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Ruka

The Devon Kershaw Show: Ruka recap and guess whose apology tour

We’re back, with some incremental improvements to our audio production and full stoke for a new season of the Devon Kershaw Show. On this first episode of the new season, Devon and Nat break down the winter’s opening races in Sweden, Finland and Norway, and prime the pump for the World Cup kickoff in Finland next weekend. As always, email us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Women’s 20-Kilometer Pursuit: U.S. Places Two in the Top 10 with Diggins and Brennan.

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Women’s 20K Pursuit. Today, Ruka, Finland was home to the inaugural running of the women’s 20K pursuit. The format is now a 20-kilometer skate race with interval starts based upon...

Ruka Women’s 10 Kilometer Classic: Sweden Dominates, Brennan Shines

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.   Women’s 10K Interval Start: Today began a new chapter in World Cup racing as women and men competed at the same distances on the same course for the first...

Ruka Men’s 10 Kilometer Classic Individual Start:  It’s all Team Norway.

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.   Ruka Men’s 10K Classic Individual Start Ruka presented less challenging conditions this year compared to last year for the athletes.  Temperatures were in the high teens (-8.0 Centigrade) with...

New Season, Same Swedes: Ribom Notches First Career World Cup Win, Kern Strong into Semis

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The temperature was a balmy -11℃ (12℉). A glow hung in the sky and new snow decorated the trees; a welcoming winter scene in Ruka, Finland. With the FIS Cross-Country...

The Devon Kershaw Show: The 2021 Ruka Recap with Guest Sadie Maubet Bjornsen

We’re back with this week’s episode of the Devon Kershaw Show! Devon and FasterSkier’s Nat Herz break down the World Cup’s exciting season-opening weekend of racing in Finland, along with a special guest: U.S. Olympian Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, who retired in the spring. The trio breaks down Ruka’s frigid temperatures, legit results from North American racers, Frida Karlsson’s surprising victory over Therese Johaug, and some Russian men’s distance domination — with the inevitable aside about...

A Russian Sweep on Day 3 in Ruka; Schumacher Advances to 11th

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. By Ryan Sederquist It was another very cold day in Ruka, Finland. Temperatures hovered between -19 and -23.2 degrees Celsius around the course, rising to -18.6C by the start...

Niskanen for the Win in Ruka Distance Opener; Nordiq Canada’s Antoine Cyr 11th

  This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. By Ryan Sederquist If Friday’s sprint signaled a potential changing of the guard, with 22-year old Alexander Terentev displacing Johannes Høsflot Klæbo atop the podium, the men’s 15-kilometer...

Karlsson — Not Johaug — Wins the Distance Opener in Ruka; Brennan in Sixth

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Aerial views of Ruka, Finland showed a venue coated in thick rime, a visual representation of the temperatures and conditions on the course. At nearly 66 degrees North, Ruka...

Dahlqvist Wins the Opener in Ruka; Three Americans in the Top-20

    This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.   And so it begins. The first round of World Cup racing took place in Ruka, FIN today with conditions one might expect in late November at...

From the World Cup Wax Truck – First Weekend in the Books

The first weekend is in the books, and we can cross off a top 10, top 5, and technically a top 3 off of the to-do list. Being behind the scenes and waxing in the wax truck is a whole different perspective.  It is far more stressful but also incredibly fun.  I am mainly a part of the glide team and will help with testing, picking, and applying waxes for any given day. The conditions...

What A Way To Kick Off The World Cup For Madshus

Sturla Holm Lægreid (NOR) crushed his competitors in the IBU biathlon World Cup opener  on Saturday and earned his first World Cup victory. On Sunday, turbo junior Helene Fossesholm (NOR) posted the second-fastest time of the day in the 10-kilometer pursuit at the FIS Nordic World Cup opener. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I never imagined I would win,” Lægreid said after his race, which took place in in Kontiolahti (FIN). The 23-year-old dominated the 20-kilometer individual competition,...

The Devon Kershaw Show – Breaking Down Ruka

This is a new project from FasterSkier and the podcast title pretty much says it: Devon Kershaw will be sharing his thoughts and insights of the 2019-2020 World Cup with us. It began this morning, Sunday, December 1, very early for me and not so early for Devon who is based in Lillehammer, Norway. Devon is a former longtime Canadian National Team member, a World Champion, and commentator for Eurosport at last year’s Seefeld, Austria...

Bolshunov atop the Podium Again in Ruka; North Americans Feel Encouraged About the Season Ahead

“I have no secrets,” Alexander Bolshunov told FIS in regard to his back-to-back wins in Kuusamo, Finland. On Saturday, the Russian had won a drag race with Norway’s superstar Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo during Saturday’s classic sprint.  Bolshunov had a commanding victory in Sunday’s 15-kilometer classic race. He stopped the clock with a winning time of 36:17.8 minutes. Early in the race, Bolshunov’s splits mirrored those of Norway’s Emil Iversen during which the two skiers’ times never deviated...

World Cup Distance Race #1 in the Books: Johaug Wins, Bjornsen in Eighth

The most important story within the story was the fight within Sunday’s aerobic fight during the women’s World Cup 10-kilometer classic in Kuusamo, Finland. Each of the seventy starters in the women’s field wore a pink ribbon acknowledging the global fight against breast cancer and their friend, retired U.S. athlete Kikkan Randall. The aerobic fight on the 3.3 k loop in Kuusamo wasn’t well defined until Norway’s Therese Johaug skied through the stadium to begin...

Klæbo Holds Off Sundby, Bolshunov and Harvey for Ruka Triple Sweep

Two previous days of racing, and back-to-back victories no less, had begun to take its toll on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo within the first few laps of the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit on Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. The 21-year-old Norwegian could feel it throughout his body; he was tired and 38 seconds of a starting cushion wasn’t going to be enough to hold off the hungry challengers behind him. Klæbo, who won Friday’s classic sprint and...

Kalla Beats Bjørgen for Ruka Crown: ‘I have been waiting for this day’; Bjornsen 10th, Diggins 12th

After two days of racing in Kuusamo, Finland, the Ruka Triple turned its last page on Sunday. As it turned out, the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle pursuit was a thriller. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla came into the final day of the mini tour wearing bib 1 and with only a 2-second lead on the last person one might want skiing on their tails, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen.   The gamesmanship, the change of pace, skiing’s version of the...

Sunday Rundown: Ruka, Östersund, Pontresina & Beitostølen (Updated x6)

Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. *** IBU Cup in Beitostølen: 7.5/10 k sprints [UPDATE] With the second set of men’s and women’s sprints IBU Cup sprint on Friday.) In the women’s...

Randall Misses Heats in Kuusamo, But Optimistic About Upcoming Races

Kikkan Randall returned to World Cup racing on Saturday, with baby in tow. The verdict on her performance: neither as good as hoped for, nor worse than history would predict. On Saturday, the three-time Sprint World Cup champion competed in her first World Cup competition since 2014. Randall took the 2015/2016 season off while pregnant with her son, Breck. In her return to racing, she finished 52nd – 19.75 seconds off Krista Parmakoski of Finland’s qualifying time in...