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Sergey Ustiugov

World Cup Preview: #3 Russia

Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts. The World Cup begins with a classic sprint in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24th. *** Russia Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 3rd Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 5th Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 2nd Russians to Watch: For several years the attention grabbing fact about Russia was the morass of allegations...

International News: Norway Bans 16 & Under Fluoro Use, Ustiugov Breaks Thumb (Updated)

This article has been updated to include quotes from Torbjørn Skogstad. Here are a few international news items of note: According to an October 21, press release from the Norwegian Ski Federation, fluorinated wax products are banned from all race classes up through the age of 16. The decision came down from the federation’s Cross-Country Committee and will be enacted this season. The no-fluoro policy will be enforced by testing skis for fluorinated products. “We will use...

Blink Ends with Jam-Packed Friday/Saturday

The 2018 Blink Ski Festival continued in full force on Friday and Saturday, with cross-country and biathlon prologues, 10- and 15-kilometer cross-country races and biathlon mass starts all taking place on Friday, followed by sprints on Saturday.  Results: Men’s cross-country prologue After the elite men’s prologue, athletes geared up for a men’s and women’s biathlon prologues. Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø took the men’s biathlon prologue win in a time of 10:30.2 after two misses (1+1)....

Harvey Second to Cologna in Seefeld 15 k; Bjornsen 9th, Hamilton 12th

SEEFELD, Austria — A gray sky shadowed over the Tirol ski trails on Sunday. A similarly cool tension built on the course as slightly more than 100 racers warmed up for the mass start of the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle mass start. With five minutes to spare, spectators hurried to stake their spot, some carrying steaming-cheese-fondue-filled baguettes from the Le Gruyère cheese tent: Switzerland’s stamp on the Austrian snow. For those on site, the Le Gruyère...

Ustiugov, Shipulin Banned from Olympics

Three notable Russian Winter Olympians, Sergey Ustiugov, Anton Shipulin and Viktor Ahn are the most recent to be banned from the upcoming 2018 Olympics, which start in just over two weeks in PyeongChang, South Korea, for their alleged involvement in systematic doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the decisions on Tuesday, Inside the Games reported. Ahn, 32, a South Korean-born Russian speedskater (who joined the Russian...

Sunday Rundown: U.S. Nationals; Tour de Ski Finale; Oberhof Relays

U.S. Cross Country Championships (Anchorage, Alaska): 20/30 k classic mass starts Women’s report Sweden’s Hedda Bångman denied Caitlin Patterson of her first outright victory of the week at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships, but Patterson as the first American racked up her third-straight national title in the women’s 20-kilometer classic mass start at Kincaid Park on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska. Bångman, a 22-year-old freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), pulled off a 15.9-second...

Cologna Wins Tour de Ski; Harvey Solves the Alpe Cermis for Third Overall

The 2018 Tour de Ski is a wrap. On Sunday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, the final Stage 7 hill climb was a mirage of sorts as Switzerland’s Dario Cologna soloed in for his fourth overall Tour de Ski (TdS) victory. The stage, a 9-kilometer freestyle pursuit “final climb” ascends an alpine ski-area slope for the final three k’s as it climbs 425 meters from race start to finish. Not once did the 31-year-old Cologna...

Tour Turnaround: Poltoranin Wins Fiemme Classic, Vaults into 2nd Overall; Harvey Third; Ustiugov Fades

Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, Italy, began as many expected: with aggressive skiing from Sergey Ustiugov and his Russian teammates. Ustiugov, last year’s Tour de Ski champion, started the day ranked second, 53 seconds behind Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, himself a three-time Tour de Ski champion. Ustiugov was obviously trying to make up some of that time in a bid to challenge Cologna for the title: he skied hard from the...

Iversen Wins TdS Stage 5 ‘Pack Race’; Harvey Fifth to Retain Fourth Overall

Like ants swarming a bread crumb — skating ants — on ice. That was one image that could be conceived from the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle mass start on Thursday, which served as Stage 5 of the 2018 Tour de Ski in Obertsdorf, Germany. Aftercancellation of Stage 4 after the women’s qualifier — so organizers opted to salt the course to preserve it as much as possible for the mass starts. It was raining again on...

