Ski Tour 2020 – FasterSkier

Johaug Crushes Stage 6 for Ski Tour Overall Win; Diggins Leads U.S. in Sixth (Updated)

Jason AlbertFebruary 23, 2020

We’ll start with the weather: think all over the place. A moving target for meteorologist with moisture spitting from the skies, and air masses swirling this way and that making the trees sway like a mamba line along the course. A wax tech’s nightmare scenario? Yes. It certainly trended in that direction. By all measures, this was Therese Johaug’s, Norway’s latest version of a cross-country skiing record-breaker, stage and tour. Of six stages total, she...

Racing World Cup

Falla Steps up For the Trondheim Win; Five U.S. Skiers in the Heats

Jason AlbertFebruary 22, 2020

The day began in Trondheim with a centimeter of snow, which then transitioned to big blue skies for the thousands of fans attending the fifth stage of the Ski Tour 2020, a 1.5 k classic sprint. The Norwegians can throw a cross-country race party. The scene, despite the different setting, was reminiscent of the festive cowbell and camp-out sideshow of Holmenkollen’s Frognerseteren. It’s not quite the Yankee stadium of cross-country skiing, but a sign that in...

News Racing World Cup

Bolshunov Goes Down; Klæbo on Form to Capture Tour Sprint Win

Alex KochonFebruary 22, 2020

Takeaways from Stage 5 (of 6) of the Ski Tour 2020? Alexander Bolshunov no longer has his minute-plus cushion to Pål Golberg in the overall, and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is rounding into G.O.A.T. (Greatest-Of-All-Time) form. The 23-year-old Bolshunov, a Russian powerhouse who won the Tour de Ski last month, ranks Stage 5 final results Tour overall standings |

Racing World Cup

Bolshunov Takes a Bold Flyer and the Stage 4 Win

Jason AlbertFebruary 20, 2020

With the course re-routed from the original 38-kilometer mass start skate to essentially an out and back into Meråker, Norway’s ski stadium, the day belonged to Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov who appears, at this point in the season, to be unstoppable in the distance events. In a post-race interview, Devon Kershaw noted that men paced it World-Cup comfortable for much of the first portion of the race. In other words, the effort up-front, although speedy for...

Racing World Cup

Mother Nature Forces a Re-Route; Johaug Fights For the Win (updated with Diggins audio interview)

Jason AlbertFebruary 20, 2020

Nature has a lovely way of being, well, natural. In other words; marginally unpredictable, sometimes downright uncomfortable, and finicky. Prior to the Ski Tour 2020’s Stage 4 weather forecast and on-the-ground big-wind gust reality, the stage had been scheduled to pulse 38-kilometers from Storlein, Sweden to Meråker, Norway in a point to point event. Cool, right? An international border crossing during a race, with a single sanctioned coaching/feed zone for athletes around the 25 k...

Multimedia Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show: Stage 3 Ski Tour 2020 – The Leg Flooding Sprint

Jason AlbertFebruary 19, 2020

Åre, Sweden — the site of the national (alpine) ski area in Sweden. Also the site of Stage 3 of the Ski Tour 2020’s skate sprint. Short at 0.66 k, but oh so steep with a finishing climb with slopes at 28 percent. Yah! 28 percent. Maybe part sideshow, maybe not. Either way, athletes had to get themselves to the top. In what was a leg-burning affair, for a one-off event, it was sporting entertainment....

Racing World Cup

Three In A Row, Johaug Wins the Hill Sprint Showdown in Åre; Diggins 11th, Caldwell 12th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 18, 2020

When Therese Johaug wins a sprint qualifier by 4.5 seconds and Sophie Caldwell qualifies in 23rd, you know it is not your average course. Held at the Swedish national alpine ski area in Åre, today’s event seemed to blend the infamous climb up the Alpe Cermis in the final stage of the Tour de Ski with skier cross on perhaps the shortest but toughest sprint on the World Cup. A gradual uphill start led skiers...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Takes the Stage 2 Win: Brennan in 10th, Diggins 11th

Jason AlbertFebruary 16, 2020

The early evening show, under the lights of Östersund, Sweden’s ski stadium, Stage 2 of the Ski Tour 2020 – a 10-kilometer classic pursuit – got underway as the plentiful moisture falling from the sky transitioned from steady rain to big snowflakes. This was a 10 k race with three discrete tales. First, the story with the least tension. That would be Norway’s Therese Johuag’s 10 k effort. Which, despite the pursuit format, was a...

Racing World Cup

Down to the Wire, Golberg Out Sprints Bolshunov for the Pursuit Win

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 16, 2020

Picking up where we left off in Östersund, Sweden: a pursuit start 15-kilometer classic. Unlike the women’s field where Therese Johaug “administered a beatdown”, creating a large time gap for herself, the margins for the men were much smaller. A glance at Final Results | Time of Day Results

Multimedia Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show: Ski Tour 2020 Stage 1

FasterSkierFebruary 15, 2020

It was all Norway in both the men’s and women’s Stage 1 of the Ski Tour 2020 from Östersund, Sweden. Sjur Røthe on the men’s side was pacing perfection while Therese Johaug simply steamrolled. This was clear, Norway had the best skis, and perhaps by default, the fastest skiers almost across the top-10 board. Yet, it is a long week ahead, and we are one stage into a six-stage event. Here’s the debrief from Devon:...

Racing World Cup

Perfect Pacing: Sjur Røthe Claims Ski Tour 2020 Stage 1 Win

Jason AlbertFebruary 15, 2020

The six-stage Ski Tour 2020, which runs from Sweden to Norway over the next week, began Saturday in Östersund, Sweden with the men’s 15-kilometer individual start skate. The race began with twilight immersing Östersund with the sky eventually morphing into black as the seeded group of skiers looped around on what FIS called a 4.71 k course. This much can be concluded after a single day of what will be a hotly contested tour: the...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Tops an All-Norwegian Podium; Diggins 8th, Brennan 9th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 15, 2020

Here we go again. A new Scandinavian Ski Tour takes the spot of a World Championship or Olympic Games during this off-cycle year. Six stages working east from Östersund, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway, beginning with today’s 10-kilometer individual start freestyle event. Under clear skies, light fading and shadows lengthening as the sunset looms just a few hours away, the women time trialed through the tall conifers to set the tone of the overall tour standings....

World Cup

Ski Tour 2020: The Basics

Jason AlbertFebruary 13, 2020

New on the World Cup this season is the Ski Tour 2020: a six-stage tour beginning in Östersund, Sweden on February 15, and concluding in Trondheim, Norway on February 23rd. (To view the map as a stand-alone web page, click here.) As the interactive map illustrates, races will be held at venues along a similar latitude in Sweden and Norway, with the World Cup entourage traveling East to West. The Ski Tour 2020 is organized...