Kyle Bratrud placed 31st in the 15 k classic at the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
On February 18th, four days before the American Birkie, Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2) announced that the race would be his final competition as a professional skier. The news caught many by surprise as Bratrud seemed to be having a strong season, following a solid season in 2018/19.
Last season, the 26-year-old Minnesota native won the 15-kilometer classic and took second in the 30 k free at U.S. Nationals in Craftsbury and ended his season as the 2019 Overall SuperTour winner.
“Kyle has been an athlete that has always had a very clear understanding of what he needed to do to succeed, especially when it came to championships, and winning national titles,” said Pat O’Brien, head coach of the SMS T2 program. “He was fantastic at that. His track record was, anytime you came into a World Championship year, more often than not, he was the guy that was winning those championship level races.”
Being the SuperTour winner, Bratrud was granted his first Period 1 World Cup starts this season, which O’Brien explained they planned to target. They recognized that it can be very hard for a distance skier to find success in Period 1 as international athletes are also using these starts to prove they belong on the World Cup squad — every on-the-cusp racer desperately seeking the top-30.
Kyle Bratrud (APU) placed 38th during Sunday’s 15 k skate in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“The World Cup is a tricky one, because you don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing,” O’Brien explained. “You have to spend some time over there to learn the venues and figure out how to live on the road with your teammates over there for support.”
The first two weekends in Ruka and Lillehammer were not what Bratrud was hoping for, but he placed 38th in the 15-kilometer freestyle in Davos. He was the top American, just ten seconds outside of the top-30, and less than two minutes behind winner Simen Hegstad Krüger of Norway.
Though he was offered starts for the Tour de Ski, Bratrud headed back to the US after Period 1 to race the distance events at Senior Nationals in Houghton, Michigan. There he repeated his 2019 results with a 15 k freestyle win and second in the 30 k classic.
Bratrud explained that the venue in Houghton is special for him as it is where he won his first national championship back in 2015 during his senior year at the University of Northern Michigan.
That 2015 was not just a win. He burst onto the scene and took the 15 k freestyle by 50 seconds, followed by third in the 30 k classic four days later. These results instilled belief that he could ski at the professional level and opened doors for him to ski at the FIS U23 World Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he took 19th in the 15 k skate. Bratrud was also given World Cup starts the following week for a distance race in Östersund, Sweden and again at the World Ski Championships in Falun.
Kyle Bratrud (SMST2) during the men’s 15 skate at the 2020 U.S. National Championships. (Photo: Reese Brown)
Men’s 15 k Senior National’s podium: Gus Schumacher in second, Kyle Bratrud first, and tied for third, Ian Torchia and Erik Bjornsen (l-r). (Photo: Reese Brown)
Rather than his recent results motivating him to continue, Bratrud explained that it felt like the pieces were fitting together in a way that allowed him to walk away on a high note. Though he still loved the process, the lifestyle had worn on him and he was ready for a change.
“The time in between [training and racing], used to not bother me at all, and now I’m feeling kind of restless and like I want to do something different and engage my brain in a different way and help other people.”
O’Brien recounted his conversations with Bratrud following his performances in Houghton about a transition in his career. They discussed taking a break and evaluating the weights of the variety of passions that were calling to Bratrud.
“It’s an interesting dynamic,” O’Brien said. “When you’re a young, hungry athlete, you want nothing more than to have the opportunity to have these at bats racing over in Europe and trying to become a World Cup ski racer. I think for the first time in his life, it was like, ‘Okay. I’m at an age where I’ve gotten to experience World Championships, I’ve gotten to experience the World Cup, I’ve succeeded at a level that very few people have.
“And I’m actually at a point in my life where it’s great to know that I have those options available to me, but maybe the sacrifices that I didn’t view as sacrifices when I was 21, 22, 23, I start getting older and I realize, I just don’t know if that’s really what I want to throw myself back into.’ It’s a very difficult crossroads to be at as an athlete, but it’s also very important to acknowledge that something you’ve pursued for a long time — it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still inspire passion in you, but it may start looking different and feeling different.”
Bratrud spent some time in Boulder, Colorado with his girlfriend, Kelsey Phinney, and her family. He also raced in the RMISA races in Steamboat Springs, winning the 10 k skate and taking second in the 20 k classic, and won the 42 k skate at the Alley Loop in Crested Butte.
Ultimately, Bratrud decided he was ready to step away mid-season. Being from the Midwest where the Birkie reins supreme, he selected it as the “perfect opportunity” to ski his final race as a professional.
“More people ask me how I’ve done in the Birkie than about any of my World Cup results, which I think is a little funny, but that’s kind of how the culture is,” he laughed.
After burning a few too many matches responding to Niklas Dyrhaug’s early moves, Bratrud lost contact with the lead pack and crossed the finish line in Hayward in 10th (+1:47).
In this conversation, Bratrud talks about his day at the Birkie and the experience of skiing across the lake, over the international bridge, and up Main St. knowing it would be his last professional race. He also reflects on his career highlights and gives an honest answer to the National Team and World Cup selection criteria for domestic skiers.
Since the call, Bratrud has moved to Boulder and has accepted a position with the 20th Judicial Court in the Court Clerk’s office. Here he can apply his undergraduate degree in criminal justice, and the experience will support his interest in pursuing law school.
Interview with Kyle Bratrud discussing his retirement after the 2020 American Birkie.
Kyle Bratrud during the 30 k skiathlon in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In addition to providing further insight into Bratrud’s season and decision to retire, O’Brien also discussed how he advises his athletes in terms of meeting age-weighted criteria, a charging group of juniors who are achieving international success, and the balance of their career with other pursuits.
“It’s also incredibly difficult. If you are an older athlete who has not made an A or B-Team age weighted criteria, the expectation is that, yes, you can earn World Cup starts through various pathways… but it’s difficult as an athlete who’s not fully funded on the A-Team or supported on the B-Team. There’s the higher financial costs, there’s a lot more logistics involved, so it becomes difficult and at some point in time, it’s very hard for those athletes to figure out how they can continue to balance — ‘How am I going to financially support my ski racing? And also, every year that goes on is another year that I’m not entering a normal job market.’
My feeling and approach to it has always been that I’m fully supportive of whatever athletes decide and whatever their passions are. If it’s 100% skiing, then that’s what they should pursue. If it’s like, ‘This is what I want and I’m going to chase this dream for as long as I possibly can.’ That’s fantastic. But if they get to a point where they’re starting to say, ‘Okay, this is something that is still a passion of mine that I’m going out and pursuing, but I’m starting to think that my time pursuing this at the highest level might be coming towards an end or I’m starting to look at what’s out there and available to me.’ Then I think it’s important to recognize that this sport isn’t something that you do forever…
“I think the most important thing is that whether they decide that they’re going to be completely done with ski racing or try to find a different balance between skiing and pursuing a job on the side, there’s no right or wrong. It has to be an individual decision and it has to feel right.”
Several inches of new snow five days out, a cold-snap that sent temperatures in Hayward plummeting to -24 degrees Fahrenheit two nights before the race, and a bluebird day with temperatures in the high teens at the start, climbing to mid-30s in the early afternoon. Firm tracks, perfect groom, and fast snow. You could not have asked for a more perfect day to showcase the trails linking Cable to Hayward, WI at the 2020 American Birkebeiner.
Among the first-timers leaving the Northwoods in awe of the event was Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug, who took control of the pace early and won the 50-kilometer skate in a long sprint battle from Lake Hayward over the International Bridge to the top of Main Street in a time of 1:59:01.7.