Thursday Rundown: Iversen, Østberg Prevail in Jam-Packed Oberstdorf Mass Starts

Tour de Ski Stage 5 (Oberstdorf, Germany): 10/15 k freestyle mass starts Women’s report In one of the more unconventional stages of the Tour de Ski — a rainy, seven-lap, 14.7-kilometer men’s freestyle mass start, and a five-lap, 10.5 k women’s mass start (both of which were adapted to a shorter course afterMen’s Stage 5 | Women’s Stage 5 |

Cologna in Control with TdS Pursuit Win; Harvey 4th, Bjornsen 22nd

The Tour de Ski (TdS) theater was treated to a solo-skier drama during the Stage 3 men’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit on Monday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. On New Year’s Day, it was a homegrown skier, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, who stole the show winning the race in 34:56.6 minutes. Cologna is a three-time Tour de Ski winner, who until Harvey showed he’s a master of gamesmanship and crushing sprint efforts after a distance effort. Sometimes leading, sometimes...

Tour de Ski Rundown: Diggins 3rd; Harvey 4th; Østberg and Cologna Tally Win No. 2

Tour de Ski Stage 3 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland): 10/15 freestyle pursuits Men’s report In the first three stages of the Tour de Ski (TdS), three different American women have reached the podium. Jessie Diggins became the latest in Monday’s New Year’s Day 10-kilometer freestyle pursuit in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Heading into Stage 3, the last one in Switzerland before the Tour moves to Oberstdorf, Germany, Diggins ranked third overall in the TdS. She started the men’s 15...

Tick-tock. An appropriate intro in a place like Switzerland — a nation and culture known for accurate timepieces and punctuality. Depending on how you look at it, for 31-year-old Swiss skier Dario Cologna, one of two things has been on-the-dot: his three year slide in results since winning the 2014/2015 World Cup overall and his battle with both injuries and an ascendant Martin Johnsrud Sundby; Or his rejuvenated Lenzerheide, Switzerland Tour de Ski (TdS) Stage...

Tour de Ski Rundown: Sadie Bjornsen 3rd; Østberg Posts 25-Second Win; Cologna Wins at Home

Tour de Ski Stage 2 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland): 10/15 classic Men’s report For the second-straight day of the Tour de Ski, an American landed on the podium, with Sadie Bjornsen placing third in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday in Lenzerheide. For Bjornsen, it was her third individual podium of the season and first in a race longer than 5 k.  She finished behind two Norwegians, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, who took the win in...

Ustiugov Sets Stage, Wins Tour-Opening Skate Sprint in Lenzerheide

For Sergey Ustiugov, the Tour de Ski (TdS) is picking up where he left it last year. Last January, the 25-year-old Russiansix stages remaining. “I really wanted to win today to start the Tour strong,” Ustiugov said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release. Ustiugov’s opening day began with his qualifier, which he won after covering the course in a time of 2:58.46 minutes. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino posted the second-fastest qualifying time, 1.08...

Sunday Rundown: Ramsau, Toblach, Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

NorAm mini tour (Rossland, B.C.): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits Team Gregg ended the Rossland NorAm mini tour with another double win, with American Caitlin Gregg and her husband Brian Gregg winning the 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits, respectively, at the Black Jack Ski Club trails. Caitlin capped the long weekend with her third-straight win, a 48.28-second victory over former Canadian biathlete Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic). Caitlin started first and was first across the finish in 29:02.86,...

Klæbo Sets Record with Win No. 7; Harvey 9th; Bjornsen 26th in Toblach Pursuit

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is making a name for himself. The 21-year-old Norwegian broke a record on Sunday, after taking the men’s 15-kilometer classic pursuit title in Toblach, Italy and tallying his seventh World Cup win this season, the most victories ever recorded by a male skier before the new year. In previous seasons, Norwegians Petter Northug and Martin Johnsrud Sundby had topped out at six. With the win, Klæbo remained the Overall World Cup leader with...

Saturday Rundown: Annecy, Toblach, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

NorAm Mini Tour (Rossland, B.C.): Freestyle sprints On Day 2 of NorAm racing in Rossland, British Columbia, Julien Locke, of the Black Jack Ski Club and Canadian National U25 Team, won the men’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final on his home trails by just one-hundredth of a second over Evan Palmer-Charrette, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, in 2:38.13. NTDC Thunder Bay had two on the podium with Julian Smith in third, 0.4...

Krüger Tallies First World Cup Win in Toblach; Harvey 4th; Klæbo 10th

The first time Simen Hegstad Krüger stood atop a World Cup podium, it was last season in the company of three teammates, after Team Norway won the men’s relay in Ulricehamn, Sweden. An individual podium win had remained elusive to the 24-year-old Norwegian for the past four World Cup seasons. Over the course of his professional cross-country career, Krüger had recorded two top-three results: his relay podium and a third place in the 10-kilometer freestyle stage of...