simi Hamilton proved he had the tactics and the lungs to ski with the world's best on Tuesday. He placed third in the Ski Tour Canada's opening skate sprint, 0.09 seconds behind Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in first and 0.01 behind France's Richard Jouve in second.
There were no Norwegians on the podium Saturday in Falun, Sweden. Russia secured the top two with Maxim Vylegzhanin in first and Alexander Bessmertnykh in second, and France’s Maurice Manificat finished third. American Erik Bjornsen to a second-best 21st, a minute out of first.
It's been a few years, but Nikita Kriukov wants you to know he's back. On Thursday, the Russian notched his first individual World Cup podium (and win) since December 2013 on a city sprint course in Stockholm. Canada's Alex Harvey narrowly missed the final and placed seventh for his best sprint result this season.
Norway's Petter Northug showed his versatility as an all-rounder, winning Wednesday's classic sprint in Drammen, Norway. His quick double pole and quicksilver skate skis won out the day. The U.S. Ski Team's Simi Hamilton placed 11th overall while Canada's Alex Harvey posted his second-best sprint result of the season in 20th.
In their first team sprint together, Americans Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell placed fifth on Sunday, while the U.S. men's team of Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton missed an early tag and ended up being disqualified in the final. “It was disappointing for sure, but it was a good call by the jury," U.S. head coach Chris Grover said.
Three Canadians missed the heats by slim margins on Saturday, with Len Valjas placing 31st for the third time in a World Cup skate sprint this season and Maya MacIsaac-Jones finishing 31st in the women's race, followed by Dahria Beatty in 32nd. “It’s a great start, it’s exciting and that’s why we have them over [there],” head coach Justin Wadsworth says.
The fifth stage of the Tour de Ski, the men’s 15-kilometer classic mass start on Wednesday, was decided by mere inches. Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin took the lead in a group of five athletes from the final descent, with several more shortly behind, and outlunged Switzerland’s Dario Cologna.
A collection of photos highlighting the North Americans in Tuesday's classic sprint at the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski. Sophie Caldwell made history as the third U.S. woman to win a World Cup race. Photos by Marcel Hilger.
Emil Iversen lived up to his breakfast-table proclamation on Tuesday and won his first World Cup race, ahead of Russia's Sergey Ustiugov and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin in the men's classic sprint, Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski.
Len Valjas double poled past Italian sprint star Federico Pellegrino at the end of the first men’s classic sprint quarterfinal to earn a spot in the semifinals and ultimately lead the North American men in 10th in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany.
In a World Cup sprint, 31st has a little extra bite. Ask Len Valjas. He’s been in that position twice in the last three freestyle sprints. On Friday, the Canadian World Cup Team sprinter finished one-hundredth of a second behind 30th, which would have qualified him for the heats in the 1.5-kilometer skate sprint, the first stage of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Just over two weeks ago at another Swiss race site...
“The skis felt sticky,” is what Canadian National Team Head Coach Justin Wadsworth said about his team’s thoughts on their shortcomings on Saturday in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy.
Cross Country Canada announced its national-team nominations Tuesday with little change to the World Cup and Development rosters. The 2015/2016 Senior National Team will feature 12 athletes ranging from the World Cup to U23 Development Teams.
Alex Harvey skied a strong 15 k pursuit Sunday to improve his standing to tenth in the Lillehammer World Cup mini tour. Teammates Ivan Babikov and Devon Kershaw overcame low rankings to place 28th and 41st, leaving the Canadians confident but wanting more as they prepare for newt weekend's World Cup races in Davos, Switzerland.
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.
Only days remain in the 2013 World Cup and there’s less than a month to go before SuperTour Finals and Canadian Nationals wrap up the competitive season for North Americans. For this edition in our workout series we asked Alex Harvey, Sadie Bjornsen and Lenny Valjas how they orchestrate an end-of-year taper and how their peaking plan for World Championships affected the racing that followed and is still to come.