The 32-year-old Trondheim native has a solid track record in distance racing. He was 2nd at the famed Holmenkollen 50 k classic in 2016 and placed in the top-ten there on three additional occasions. He has over 100 World Cup starts, three of which resulted in a podium finish, and was a member of the Norwegian team at the 2018 Olympics, where he was 13th in the 50 k mass start classic.
In a post-race conversation after returning to Norway, Dyrhaug explained that the American Birkie has been on his radar for some time, and he was excited the opportunity arose this year. He also shared his thoughts on the quality of the event and competition, and of course the feverish Birkie crowds.
Dyrhaug discussed how he spent the remainder of his time in the U.S. Apart from racing in the SuperTour sprints at the Birkie trailhead three days prior to the marathon, qualifying in second and finishing ninth, he also attended a Minnesota Wild game. Though he has not raced much on the World Cup this season, he adds that he now has his eyes on some of the upcoming distance races, including a return to the Holmenkollen.
Russia soaking it in as they take 1-2 in the 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Call it what you want: national pride, national bias, flag-waving: the team relays elicit nationalistic tendencies. In Lillehammer, Norway, you might think and maybe expect it’s your birthright to see the hometeam crush. That’s been the recent norm almost without exception.
Here’s the quick stats to either dispel or reinforce those tendencies: Norway has won nine of the last 11 relay races on the World Cup. Russia won the other two. In fact, Russia took first and second, Norway third in the last head-to-head 4 x 7.5 k match last season in Ulricehamn, Sweden. Throwing Norwegian dominance back into the equation, Norway has won five of the last six relays on home snow.
On paper, at least for Norway, some big names were missing from their team lineups. No No Emil Iversen. No Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. No Martin Johnsrud Sundby. That trio finished third, fourth. and fifth in Saturday’s 30k skiathlon. Add to that Didrik Tønseth who was busy representing Norway at the European Cross-Country Running Championships.
But Norway is deep with talent. As is Russia. For those keeping score, you’ll see no Alexander Bolshunov featured on either of the Russian teams — he won the skiathlon yesterday. That all said, in a non-championship year maybe it’s a time to tinker and experiment. Here were the teams holding the most podium potential.
Norway I: Pål Golberg, Hans Christer Holund, Sjur Røthe, Finn Hågen Krogh
Russia I: Andrey Larkov, Ilia Semikov, Denis Spitsov, Andrey Melnichenko
Russia 2: Ivan Yakimushkin, Evgeniy Belov, Ilia Poroshkin, Sergey Ustiugov
Pål Golberg (NOR) leading the pack during the scramble leg of the 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway. (NordicFocus)
The first tag, after 7.5 k, Russia I pulled through first, with Norway I and Sweden right behind. Russia II was 10.5 seconds back, Finland 15.5, the U.S. 17.0, and Norway II dangling 19 seconds off the lead.
As the classic legs ended at 15 k, the race was more about who was falling off out of contention, rather than a team up front making any decisive gesture for a kill shot. Finland came through first, with Russia II next (+0.4), then Norway I (+2.2), Russia II (+9.7), Norway II (+10.5), and Germany (+15.0).
The next closest team was Sweden, roughly twenty-nine seconds arrears in seventh place. At that point, the U.S. team of Erik Bjornsen, David Norris, Scott Patterson, and Kevin Bolger were in ninth (+1:13.7) and racing in a no-man’s-land with a sizable gap to France in eighth and Kazakhstan drifting back in 10th.
Simen Hegstad Krüger (bib 10) during the 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The race began to look a tad spicy for Norway around the 21.2 k mark, nearly an hour into the race. Krüger for Norway II, a sometimes peerless skate skier at that, put his stamp on the affair as he powered ahead on the course’s most prominent climb. Norway I’s Røthe followed Krüger in step. And Sweden’s Jens Berman kept pace as well. The real tease was that Russia I (Spitsov) and Russia II (Poroshkin) appeared cooked as were their team’s chances for anything but third place.
But, it’s a four chapter race. And the fourth leg coalesced into a five team scrum by 25k. Both Russian teams, the Norwegian squads, and Germany were all in it. We should note that Ustiugov, tagged 15 seconds back at the exchange, looked impressive shutting down that gap as he reeled in the lead groups.
Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (right) showing his solid form during the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The racing scene’s old friend, Ustiugov, went to the front and eventually shut down the pace. It wasn’t exactly a crawl. It was Ustiugov revealing his tactical hand: wait until punishing terrain, and throw down a punishing push.
But it was Melnichenko for Russia I who made that move. Ustiugov kept pace and pulled through not long after Melinchenkov separted. Ustiugov looked like vintage Ustiugov: a full-body, all-in-it, furnace of power.
Sergey Ustiugov of Russia taking control during the 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway (Photo:NordicFocus)
And that was it. Norwegian dreams were snuffed, Russian dreams realized.
Russia I won in 1:26:46.8 hours. Russia II took second (+1.3), and Norway I third (+8.9). Norway II lost the toe-to-the-line finish by placing fourth (+9.0).
The U.S. team skied to ninth place, 3:33.3 minutes back. U.S. World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb explained in an interview that relay racing is often a “game of contact and if contact is lost the race is often lost.” The U.S. did lose contact. It remained a relay for the U.S. bright moments and the reality of skiing solo for a few legs. (In the interview below, Whitcomb also notes the thrill of watching an emerging Chinese program finish the men’s relay in a non-championship event.)
Matt Whitcomb post-race interview
Closing out the day on the race course was China. They placed 11th (+12:44.6). Making note that the 2022 Olympics will be hosted by China, it will be interesting to see how this team develops.
Scott Paterson of the U.S. Ski Team during the third leg of the 4 x 7.5 k relay in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Scott Patterson post-race interview
Kevin Bolger during the 30k skiathlon in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Kevin Bolger (r) takes a selfie with Norwegian skier Sivert Wulff while training in Norway in July. (Photo: Kevin Bolger)
There’s a reason Kevin Bolger has spent his last four summers in Trondheim, Norway, rent free.
You could say it started in 2014, when his older brother, Conor, began his Ph.D. work at the Centre for Elite Sports Research in Trondheim. As a doctoral candidate in the center’s neuroscience department, Conor’s work involved lab time. Specifically, lactate and VO2 max testing on Norwegian cross-country and nordic-combined national team members.
Conor soon established a relationship with a number of Norwegian national teamers. Athletes like Niklas Dyrhaug and Eldar Rønning became more than lab subjects. They were friends. Christmas was spent with the Slind family (Astrid, Silje and Kari ring any bells?) and at one point, Conor and Dyrhaug were next door neighbors.
By the summer of 2015, Conor had convinced his younger brother, Kevin, to book a ticket to Trondheim. Every summer since then, Kevin has repeated the journey. He’s managed to avoid paying rent by staying with his brother Conor for the first two summers and for the next two, stayed at Astrid Øyre Slind’s apartment.
“[Astrid] lets me stay there for free, which is insanely awesome,” Bolger, 25, told FasterSkier on the phone earlier this month. “She isn’t even really there that much, so I’m kind of by myself bachelor pad-ing it up in Norway.”
This summer, Bolger trained predominantly with Norwegian national-team standouts Dyrhaug and Didrik Tønseth. His summer training plan, which he and his coach, Chris Mallory of the Sun Valley Ski Education (SVSEF), mapped out before he left, remained loosely defined.
