Here’s a blast from the past. Two seasons ago, we asked Jessie Diggins, of the U.S. Ski Team, how she prepped for a prologue as the first stage of the 2015 Tour de Ski. She explained she did a “prologue practice day” about a week and a half before the Tour-opening 3 k freestyle prologue.
For this week's workout, one of nine American skiers invited to the International Junior Camp in Norway shares the training session they did Monday: a competitive skate-sprint simulation on a 1.5 k loop.
Unsure of whether she can win the Tour, Marit Bjørgen nonetheless set an impressive pace: she won the first race of the seven-race series by ten seconds, despite it being only 3.3 kilometers long. Norway swept the podium again in a World Cup season that's turning out to be all red.
How does one get ready for the Tour de Ski, or more specifically, prep for a prologue? Jessie Diggins takes us through a "prologue practice day" workout, which she did about a week ago in advance of the 3 k freestyle prologue on Saturday, the first day of the 2015 Tour de Ski.
A broken pole couldn't keep Billy Demong from skiing to his best result of the season in eighth on the first day of the Nordic Combined World Cup Triple, and he talks all about it on camera after Friday's individual jump and 5-kilometer prologue. Teammate Bryan Fletcher led the U.S. Nordic Combined team in sixth, also a season best.
The two-time World Cup sprint champion at SuperTour Finals surprised no one in clocking the fastest women's 3.3 k prologue time on Thursday through a wet snow squall. In fact, Kikkan Randall's time held up as the second-fastest of the day once the men's field had finished. Jessie Diggins took second, 8.0 seconds back, and Sadie Bjornsen claimed third in the opening event of the series.
Andy Newell and Torin Koos each skied top-30 finishes for the U.S. on Friday in the second stage of World Cup Finals, a 2.5 k freestyle prologue. Newell moved into eighth overall in the mini-tour with his 16th place and Koos scored the first distance points of his life in 25th. Noah Hoffman was 51st.
The American women were back on form on Friday for the 2.5 k prologue at World Cup Finals. Kikkan Randall led the way with a third-place finish, and behind her in seventh and eighth, respectively, Holly Brooks and Jessie Diggins were ecstatic to have confidence-building races towards the end of the season. Liz Stephen was 20th for a total of four women in the top-20.
Despite an uncertain start to the morning of the second stage of World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, on Friday, the day ended with a very familiar name at the top of the results. Marit Bjørgen resumed her usual position on the podium and won the 2.5 k freestyle prologue by 4.4 seconds over Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. Kikkan Randall, who spend the better part of the last 24 hours engaged in debate with FIS over the safety of the race course, finished a comfortable third in the individual start race.
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — Looking calm and relaxed as he finished the two-lap 3.2 k freestyle prologue on Saturday morning, Simi Hamilton (SVSEF/USST) skied to a comfortable win in the opening event of the SuperTour Finals at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. He beat Sylvan Ellefson (Team HomeGrown) by 6.6 seconds, and in a tie for third, Noah Hoffman (Team HomeGrown/USST) and Erik Bjornsen (APU/USST) both claimed bronze (+11.5). Kris Freeman (USST), skiing for Team HomeGrown this...
CRAFTSBURY, Vermont — She was busy posting top-20s on the World Cup just last week in Falun, Sweden, but Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST) clearly has plenty of gas left in the tank. For the SuperTour Finals 3.2 k freestyle prologue, she won by 7.2 seconds against a competitive women’s field. Holly Brooks (APU) took second and Sadie Bjornsen (APU/USST) finished third (+8.6), with another 7.5 seconds between third and Becca Rorabaugh (APU) in fourth (+16.1)....
OBERHOF, Germany – Thursday’s freestyle prologue will probably not end up being significant in the grand scheme of the 2012 Tour de Ski, which includes eight more competitions and 100 kilometers of racing spread across two countries. But that doesn’t mean good results here didn’t give athletes a boost. Led by Alex Harvey’s sixth-place finish, the Canadian men are flying high after Stage 1 of the Tour. With Harvey just seven seconds away from the...
OBERHOF, Germany – If the Prologue is any indication, the 2012 Tour de Ski will play out as predicted by the media hype—a battle between Petter Northug (NOR) and Dario Cologna (SUI). Northug edged his rival, and defending Tour champion, Cologna, by .7 seconds in the men’s prologue in Oberhof, Germany. Maurice Manificat (FRA) placed third, four seconds off the pace. As expected, times were tightly compressed on the fast hard track. The course was...
OBERHOF, Germany – Oh, it’s on. The battle between Marit Bjørgen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for Tour de Ski queendom has officially begun—with Kowalczyk landing the first blow. By a scant 0.4 seconds, the Polish strongwoman claimed victory in the first stage of this year’s Tour on Thursday afternoon, covering the icy 3.1-kilometer freestyle prologue in just over seven minutes. Bjoergen was second, with 21-year-old Swede Hanna Brodin earning her second-ever World Cup podium...