Could Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov be the first cross-country skier to perform a seven-stage sweep? He’s certainly well on his way, after collecting his fourth Tour de Ski win in a row on Wednesday in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany. Ustiugov’s four-stage streak alone is unprecedented. Until this year, no other nordic skier in the International Ski Federation (FIS) has been able to complete such a feat during the Tour. Not even Norway’s defending overall World...
With the opening stages of the Tour de Ski in Val Müstair, Switzerland, behind us, we wanted to share some athlete and coach comments that didn’t make it into the race reports: *** On training over the holidays leading up to the Tour: “We were in three different main locations over Christmas: France, Austria, and Switzerland, depending on which athlete you were. You kind of come back and see where everybody is. I think we all know each...
It’s time for the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) 11th Tour de Ski. The 2017 edition takes place in three countries and four different venues. Racers will compete in seven stages over the course of nine days. The grueling Alpe Cermis — a 9-kilometer freestyle hill climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy — will be featured again as the final race to determine the overall Tour de Ski (TdS) results. Directly leading up to the multi-stage event, currently out...
Original e-blast) Eastern Cup Race Report A really productive and fun first weekend of racing at Craftsbury. A little bit of everything when it came to snow and weather! Day 1: Classic Interval Start Cold temps overnight on a manmade base, but a lot of fresh new snow the day of the race. For kick wax we were on a very thin Toko Green Base binder ironed in. We ended up on kick wax from another brand....
U.S. Ski Team B-team member hasn't made many big changes to his training plan this year.
e-blast) TokoUS.com. The specific link is here. You can drill down on a specific region too of course. How to Wax Backcountry Skins With all of the snow falling recently and plenty more on the way, people might be heading into the mountains for some backcountry skiing. Here is a quick video on how to best wax backcountry skins by Toko Tech Team member Erich Wilbrecht. See entire video library
Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project had a red-hot start to her World Cup season, finishing 28th in the 10-kilometer classic in Kuusamo, Finland, and thus scoring World Cup points in the very first weekend of racing. But since then, not everything has gone perfectly for last season’s SuperTour leader. In the Lillehammer mini tour, she failed to crack the top 30 in any individual races and finished the tour 42nd overall. “A lot of...
DAVOS, Switzerland — The evening before the skate sprint in Davos – Andy Newell’s last World Cup competition of 2016 – the U.S. Ski Team veteran stood in the dark outside the temporary trailer his team was using as a wax cabin and talked about doping. In particular, he talked about systematic doping in Russia and has maintained his innocence since , in her extensive investigation of retroactively-awarded Olympic medals, called this “the butterfly effect...
DAVOS, Switzerland–A few years ago, there was rarely a World Cup sprint where the U.S. Ski Team’s Kikkan Randall and Andy Newell weren’t fighting for a top spot in the heats. The bread and butter of the U.S. sprint squad, the pair defined what was possible for American skiing in the modern era. But this season neither has made it into the quarterfinals of a sprint yet. On Sunday, Newell just barely missed the heats:...
DAVOS, Switzerland — Coming off a won the day. “Working on the long distances, it’s still a ways to catch up to the girls at the top,” Diggins said. “But it’s a long season, and we have a lot of belief, a lot of sparkles on our side.” By 10 k into the race, she was up into fifth place, and within a second of the time laid down by Nathalie Von Siebenthal of Switzerland....
Three days of racing, more than a dozen North American skiers, and one FasterSkier on-site reporter was there to witness it all — including Women | Women | Women | Diggins’s 5 k victory “Jessica can be either in the front or in the back when it comes to classic. I thought that if she has a good day, then we and Marit can try to chase Heidi, and that would be a really nice group....
We hear a lot about the details of a cross-country ski racer’s day on race day, but what about those four or five days in between? What do World Cup racers do then, in the middle of the week? FasterSkier Norwegian contributor Aleks Tangen ventured to Lillehammer on Wednesday and Thursday to find out. *** LILLEHAMMER, Norway — The first mini tour of the World Cup season starts today — Friday — in Lillehammer. A year ago at...
The first races of the 2016/2017 World Cup season opened with a 1.4-kilometer classic sprint in Ruka, Finland. Besting some of Russia and Norway's top sprinters was Sweden's Stina Nilsson, who raced to her first ever classic win on Saturday. "This is...my first victory in classic so I'm very, very happy," Nilsson said during a T.V. interview.
Earlier this week, just two days after returning to Europe, Andy Newell realized he had a problem. His elbow was the size of an orange and so painful that he needed to go to a hospital. After an overnight stay at a second, larger hospital, Newell's bacterial infection is on the mend and he's confident he'll be ready to go for next weekend's World Cup opener.
Paddy Caldwell of the Stratton Mountain School and Dartmouth College is looking forward to giving U23 racing one last hurrah at Soldier Hollow this winter. "I think my top-end speed has improved since last year," he explains.
(Press release) Cross-country skier Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Vermont, has competed in three Winter Olympic Games, representing Team USA in pursuit of that elusive gold medal. In addition to hours of training in the gym and on snow, his preparation for the 2018 Olympics looks a little bit different. This time he will be fueled by Vermont Bread Company. Last week Vermont Bread Company and Newell solidified a two-year partnership that will run through the...
U.S. Ski Team A-team member Sophie Caldwell has taken the proverbial next step and topped a World Cup podium. The seventh-ranked sprinter in the world, she feels that nothing's broken with her training, so she hasn't had any significant changes this offseason.
Kikkan Randall is back! Logging hours with her APU teammates in Anchorage and with the U.S. Ski Team at camps, the three-time Sprint Cup winner is looking forward to packing her Aeropress and heading back to the World Cup after a season off last year while pregnant with her son, Breck.
After a month of sending emails and sifting through footage, Hannah Halvorsen produced a five-minute video seeking to bring awareness about body image and disordered eating among cross-country skiers. Since she published it last Friday, it's accumulated more than 3,000 views.
It's back to school and the World Cup for U.S. Ski Team A-teamer Ida Sargent. Based out of Craftsbury, the Vermont native has been mindful to keep her training quality high. As she readies for the first World Cup in late November, she'll also keep her mind sharp while taking online classes in public health.