For example, a one-week plan from Mallory in the summertime may require Bolger to complete a 25-hour week, with three interval sessions and two strength sessions, but not specify the type of intensity or strength exercises.
“It gives me the freedom to fill out my own week,” Bolger said.
Kevin Bolger (l) training with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) and Niklas Dyrhaug in July in Norway. (Photo: Niklas Dyrhaug/Instagram)
This way, the basics of Mallory’s plan are met and Bolger can simultaneously maximize the amount of time he trains alongside Dyrhaug and Tønseth.
What’s struck Bolger the most from his training tenure in Norway is “how in tune they are with their bodies.”
“If it’s a easy session, it’s an easy session. If it’s intervals, it’s intervals. And if they’re tired, they’re resting,” he said. “They’re really smart when it comes to what they’re doing from day to day to day.”
Another reason training in Norway is hard for him to pass up — aside from the free rent and panoramic views of the fjord — is the support he feels. It’s nice when an entire nation’s favorite pastime happens to be yours, too (not to mention that one can rollerski on a main street without anyone batting an eye).
“Skiing is the lifestyle over there. For some reason I find, I don’t know, it just feels easier,” Bolger said.
Even with two world champions. Bolger’s first summer in Norway came after his sophomore year at the University of Utah (UU), where he had posted “some good results”, but “nothing amazing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dyrhaug and Tønseth were fresh off a gold medal in the men’s 4 x10-kilometer relay at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. (Both went on to win gold again in the men’s relay at 2017 World Championships).
“For them to open up and be like, ‘Yeah, you can come over here and train with us,’ especially Niklas [Dyrhaug and Didrik Tønseth] being world champs, that was really cool,” Bolger said.
Echoing a remark made by Jessie Diggins, who joined the Norwegian women’s team for a weeklong training camp two summers ago, Bolger was adamant that the Norwegians are nothing but open when it comes to their training practices.
“There is no secret; they’re not trying to hide anything,” he said. “They want the sport to grow.”
This summer marks Bolger’s first as a U.S. Ski Team (USST) member. His B-team nomination came in May.
By placing 11th in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Lahti, Sun Valley’s Kevin Bolger won some Gruyere cheese for being the top-ranked Continental Cup skier of the day. (Photo: Matt Whitcomb)
Considering those results, Bolger said his family and teammates were confident he earned a spot on the U.S. squad. Even so, leading up to the USST nominations this spring, his mindset remained “until I get the phone call or I get the nod that it actually happened, I’m not assuming anything.”
Two months after the last races of the season, Bolger received word from USST coach Matt Whitcomb. He made it.
“When that phone call did come through,” he said with a pause, “it was unbelievable. I was so fired up.”
Skiing has been a longtime passion for Bolger, something he picked up as a third grader growing up in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He credited Conor, who’s four years older, as playing an influential role in his ski career. In a way, he was the one who ignited the flame.
“My older brother was involved with skiing, and of course, when I was in third grade I wanted to be like my older brother,” Bolger said.
Bolger continued to ski through middle school and high school, eventually winning two championship titles his junior and senior years. After high school, he spent two gap years with the SVSEF program before starting his studies at the University of Utah. There, he earned six regular-season podiums (including two wins), a top-10 finish for All-American status at NCAA Championships (despite frostbitten fingers), a team championship title (Utah’s first in 14 years), all during his senior year. To top it all off, his first national title came that same season.
Following graduation, he headed back to Sun Valley to join the Gold Team. After one training year with SVSEF, he garnered a USST nomination.
Kevin Bolger (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) racing to 50th in the men’s classic sprint qualifier at the 2018 World Cup in Drammen, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
In the years leading up to that, Bolger has found financial support from the SVSEF, as well as grants, Utah contacts, and fans who are “fired up” about his accomplishments. His parents have helped, too, particularly when it comes to fundraising ideas and forums.
“My mom calls herself my agent,” Bolger said with a laugh.
He also has a “skiing resume,” a paper printout of his season costs and where he will funnel any proceeds, which he hands out to potential sponsor or donors.
“I think it’s that big question mark everyone wants to know: How much do things cost?” Bolger said. “I don’t think anyone likes to talk about it or throw numbers out, but I believe that they really should be out there, people should know.”
He estimates this season will cost him $30,000 dollars. The U.S. Ski Team covers room and board for training camps, but Bolger did not attend the men’s France camp in July. This winter, all B-team athletes will also receive an additional $5,000 dollars for room and board, Bolger said.
When asked how an athlete — who is looking to do what he has done — might realistically make that happen financially, his response hinged on the connections he has made over the years.
“For me, it was a lot of networking; being able to find somewhere where you can not have to pay rent. That’s huge,” he said. “You get a lot of support by networking and getting to know people. … You can’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask for help.”
As Bolger looks ahead to the season, simply qualifying for sprints is not the end goal.
“I don’t want to just go [to Europe] and ski on the World Cup,” he said. “I want to be competitive.”
Eleventh in a sprint is competitive, and Bolger is hungry to prove himself again in future sprint rounds.
“We’ve had a lot of guys that go over there and have the opportunity, but no one’s really capitalized on it,” he said.
In his first few World Cups, he has managed to break into the sprint rounds (top 30), not an easy feat. Perhaps his time in Norway has helped soften the nerves.
“I’ve been going to Norway, I’ve trained with Niklas, Didrik and Emil Iversen and even done a few interval sessions with Johannes [Høsflot Klæbo] … I’ve been surrounded by [them in training],” he said. “I don’t know if that’s what helped going into those races.”
“A lot of these guys I’ve looked up to my whole career and now I’m skiing against them,” he added.
Toeing the line with one’s childhood idols may be intimidating — if you let it. For now, Bolger’s primary focus is on his training and racing, not the big names he may be pinned up against.
“At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to do the same thing: ski fast,” he said.
While we covered who’s still skiing — casually, recreationally, backcountry, basically anything other than full-on training — last week, the start of May marks the beginning of a new season for year-round skiers. And with the first few days of May have come some training pics via social media. Here’s a roundup of some that caught our eye on Instagram:
Alex Harvey:
Alex Harvey hitting the weights hard: “May 1st ⏩ Back in training!💪”
Megan Tandy:
Another determined Canadian athlete in the gym: biathlete Megan Tandy at her training base in Klingenthal, Germany.
Emily Dreissigacker:
Newly minted US Biathlon High-Performance Team member Emily Dreissigacker skied up Stowe Mountain in Vermont on May 2.
Emma Lunder:
Meanwhile near Canmore, Alberta, Canadian biathlete Emma Lunder broke a pole while crust skiing at Burstall Pass.
Scott Patterson:
Looks like Alaska Pacific University skier and U.S. Ski Team member Scott Patterson is ready to go the distance, specifically 100 miles in May.
Sadie Bjornsen:
Scott Patterson isn’t the only one with a 100-mile goal for this month. His APU and U.S. Ski Team teammate Sadie Bjornsen is right there with him, getting out on snow in Anchorage, Alaska.
Erik Bjornsen:
Speaking of the Bjornsens, Erik (c) got some ski-specific training in yesterday as a substitute coach for the Anchorage Biathlon Club at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Eirik Brandsdal:
Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) and Eirik Brandsdal (l) were still racing (and reaching the podium) last weekend at Bysprinten in Mosjøen, Norway.
