Noah Hoffman executed his race plan perfectly in the 15 k freestyle at World Championships on Wednesday, moving from 40th on the first lap to 15th by the finish line. It cut his previous best from Oslo two years ago nearly in half. Tad Elliott was 34th and Erik Bjornsen was 48th for the American men.
Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men in 33rd place in the Davos 15k, the best of a series of sub-par performances. But there is no panic with World Champs just days away.
Despite a fall in the exchange zone Canada's Ivan Babikov led the North Americans in the 30 k skiathlon in Sochi, Russian, on Saturday in snowy, challenging conditions. American Noah Hoffman had a tangle of his own but managed to claw his way back to the top 26.
Seven Americans landed in the heats in the freestyle sprint in Sochi, Russia, on Friday. Kikkan Randall calmly won her third sprint of the season and Ida Sargent was sixth in her first appearance in a World Cup final. La Clusaz is but a distant memory.
After a short break in the calendar, World Cup action begins again on Friday in Sochi, Russia, with a triple-header. More than the usual amount of intrigue surrounds the upcoming events; in addition to being the first World Cup in almost two weeks, this will be the first international cross-country event to take place at the Olympic venue for the 2014 Games.
Andy Newell got the U.S. men's relay off to a strong start Sunday, tagging off to Noah Hoffman in fourth. Hoffman rose to second, but two crashes on his last lap proved too much to overcome and the Americans finished 10th, a season best that left the team wanting more.
Proving once again that he can hold his own in a distance race, Andy Newell’s led the way for the U.S. men on Saturday in La Clusaz, France, with a season-best 28th place in the 15 k classic mass start. He was the only North American in the points; teammates Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott were 68th and 69th, respectively.
The 2013 World Championships begin on February 20th in Val di Fiemme, Italy, and if you think this has been an exciting season so far, think again. With the U.S. selection period now closed and team naming expected by the end of the week, we consider criteria, rankings and results.
Noah Hoffman wrapped up his first Tour de Ski with a strong performance on the Final CLimb, placing 17th on the day. Kris Freeman, on the other hand, completed what he says will be his last Tour.
Andy Newell will not complete the 2013 Tour de Ski, withdrawing following the 5k prologue as planned.
Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman improved in the overall Tour de Ski standings, but neither were psyched about their results, considering Hoffman fell and Freeman's been fighting an uphill battle since he crashed in stage two. Andy Newell broke two poles and skied a total of about seven kilometers on broken ones, settling for 67th.
They entered the Tour with high ambitions and a fair amount of confidence, but on the whole the first two stages of the Tour de Ski in Oberhof, Germany, have not gone as planned for Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman and Andy Newell. Freeman crashed in the pursuit after a promising prologue and leads the Americans in 58th.
After a slow start to the season, the U.S. men have stepped up. Following Andy Newell's 5th place in the sprint, the distance skiers placed three in the top-30 and two in the top-10 in Sunday's skaithlon.
Maurice Manificat wrapped up the first World Cup period with an impressive win in the men's 30km skiathlon. He was followed by Roland Clara and Sjur Roethe. North Americans Noah Hoffman, Kris Freeman, Ivan Babikov and Graham Nishikawa all factored in the race.
Alex Harvey (CAN) and Kris Freeman (USA) recorded their best results of the season Thursday at the Alberta World Cup opener, a 15 k classic mass start, to build some confidence and lead their respective teams in Canmore.
Noah Hoffman (USA) wrapped up a breakthrough weekend of racing in Kuusamo, Finland, placing 26th in the Ruka Triple mini-tour. Hoffman's teammates did not fare as well, with Kris Freeman and Andy Newell both abandoning the race, and Tad Elliott and Sylvan Ellefson finishing toward the pack of the field.
Noah Hoffman skied to a personal-best 19th place finish in the Kuusamo 10k skate, cracking the top-20 for the first time in his World Cup career. The rest of the US team struggled on a cold day in Finland.
With so much happening in Gällivare, Sweden, this weekend, we didn’t have the chance to put quite everything into our main feature stories. Here are some leftovers from the races, as well as some small pieces about the U.S. men’s and Canadian women’s relays. Women’s Relay When asked about the U.S. women’s relay podium, Development Coach Bryan Fish initially didn’t get too specific… he was just impressed. “That was exciting to watch,” he told FasterSkier...
This year, like last year, the US Ski Team is partnering with The Aspen Times on a feature they are calling the “Athlete Spotlight”. Each week, a different US Ski Team athlete from the Roaring Fork Valley will write an … Continue reading →
I had two one hour workouts yesterday. I classic skied in the morning and skated in the afternoon. There was an inversion. It was warm up at our hotel but cold (single digits Fahrenheit) at the venue. I am always impressed … Continue reading →