Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby is taking home all the hardware: two Crystal Globes and the Ski Tour Canada overall. After starting with a 39-second deficit to Russia's Sergey Ustiugov on Saturday, Sundby rose and Ustiugov faded. Canada's Alex Harvey finished fifth overall for his best result in a World Cup tour.
After placing third in Wednesday's skiathlon, Finland's Matti Heikkinen claimed his first victory since 2011 on Friday in the men's 15 k skate. Canada once again had four in the top 30, with Alex Harvey leading the team in fourth. “I think it’s one of the best races of my life here," Harvey said of Canmore. Noah Hoffman led the U.S. in 23rd.
Friday's Stage 7 15 k freestyle skate tightened up the standings for the overall in the Ski Tour Canada. Russia's Sergey Ustiugov leads, but by only 32 seconds ahead of Norway's Petter Northug Jr. If that wasn't reason enough for Ustiugov to keep a high octane pace on Stage 8, Northug's teammate, Martin Johnsrud Sundby starts 39 seconds back from the Russian. These photos capture the action on a beautiful day in Canmore and a decisive day for the men.
Stage 6 of the Ski Tour Canada featured a brutal course for both the women's 15-kilometer and the men's 30 k skiathlons. It was simply survival of the fittest as the classic loop featured a grueling 1.2 k climb while the skate leg was punctuated by dicey soft-snow corners navigated at high speed.
Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby won the Ski Tour Canada's brutal Stage 6 skiathlon on Wednesday, putting him third overall in the Tour, while Petter Northug remains in second despite losing precious time to Tour leader Sergey Ustiugov. Canada's Alex Harvey jumped a spot to fourth overall, and his teammates Ivan Babikov and Graeme Killick posted season-best results.
With the Sprint World Cup already in the bag, Italy's Federico Pellegrino entered the last sprint of the season in Canmore on Tuesday without any pressure. "When you realize your goals, it’s so good,” the eventual race winner said. Meanwhile, Canada's Lenny Valjas fed off his home crowd to place 11th for his second-best result of the season.
Despite Petter Northug's greatest efforts, he couldn't catch Sergey Ustiugov during Saturday's four-lap 15 k freestyle pursuit in downtown Quebec City. The Russian held Northug off by 17 seconds for the win to keep the Ski Tour Canada leader's bib heading to Canmore, Alberta. Behind them, Alex Harvey outlasted Martin Johnsrud Sundby for fourth place, 44.5 seconds behind Emil Iversen in third.
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.
After Russia won both of the men's competition events last weekend in Sweden, Norway decided it was time to fight back. In Sunday's skiathlon, five Norwegians crossed the finish line before any other country's first competitor. "We needed to come back from three Russian victories," said race winner Martin Johnsrud Sundby.
In the men's 15 k freestyle mass start at the World Cup in Falun, Sweden, Russian Sergey Ustiugov bested Italy's Francesco de Fabiani and Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby for his first distance win. "It is obvious that in the end of the season Russian team is getting better and better," Ustiugov said.
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.
Fifty kilometers might seem like plenty of time to ease into a race, but especially in a World Cup race like Holmenkollen, those days are over. “It’s a battle from the start now," Canada's Devon Kershaw explained. His teammate Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 20th, Kershaw placed 23rd, Noah Hoffman of the U.S. was 24th, Graeme Killick of Canada 30th, and U.S. skier Scott Patterson 32nd.
Picture little Martin Johnsrud Sundby, "nine years old and tenting in the forest." That's when he knew he wanted to win in Holmenkollen. After four podiums in the world-famous 50 k mass start, he won the classic race outside his hometown on Saturday and set a record in the process.
A few things are clear: athletes, in particular winter endurance and pool athletes, have a high incidence of airway hyper-responsiveness, much of which may be undiagnosed. This can be treated with inhalers, which are not banned by WADA and have been repeatedly shown not to be performance-enhancing. And - those athletes can win.
The Norwegians built up what turned out to be an insurmountable lead, despite Russia coming within 6 seconds of them at the finish, to win the men's Nove Mesto World Cup relay on Sunday. The U.S. and Canada skied together throughout the race to place eighth and ninth, respectively.
Maurice Manificat has been waiting for this win all season despite being on the podium twice in the last two months. On Saturday, he beat Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby for his first World Cup victory since 2013. For Sundby, it was a small speed bump on his way to seize control of the 2015/2016 World Cup overall.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby won his third-consecutive Tour de Ski by a record-breaking 3 minutes and 15 seconds and another Norwegian, Finn Hågen Krogh, bested a tight chase pack for second overall. Russian Sergey Ustiugov captured third, and Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 14th at the end of the eight-stage Tour.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby showed he's still got it, winning Saturday's 15 k classic mass start ahead of Norwegian teammate Niklas Dyrhaug and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin, for nearly a 1 1/2-minute head start in Sunday's final climb. Alex Harvey notched seventh on the day for 12th overall heading into the final stage.
Despite starting 26th in Sunday's final stage of the Tour de Ski, nearly 10 minutes back from the leader, Noah Hoffman is excited for the opportunity ahead of him. "You couldn’t design something that could be more to my strengths," he said of the infamous 9 k freestyle hill climb up Alpe Cermis.
Finn Hågen Krogh knows a lot about ups and downs, and has formed somewhat of a pattern at this year's Tour de Ski. However, the Norwegian had one of his career-best races on Friday, winning the 10 k freestyle by 3.6 seconds ahead of teammate and overall Tour leader Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Noah Hoffman placed 19th to lead the U.S., and Canadian Alex Harvey finished 37th and is now 15th in the Tour.