Krista Pärmäkoski:
Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski was all smiles while listening to some tunes during a recent dryland workout. She wrote about the start of the new season and being well-rested and focused on her World Cup goals. “There is work and a lot, but that’s what this is about.”
Dario Cologna:
Swiss superstar Dario Cologna is “back to work,” according to one hashtag in this May 2 post, where he’s seen skiing on the Engstligenalp plateau in the Swiss Alps. “Let‘s start the new season,” he wrote.
Laurien van der Graaff:
Another Swiss skier Laurien van def Graaff (bottom and top right) is back at it in Sjusjøen, Norway.
Charlotte Kalla:
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (second from right) hasn’t wasted any time getting back on snow as evidenced by this photo she took with her Piteå Elit Ski Club teammates on Sunday in Finland’s Southern Lapland region.
Therese Johaug:
Looks like Therese Johaug has been logging some cold-water surf sessions on the Lofoten archipelago in northern Norway, as well as some fishing.
Martin Fourcade:
France’s defending IBU World Cup champ Martin Fourcade has been cross-training and logging some long-lost time in the saddle.
Franziska Preuss:
German biathlete Franziska Preuß (or Preuss) documented her “First mountain run of the new year” in Ruhpolding, Germany. And look, she’s higher than the mountains.
Leif Nordgren:
U.S. biathlete Leif Nordgren went road biking with his wife, Caitlin Napoleoni, whom he married in December.
Niklas Dyrhaug, Richard Jouve and Robin Duvillard:
Meanwhile athletes like Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug (l) and France’s Richard Jouve (c) and Robin Duvillard are on the road to recovery, according to this FIS Cross Country post.
Russian Alexander Bolshunov celebrates as he wins his first-career World Cup, a 15 k classic mass start, just ahead of Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (11) at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Svenska Skidspelen/Instagram)
Saturday was the second day of World Cup Finals mini tour, held in Falun, Sweden, which conclude the 2017/2018 season. Friday’s first stage began with a skate sprint, while Saturday featured a 15-kilometer classic mass start for the men.
As the season is no longer young, the fitness for some athletes frayed, a mass start could offer the opportunity for some to hide in the pack and others to exploit. On a sunny and cold Saturday in Falun, the leading distance skiers on the World Cup were unable to separate. The terrain was World-Cup hilly, yet the pace was never decisive enough to shatter the field.
That field was 91-skiers full. 182 poles. 182 skis. Churning from the start, only those skiers in the front rows of the start pyramid could pole and stride away unscathed. As is the nature of 91 skiers fighting for classic-track scarcity — the lanes taper down in number — pile-ups are the norm. So while some skiers like U.S. Ski Team members Erik Bjornsen and Scott Patterson lost time in a starting-scrum spill, others were looking for brighter opportunities up front.
Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin (43) and Canada’s Alex Harvey (32) lead another Russian Maxim Vylegzhanin 59), Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (11) and Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani (10) up a climb during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
From the start the pace was hot. There was Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, Sweden’s Emil Jönsson, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Niklas Dyrhaug, Canada’s Alex Harvey, Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin, Russians Alexey Chervotkin and Alexander Bolshunov, and Swedes Calle Halfvarsson and Marcus Hellner, all in either a strung-out or condensed formation 3.75 k into the race. Skiers were slowly slipping off the back. But even with the surging up front, the tactics playing out appeared to place a premium on safety in numbers.
Bolshunov surged at 4.5 k to snag the highest-value time bonus. Otherwise, for much of the race, identifying specific skiers was a task in itself. Coming down the hills a third through the race, the top-50 skiers were a sinuous and continuous line separated by 17.7 seconds. At the bottom of climbs, the compressive part of the accordion effect was in play. Skiers in front could push, those behind became a more dense cluster of lycra-clad athletes.
Despite the prevalent pulsing of pace, skiers like Chervotkin and Harvey had their moments of pluckiness. Each paced a long line of skiers through the 9.3 k mark. But clear at this point was that the pattern of this race would be defined by the collective mass of skiers that began the mass start. Yes, time gaps would balloon a bit by the finish, but at 12 k (the second time bonus), a gap of 1.7 seconds separated first through 35th place.
The move that mattered in this race came from the birthday boy, Halfvarsson. According to FasterSkier’s reporter on the ground, the Swedish crowd serenaded Halfvarsson, 29, with a happy birthday rendition prior to the start. Maybe it was birthday stoke, maybe it was an acknowledgment that with age comes fewer opportunities to seize the win, but with one kilometer to go, Halfvarsson ran like Klæbo. Up and over the hill, the Swede forged a small gap on the 30-plus chasers.
Again on the last short incline before the speedy descent into the stadium, Halfvarsson performed a masterful high-step run. Only Bolshunov at this point could suck up near the Swede’s tails. For a moment, rounding into the final straight, it looked like Halfvarsson’s icing on his birthday cake would be a Falun stage win.
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (c) in first, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (l) in second, and Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani (r) in third. (Photo: FIS World Cup Svenska Skidspelen/Facebook)
Halfvarsson came into the straight out of the tracks. As he zeroed in to begin the double-poling finish, the birthday boy stumbled slightly slotting into the nearest lane. Bolshunov flew by with a supreme double pole and took the win in 36:59.8. Halfvarsson placed second (+1.3), Italy’s Francesco De Fabianithird (+3.1), Poltoranin fourth (+3.7) and Chervotkin fifth (+5.2).
For the 21-year-old Bolshunov, it was his first-career World Cup win. Prior to Saturday’s win, Bolshunov had stood on the podium six times in his first full season on the World Cup. (Bolshunov’s only World Cup start last season was in Drammen, Norway, in March 2017.) Along with Klæbo, also 21, Bolshunov has risen into one of the sport’s top athletes. He claimed three silvers and a bronze medal in PyeongChang. His two individual Olympic medals were a second in the 50 k classic mass start and third in the classic sprint.
“I have had many second and third place finishes this season so I am very happy to finally have a win,” Bolshunov told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after the race. “This feels good. I will do what I can tomorrow for another good result but for now, I will enjoy this win.”
Sunday’s final men’s race of the season and last race of the three-stage mini-tour, will be a 15 k freestyle pursuit. Bolshunov leads the mini-tour standings in first with a total elapsed time of 38:37 minutes. Klæbo, who finished 22nd (+13.6) on Saturday, sits in second (+38.0), while Halfvarsson is third (+39.2).
The Swede took away the positives from the day’s near-win in front of the home crowd.
“I tried today to get a win but it was too much,” Halfvarson told FIS. “Off the final corner, I was really tired. I am still happy with second place. I have been on a podium a few times this season and always third. So at least second place is an improvement even if I didn’t manage the win.”
Canada’s Alex Harvey was the best placed North American in 20th place (+10.7). He’ll begin Sunday’s pursuit in 18th (+1:16.1).
Canada’s Graeme Killick (75) skiing with Sweden’s Jens Burman during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. Killick went on to finish 41st. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Teammate Devon Kershaw finished 26th (+14.6) for his fourth-straight race in the top 30 (including his 26th-place finish in the Olympic 50 k classic). Graeme Killick placed 41st (+1:13) and Julien Locke was 81st (+3:29) for Canada.
“I felt quite good today,” Kershaw said after the race. “I was a little disappointed with the last kilometer because I was kind of out of position a little bit after Mördarbakken and couldn’t quite get up through traffic, but it’s really close. And a little disappointed to be 26th again; it seems like that’s kind of where I’ve lived all year, but it was a good race for me.”
