Lenny Valjas was the lone Canadian to qualify on Friday in the first World Cup race of the season, the Ruka Triple classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. “Today’s goal was just to qualify and to make it into the points," Valjas explained. "There was no huge expectations."
A year after placing third behind fellow Norwegians Eirik Brandsdal and Petter Northug, Sondre Turvoll Fossli, 22, turned the tables on his teammates and won his first World Cup -- the Ruka classic sprint -- on Friday ahead of Brandsdal and Northug, respectively. American Andy Newell had his best World Cup result since February 2013.
Noah Hoffman likes some strange things, such as raw meat and raw eggs, but hey, if it makes you fast... Here's some more random info about the 24-year-old Aspen native, who wants to live in the big city someday.
The official beginning to the 2014 racing season didn't disappoint with tons of exciting nordic action taking place across the globe. FasterSkier was on-site in West Yellowstone to cover the SuperTour opener, Kikkan Randall opened with her best classic-sprint finish of second in Kuusamo, Noah Hoffman notched the fastest men's time in Sunday's 15 k pursuit to end the Kuusamo Ruka Triple, and Tim Burke had his first podium of the biathlon season.
Noah Hoffman (USA) was the fastest World Cup skier today, posting the best time on the final day of the Kuusamo mini-tour, an effort that moved him up to 9th overall. The result paid off, both in valuable World Cup points, and Swiss Francs.
The United States women capped a highly successful start to the 2014 World Campaign, leaving Finland after three days of racing as the fourth ranked squad in the world. Kikkan Randall led the way, placing 5th in the Ruka Triple mini-tour.
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) overcame a 25 second deficit to rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), before holding off Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Therese Johaug (NOR) on the final day of the Ruka Triple.
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.
The North American men made a solid showing at the second stage of this year’s Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland. The men’s individual 10k classic was what each team described as a productive start to the season - headlined by Ivan Babikov of Canada, who tied for 21st and American Noah Hoffman who placed 28th.
Kikkan Randall (USA) earned the first classic sprint podium of the year, placing second to Justyna Kowalczyk in the World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland.
Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) won the first World Cup race of the 2014 season, besting Anton Gafarov (RUS) and Teodor Peterson (SWE) in a classic sprint the kicked off the Ruka Triple mini-tour.
Petter Northug skied his own race and hung on for dear life at the finish to edge a Russian for the first time in this weekend's Ruka Triple and defend his overall title from Kuusamo last year.
It didn’t look like Marit Bjørgen ever looked back Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. It would’ve been pointless to do so; she was always more than a minute ahead, and the white-out conditions made the visibility near zero. Bjørgen won by more than a minute and 20 seconds, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug.
Kikkan Randall led a quartet of U.S. women in the top 20 on Saturday, demonstrating that last week's third place in Sweden was no fluke. Randall set a new U.S. mark, becoming the first woman to place second in a World Cup distance race.
Kikkan Randall (USA) continues to make history, earning her second distance podium of the young season. Randall placed second to Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in the 5k skate in Kuusamo. Yulia Tchekaleva (RUS) was third.
Marit Bjørgen (NOR) continued to show excellent early-season form, skiing away from the field in the final of the classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. Russians Evgenia Shapovalova and Anastasia Dotsenko rounded out the podium.
Nikita Kriukov (RUS) outsprinted Petter Northug (NOR) to win the first stage of the Ruka Triple in stunning fashion. Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) was third in first stage of the three event mini-tour in Kuusamo, Finland.
Overall men’s results. World Cup standings.
Even if he didn’t say it, Petter Northug presented the challenge from the onset. The first starter in the men’s 15 k classic pursuit would give his followers a fighting chance before playing the game of cat and mouse in Kuusamo, Finland. The Norwegian frontrunner in the three-day Ruka Triple mini-tour wasn’t known for charging out of the gate in those types of races anyway. As expected, he led the race with the help of...
Marit Bjørgen thought today’s win was “possible”, but her 17 second head start in today’s classic pursuit over teammate Vibeke Skofterud was not enough to give her complete confidence in a win. Bjørgen blasted out of the start with a speed fitting of a 1km sprint, trying to gain even greater cushion from the very first of 10 kilometers. Racing against only the clock, with the thought of her strong competitors and teammates chasing...