Kershaw, a 35-year-old staple of the Canadian team, has been seeking a return to top form.
“Just races like today where I feel good and can execute decently well,” Kershaw explained. “To be honest this year I am super motivated after the championship. I’ve [been] having major, major asthma issues at the Olympics and that really really affected me and it took a long time to get a little better, but I felt like by the time I got to Lahti I was feeling quite a bit better. So that really helps, I mean, I can breathe again and I’m feeling good.”
Kershaw is expected to mull over the prospects of continuing his ski career in the coming weeks.
“We’re not sure, I’ll talk to the wife next week [Norwegian former elite skier Kristin Størmer Steira],” Kershaw said of his future plans. “You know there’s a lot of issues right now in Canada so I’ll have to think about it. A lot of guys are saying that they’re gonna call it a day. And I’m not getting any younger, but I still feel quite good, and I mean a race like today shows that I can still compete with the best in the world so that’s motivating, but we’ll definitely have to take some weeks to think about it.”
Nowhere to go: U.S. skiers Erik Bjornsen (bib 57) and Scott Patterson (bib 67) stuck in a pile-up after the start of the men’s 15 k mass start classic at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. (Screenshot: SRF Sport broadcast)
For the U.S., Erik Bjornsen finished 52nd (+1:47.1), Simi Hamilton 62nd (+2:06.4), Kevin Bolger 69th (+2:27.1), David Norris 70th (+2:31.2), Scott Patterson 71st (+2:40.6), Paddy Caldwell 75th (+2:52.7), and Andy Newell 86th (+4:47).
Patterson’s race did not go as planned.
“I was in a big pile-up right at the start,” Patterson told FasterSkier after. “I was the second-to-last one out of the stadium and then the first time up Mördarbakken, my ski fell off. So I skied halfway down, got my ski back on, just turned back around and then just like stupidly chasing the rest of the race. …
“I felt OK,” Patterson added. “[Without] those two stupid things it would have been a good race. But I was so far off and then it was really hard to get back to the pack and then it was like, ‘Well, I can’t get to the pack. I am here with those guys.’ ”
Lately, Patterson, 26, has been a highlight for the U.S. distance skiing prospects. The first-year U.S. Ski Team member notched three individual top-20 results at last month’s Olympics, including 11th in the 50 k classic. Last weekend in Oslo, Norway, Patterson proved that was no fluke, as he placed 16th in a traditionally deep field at the Holmenkollen 50 k skate.
World Cup Finals conclude with 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday.
— Gabby Naranja, Harald Zimmer and Alex Kochon contributed
The Italian men’s team after Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with (from left to right) Federico Pellegrino, Giandomenico Salvadori, Francesco De Fabiani, Maicol Rastelli, and Dietmar Nöckler. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
The women’s 10 k classic mass start podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski (c) in first, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (l) in second and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (r) in third. (Photo: FIS World Cup Svenska Skidspelen/Facebook)
FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals (Falun, Sweden): 10/15 k classic mass starts
Day 2 of World Cup Finals in Falun entailed 10- and 15-kilometer classic mass starts on Saturday, and in the first race of the day, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski pulled out a thrilling finishing-sprint victory over Norway’s Marit Bjørgen.
After American Jessie Diggins led early in the first 2.5 k loop, Bjørgen set the tone from the front for most of the race. With less than a kilometer to go, Norwegian powered up the final horseshoe-shaped climb in first, with Pärmäkoski and Bjørgen’s Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg just behind her. The three had dropped the field while lapping through the stadium around the 7.5 k.
While Østberg fell off the pace on that final uphill, Bjørgen accelerated as she took a few quick strides over the top, gaining a few meters on Pärmäkoski as they headed into the descent. The finishing stretch is long in Falun, and Pärmäkoski was able to come on strong just before she and Bjørgen entered the final 100 meters before the finish. There, Pärmäkoski’s double-pole speed not only matched Bjørgen, but beat her, as Pärmäkoski passed her with several meters to go and took the win by 0.2 seconds in 26:00.5 minutes. It was Pärmäkoski’s second win of the season and fourth of her career (including time-of-day pursuit stage wins).
Just behind Pärmäkoski and Bjørgen, who congratulated each other immediately at the finish, Østberg finished 5.1 seconds back in third. Five women fought for fourth place, with Sweden’s Ebba Andersson taking it (+14.5) ahead of Japan’s Masako Ishida in fifth (+14.8), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in sixth (+15.2), Austria’s Teresa Stadlober in seventh (+15.4), and Diggins in eighth (+15.5).
Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen was the next finisher across the line in ninth (+24.8), then Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen in 10th (+26.2) and American Sadie Bjornsen in 11th (+26.3).
Canada’s Emily Nishikawa was the next North American in 36th (+1:31.1), and she led her teammates Cendrine Browne, who placed 50th (+2:05.7), Dahria Beatty in 61st (+2:46.6) and Zina Kocher in 69th (+6:12).
For the U.S., Sophie Caldwell finished 41st (+1:36.1), Rosie Frankowski 44th (+1:43.7), Caitlin Patterson 47th (+1:54.8), Ida Sargent 52nd (+2:10.2), Liz Stephen 54th (+2:20.0), Kikkan Randall 57th (+2:34.1), and Kaitlynn Miller 64th (+2:50.7). Rosie Brennan did not start.
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (c) in first, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (l) in second, and Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani (r) in third. (Photo: : FIS World Cup Svenska Skidspelen/Facebook)
In the men’s 15 k classic mass start on Saturday afternoon, Russia’s 21-year-old Alexander Bolshunov notched his first-career World Cup win after reaching the podium seven other times this season (placing third in six of those seven races).
Bolshunov hung in the pack and took the lead at the start of the final lap at 11.25 k, ahead of four of his Russian teammates, Alexey Chervotkin in second, Evgeniy Belov in third, Andrey Larkov in fourth, and Maxim Vylegzhanin in fifth. Behind them, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna skied just ahead of Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Canada’s Alex Harvey, who were among 29 skiers within four seconds of first.
While Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson led the final climb before the stadium, Bolshunov caught him on the downhill and out-double-poled him in the finishing stretch, taking first by 1.3 seconds in 36:59.8. Halfvarsson finished second and Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani scored his second World Cup podium of the season in third (+3.1).
Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin missed the podium by 0.6 seconds in fourth (+3.7), Chervotkin followed in fifth (+5.2), ahead of Cologna in sixth (+5.6) and Italy’s Federico Pellegrino in seventh (+5.6), after they finished together. Sundby and his Norwegian teammate Niklas Dyrhaug also crossed the line at the same time in eighth (+6.3) and ninth (+6.3), respectively, just 0.1 seconds ahead of another one of their teammates, Sjur Røthe, in 10th (+6.4).
Less than five seconds later, Harvey finished 20th (+10.7), ahead of Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in 22nd (+13.6). Klæbo slipped out of contention on the third of four laps, as he dropped from fourth to 22nd in less than two kilometers.
Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished 26th (+14.6) for his fourth-straight race in the top 30 (including his 26th-place finish in the Olympic 50 k classic mass start), Graeme Killick placed 41st (+1:13) and Julien Locke was 81st (+3:29).
Erik Bjornsen was the top American man in 52nd (+1:47.1), Simi Hamilton finished 62nd (+2:06.4), Kevin Bolger was 69th (+2:27.1), David Norris 70th (+2:31.2), Scott Patterson 71st (+2:40.6), Paddy Caldwell 75th (+2:52.7), and Andy Newell 86th (+4:47).
World Cup Finals conclude with 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday.
France won the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup women’s 4 x 6 k relay to start the day at Holmenkollen, ahead of Germany and Italy, while the Canadian women’s team (Sarah Beaudry, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder, and Rosanna Crawford) placed 11th and the U.S. (Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee, Joanne Reid, and Emily Dreissigacker) came back from 21st to finish 15th.
In the men’s 12.5 k pursuit that followed, France’s Martin Fourcade won his 10th race at Holmenkollen, putting himself 49 points ahead of Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø with three individual races in Tyumen, Russia, remaining. US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty tied his second-best result this season in 17th and his teammate Lowell Bailey raced up to 28th with the 19th-fastest time of day. Leif Nordgren placed 40th and Tim Burke was 47th, while Canada’s Scott Gow finished 51st and Christian Gow was 54th.
The start of the Holmenkollen World Cup men’s 50 k freestyle mass start on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
OSLO, Norway — Thumping house music. Thousands of raucous fans, who, if not waving Norway’s flag, had their faces painted in their national colors of red, blue and white. If the American Super Bowl translated to cross-country skiing and snow, the Norwegian Holmenkollen is as close as it gets.
Saturday saw the 116th edition of the annual 50-kilometer men’s event, a race that totals roughly6,574 feet of climbing for those who complete it in full. Camped along the course fence, spectators adorned in Mariusgenser sweaters, many withkoozied Carlsbergs in hand, were not crazy for having hauled coolers and chairs through the snowy trailside. All said and done, racers would pass by six times on their way around the famed 8.3-kilometer loop.
Leading through the first 8.3 k, Norwegians Didrik Tønseth and Niklas Dyrhaug set the pace, followed by two Frenchmen: Clement Parisse and the World Cup distance leader, Maurice Manificat. Alex Harvey of Canada, who won last year’s World Championships 50 k, skied 2.3 seconds off the lead pace in 17th.
Eight skiers ahead of Harvey, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby skied side by side in ninth. With the past two Holmenkollen titles in his name, Sundby was certainly in search of another on Saturday.
Through the next lap, Norway and France continued to push from the front led by Sjur Røthe and Robin Duvillard, respectively. As they passed the 16.6 k mark, a pack of 51 skiers still remained within 21 seconds of one another.
France’s Adrien Backscheider leading the Holmenkollen 50-kilometer freestyle mass start on Saturday in Olso, Norway. (Photo: Logan Hanneman)
France was three-strong in the front on the third lap, with Jules Lapierre, Adrien Backscheider and Manificat taking charge. Sundby and Harvey skied 20 seconds off the Frenchmens’ pace in 17th and 18th, respectively. Seventeen seconds ahead of them was Cologna in 12th. Three laps down, three laps to go and just over an hour of racing complete.
In another lap, France had faded from the front, while Norway subsumed the the lead. At 33.3 k, six of the top ten skiers were Norwegian, with Hans Christer Holund at the helm. Less than a second behind Holund was Sundby in second.
Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin followed in third, then Harvey in fourth, Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger in fifth, Tønseth in sixth, Norway’s Daniel Stock in seventh, Dyrhaug eighth, American Scott Patterson in ninth, and Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson in 10th. Only 10 seconds separated first from 17th.
At this point, anyone who had watched the dual-skier showdown in last year’s Holmenkollen — which had broken around the 22 k mark — began to wonder how much longer the 17 skiers in Saturday’s lead pack would stay together.
The answer came with about five kilometers to go. Patterson, who had been skiing in the top six through the fifth lap, locked up with Manificat. The Frenchman dropped off the pace, along with 10 others.
“I was skiing right behind Maurice Manificat and one of the steep sections he just died, and that was right when that lead group pulled away so I missed the move,” said Patterson, a U.S. Ski Team member. “I didn’t quite have a strong enough group to pull back up to the leaders.”
The lead group was reduced to seven by 46 k, with Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave, Vylegzhanin, Sundby, Cologna, Russia’s Denis Spitsov, Holund, and Røthe all still in the hunt for the podium.
Harvey was in 11th, about 15 seconds behind the lead group and 10 seconds ahead of Patterson in 14th.
“I wanted to see how my skis were doing compared to the other guys,” Harvey reflected, “And then after that just try to see who is looking strong and try to think ahead and think of the last lap, whose going to be a good bet to follow when the moves are going down.”
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (r) and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (4) sprint to the finish of the Holmenkollen 50-kilometer freestyle mass start on Saturday in Olso, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
In the last half lap, Musgrave put in a surge to the front. But he was soon swallowed and spit back into seventh. Rounding into the stadium for the final time, all seven remained together, though Sundby and Cologna now skied in the front. The two cornered back toward the final 100 meters and a head-to-head distance sprint finish ensued.
In a photo finish, Cologna outlunged Sundby for the win, before a somewhat silent, predominantly Norwegian-filled stadium. Cologna didn’t seem to mind. The 31 year old tossed his poles to the side, all smiles as he accepted his first 50 k Holmenkollen victory — the ultimate distance race of a given season (outside of the Olympics or World Championships) — in a time of 2:01:48.1 hours.
“It was a suspenseful race, something was always happening even though a large group stayed together for a long time,” Cologna said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF, according to a translation. “Around the bonus sprints there were the most Norwegians so I was a little afraid to get attacked, but I got back fairly quickly. And in the end I felt very well. Maybe I could have risked something already earlier on the long climb, but I trusted in my finish and knew that I would surely have a good opportunity. But I didn’t expect Sundby would be quite as strong, he made my life hard on the last kilometer and then it really became very close, but thankfully it went well.”
The Holmenkollen men’s 50 k freestyle mass start podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Oslo, Norway, with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second, and Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
Sundby finished second, one-hundredth of a second behind. The 33 year old has reached the podium in all but one of the Holmenkollen races he’s finished.
“I dreamt about the third in a row here for sure, but I think Dario has also been a few centimeters behind in this race a couple of times, and I think he deserved this one,” Sundby said at the press conference. “I wasn’t good enough in the sprint and Dario seemed to be the stronger one out there today. … I am not disappointed. I am on the podium here in the 50 for my seventh time in a row, so I think that’s OK.”
In his first World Cup race since November of last year, Russia’s 35-year-old Vylegzhanin took the final podium spot in third, 1.1 seconds back from Cologna.
Rounding out the top 10 was Røthe in fourth (+4.2), Spitsov in fifth (+4.4), Holund in sixth (+4.5), Musgrave in seventh (+15.1), Germany’s Florian Notz in eighth (+25.9), Harvey in ninth (+32.4) and Duvillard in 10th (+33.5).
France’s Maurice Manificat (r) leads American Scott Patterson (32) and Canada’s Alex Harvey (5), among others, during the 2018 Holmenkollen 50-kilometer freestyle mass start on Saturday in Olso, Norway. (Photo: Logan Hanneman)
“I felt good, I have been really sick in Lahti, I was on antibiotics up until Thursday, so I really didnt know what to expect heading into today,” Harvey said. “I started back with a very bad result in Drammen, very close to last. So yeah I did not know what to expect but it was good, just missed a little bit on the last 500 meters over the top… but overall it was a good race.”
Following Harvey, Patterson was the second North American across the line, finishing in 16th (+56.3). Saturday was his third time racing at Holmenkollen and first time racing its freestyle format.
“It’s all just about staying relaxed,” Patterson said. “Kind of felt like five pretty easy laps and then one real hard one out there. … Actually I struggled a little bit on the third lap, my skis slowed down quite a bit and was able to switch on the fourth [lap] and then really had some rockets out there.
“I had one quite interesting moment when I was trying to thread the needle and got taken out by a Russian and had a Sweden next to me just somersault over top of me,” Patterson added, referring to a tumble he took in his fourth lap. “But we were able to get up pretty quick and rejoin the group.”
Devon Kershaw leads his Canadian teammate Andy Shields during Saturday’s Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start in Olso, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished in 28th (+3:43.6). When the Holmenkollen race veteran was asked why he continued to return to the challenging course, Kershaw, who lives with his family near Oslo, was bare bones in his response.
“After the Olympic 50 k, I promised myself I wouldn’t do a skating 50 k. Two weeks later, here I am. Kershaw said. “But I think the biggest reason for that is that it’s such a magical place to race. And I feel really grateful and honored to be able to race such at such a fabled venue … there is no better place in the world to do a ski race.”
Two more Canadians competed on Saturday, with Graeme Killick placing 34th (+4:55.1) and Andy Shields finishing 47th (+8:13.6).
American Noah Hoffman with his dad after finishing the Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle on Saturday for the final race of his pro skiing career. (Black mask and photo courtesy of Liz Stephen)
Also racing on Saturday for the U.S. was David Norris in 37th (+6:19.7), Paddy Caldwell in 46th (+8:12.3), Noah Hoffman in 51st (+10:27.9), and Kevin Bolger in 52nd (+12:44.2). Simi Hamilton did not finish.
Before crossing the finish line in what would be his final Holmenkollen race, Hoffman pulled to the side of the course to give his father, who was present at Saturday’s race, a hug. Hoffman has been racing the Holmenkollen since 2011.
“The last one of my career so it’s a special one for sure,” Hoffman said of his last career race. “Pretty awesome to have my dad here and Zach [Caldwell] here. It was a little emotional on the last lap, but pretty fun.”
Krista Pärmäkoski of Finland (center) won her second straight 10 k classic, to the delight of the crowd in Lahti. Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia (left) finished second and Marit Bjørgen of Norway third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Lahti, Finland): 10/15 k classic
Racing at home in Finland, Krista Pärmäkoski picked a good time to collect the second World Cup victory of her career, and again in a 10 k classic. Pärmäkoski’s first win came in the 10 k classic in Planica, Slovenia, earlier this season.
In second was Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva, who picked up her first World Cup podium. The current U23 standings leader, Nepryaeva’s time was 20.9 seconds slower than Parmakoski. Both she and Marit Bjørgen of Norway, who finished third (+26.7), used a steady pace to reach the podium. At the 5 k split, Heidi Weng of Norway – wearing the yellow bib of the overall World Cup leader – was in second at the halfway point but faded to finish fifth (+43.3), and Kerttu Niskanen of Finland was in third place but she dropped to fourth by the finish, +27.0. Austria’s Teresa Stadlober finished sixth (+52.4).
Sadie Bjornsen placed seventh (+57.6) to lead the American team. Caitlin Patterson was next, just missing the World Cup points in 32nd (+2:02.7). Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell finished 40th (+2:21.9) and 42nd (+2:24.2), respectively. Rosie Brennan finished 48th (+3:02.1) and SuperTour leader Kaitlynn Miller placed 51st (+3:09.1).
Liz Stephen of the U.S. Ski Team did not start due to illness.
Canada started only two women: Emily Nishikawa finished 41st (+2:22.2) and Dahria Beatty 44th (+2:40.7).
The men’s 15 k classic podium at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland, with Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin (c) in first, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (l) in second and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
In the men’s race that followed, Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan got some redemption after a major bonk in the Olympics 50 k last weekend, winning the 15 k classic individual start in Lahti.
Starting in the middle of the field in bib 44 (out of 71), Poltoranin paced it perfectly, skiing a steady race with some of the top split times and then turning it up another notch over the last several kilometers to take the win in 33:11.9 minutes. His biggest threat was Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov, who started 64th and clocked faster splits at every timing point throughout the three-lap race except the one that mattered most — the finish. There, Bolshunov came up 9.1 seconds short of Poltoranin’s time to place second, and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen — the Olympic 50 k champ — placed third, 20.9 seconds out of first.
Norway took fourth through seventh, with Emil Iversen in fourth (+28.8), Martin Johnsrud Sundby in fifth (+39.9), Niklas Dyrhaug in sixth (+50.1), and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in seventh (+1:00.3). Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin placed eighth (+1:08.3), Germany’s Thomas Bing was ninth (+1:08.5) and Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson finished 10th (+1:09.2).
Canada’s Devon Kershaw led the North Americans in 25th (+1:43.2), and Erik Bjornsen was the top American in 32nd (+2:06.6).
Four Canadian men raced, with Graeme Killick placing 39th (+2:22.9), Julien Locke 69th (+4:56.6) and Andy Shields 70th (+5:42.1).
The U.S. was represented by six men, with Noah Hoffman placing 40th (+2:24.0), Paddy Caldwell 45th (+2:40.5), Scott Patterson 50th (+2:58.7), Kevin Bolger 54th (+3:09.5), and David Norris 57th (+3:23.5).
The World Cup picks back up again this Wednesday with classic sprints in downtown Drammen, Norway.
In the men’s classic sprint on Day 1 of the three-day 2017 Toppidrettsveka mini tour, Norway’s Aune Pål Trøan (1) crosses the line ahead of his countrymen Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (7) and Eirik Brandsdal (10) while Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (r) placed fourth. Halfvarsson went on to win the tour, ahead of Klaebo in second. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)
This past weekend was once again the time of the year for the Toppidrettsveka ski festival, a three-day rollerski mini tour held annually since 2005 in the region of Trondheim, Norway. In addition to the individual stages, points for the top-30 finishers were awarded to compile an overall ranking similar to the Tour de Ski.
The elite field of athletes was mostly comprised of Norwegian and other Scandinavian skiers active on the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup and European Continental Cup level, as well as a handful of international starters, including two Americans: U.S. Ski Team member Andy Newell, who raced at last month’s Blink Ski Festival in Norway, and Kevin Bolger, who is coming off his senior season at the University of Utah.
Day 1: Aure Sprint
American Andy Newell (U.S. Ski Team) at the start of the men’s sprint in Aure, Norway, on Day 1 of the 2017 Toppidrettsveka rollerski mini tour. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)
The festival started last Thursday with a classic sprint in the small town of Aure, on a fairly long course with a steep downhill and a roundabout at the bottom, after which the athletes had to ski up the same hill toward the finish.
In the men’s race, Norway’s Aune Pål Trøan took the win in the final with a time of 2:46.46, narrowly edging Norwegian World Cup skiers Johannes Høsflot Klæbo by 0.41 seconds and Eirik Brandsdal by 0.43 seconds. Just another tenth of a second back, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson placed fourth (+0.44).
Newell’s run ended in the quarterfinals, where he finished sixth in his heat, just half a second from advancing. His heat was a tight race that featured the eventual winner Trøan, who along with World Cup regular Emil Iversen, advanced as a lucky loser behind Brandsdal and his teammate Aleksander Ek. Bolger did not reach the quarterfinals.
In the women’s final, Sweden’s Linn Sömskar prevailed with a time of 3:03.94, edging out five Norwegians, including Kathrine Rolsted Harsem in second and 2016 Toppidrettsveka title-defender Heidi Weng in third. Earlier in the day, Sömskar also won her quarterfinal and semifinal heats decisively.
Two weeks ago, Sömskar won three races at the 2017 rollerski world championships in Solleftea, Sweden — the 18-kilometer freestyle, 16 k classic, and team sprint with Maja Dahlqvist.
Day 2: Brekka Mass Start and Trondheim Sprint
On Friday, athletes competed in two events: a mass start followed by a sprint later in the evening.
Switzerland’s Dario Cologna topped the men’s 24 k mass start, a point-to-point race from Aure to Brekka, finishing in 59:11.3 after breaking away on the long final climb. Halfvarsson claimed second (+10.8), followed by Finland’s Iivo Niskanen in third (+17.2) ahead of Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug in fourth (+27.4).
“Great to win here,” Cologna told Norwegian broadcaster NRK in an interview in the finish. “Many good skiers, the best in the world, so it’s a good feeling. Good to see that everything is working well [in preparation] for this important season.”
Bolger finished 51st (+4:48.6) and Newell crossed 15 seconds later in 54th (+5:03.9) in the large field of 124 finishers.
In the women’s mass start over the same 24 k course, the race was even closer and came down to a finishing sprint. Weng took the win in 1:07.30.3, just 3.5 seconds ahead of her teammate Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, while Sweden’s Anna Haag finished 7.8 seconds back in third. Another Swede, Ebba Anderson placed fourth (+22.0), while the rest of the field crossed the line more than four minutes later. Haag and Anderson are just coming off a training camp in Sweden, where they were joined by U.S. Ski Team members Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall.
For Stage 3 on the same day, athletes raced a 1 k sprint in the center of Trondheim, Norway’s third-largest city. There, Klæbo won the men’s final after a decisive attack on the finishing stretch in a time of 2:19.56 minutes, ahead of fellow Norwegian Ragnar-Kristoffer Braqvin Andresen in second (+0.23) and Even Northug in third (+2.85), the younger brother of 2016 Toppidrettsveka winner Petter Northug Jr. Halfvarsson finished fourth (+2.94), thereby taking the lead in the intermediate tour standings on Day 2, ahead of Klæbo, Cologna and Trøan.
Both Newell and Bolger missed qualifying for the sprint heats and did not score additional points.
In a true photo finish (left to right) Norway’s Barbro Kvaale won the women’s sprint on Day 2 of the 2017 Toppidrettsveka rollerski mini tour in Trondheim, Norway, ahead of Sweden’s Linn Sömskar in second, Norway’s Heidi Weng in third, Norway’s Kathrine Rolsted Harsem in fourth, and Switzerland’s Laurien Van Der Graaff in fifth. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)
The women’s sprint final went to Norway’s Barbro Kvåle in a time of 2:46.04, who placed sixth in the final the day before. She edged Sömskar by just 0.08 seconds and Weng was another hundredth of a second back in third (+0.09). Harsem placed fourth (+0.25), and Switzerland’s Laurien Van Der Graaff, who led until the final meters of the race, finished fifth (+0.37). In the overall standings, Weng spent the night in the lead, ahead of Sömskar, Jacobsen and Harsem.
Day 3: Trondheim Pursuit/Mass Start
The mini tour concluded Saturday with classic races in Trondheim. However, with a smaller field of 37 athletes for the last women’s race, the points collected in the prior three events were not converted into time gaps before the final stage. Instead, athletes started together for a 12-kilometer mass start and the overall results and time back from the winner were computed after the race.
In rainy weather (with many of the spectators sporting ponchos), the short-sleeved athletes persistently circled their laps around the city course. The top group got smaller and smaller, and after 7.5 k, only 10 women remained within three seconds of the lead. That group dwindled to six by the finishing stretch, where Haag outlunged Jacobsen by 0.2 seconds for the win and Sömskar crossed another 0.4 seconds back in third (+0.6). Three Norwegians followed, with Harsem in fourth (+1.2), Weng in fifth (+1.5) and Lovise Hemdal in sixth (+2.0). Fifteen seconds later, Kvåle in seventh (+16.7) led the next four finishers across the line.
After computing the overall Toppidrettsveka standings, Weng was deemed the winner for the second-straight year. Sömskar placed second, 34.1 seconds back (she only had one weaker stage in the long mass start where she finished 11th, almost six minutes behind Weng), and Jacobsen was just another 1.6 seconds back in third (+35.7). Harsem finished the tour in fourth (+46.7), and Haag placed fifth (+59.5).
“I was impressed with myself actually,” Weng told NRK in a finish-line interview, according to a translation. “That I managed to keep up so well despite some very stiff arms … I don’t know if I am on a better way than last year, but yes, I feel really quite good.”
On the conditions, which Jacobsen called “dangerous“, Weng was pleased everyone played it safe.
“We took it very easy, and it was good that we all kept it a bit safe, there were some very slippery spots, but it went well,” Weng said.
With more in the men’s field, the men raced a 15 k pursuit, with Halfvarsson starting first, 12 seconds ahead of Klæbo in second, and 50 seconds ahead of Cologna in third. Trøan left the gate 1 minute back and Brandsdal started 2 seconds later.
Despite the heavy rain, which had worsened since the women’s race, Halfvarsson increased his lead on Klæbo. By 5.1 k, the Swede was more than 40 seconds clear of Klæbo, and Cologna came through the checkpoint 1:13 back. Having to ski through puddles of standing water at times, Halfvarsson extended his lead on Klæbo to over a minute by 11.2 k. Another 30 seconds behind Klæbo, Northug led a large chase group of about 20 racers after the pack had caught Cologna.
Halfvarsson held his comfortable lead through the finish, completing the final stage in a time of 34:08.4 for the overall victory. Klæbo had to fight a lot harder to hold onto second place, crossing the line 1:14.7 back and only a few meters ahead of the chase group. Northug outlasted the pack in a finishing sprint for third place (+1:18.5), while Bransdal missed the podium by half a second in fourth (+1:19.0), as did Niskanen in fifth (+1:19.0) and Trøan in sixth (+1:20.0).
“Today, it was pretty easy,” Halfvarsson told NRK, according to a translation. “I had the goal to go out hard, and knew I was going to get it when Johannes had problems to follow.”
“[My] days are over, there is a new kid in town,” 13-time world champion Northug said in English in a finish-line interview with NRK, referencing Klæbo standing next to him.
“He is the one who is absolutely the fastest of all of us,” Halfvarsson agreed in his interview with NRK when asked about the upcoming season. “Petter will be strong if he can find the shape for the winter, but it’s Johannes who I fear the most.”
“He is just saying that,” Klæbo told NRK. “I think there are many Norwegians that are going to go fast this winter.”
The best time of the final stage was posted by Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave in 33:33.8, while Halfvarsson’s time ranked 25th. Musgrave finished eighth overall (+1:20.4).
For the stage, Newell placed 53rd and Bolger 64th. Overall, Newell finished the tour in 56th (+2:28.7) and Bolger placed 67th (+3:01.2).
Canada’s Alex Harvey leading Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug (2) and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (r) up a short, steep climb during the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit on Sunday, the last day of the 2016/2017 World Cup season, at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. Harvey went on to place second, Klæbo won the photo finish, and Dyrhaug placed third. (Photo: Gretchen Powers)
FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits
Even after Sunday’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit, Alex Harvey had a busy day ahead of him with three different podiums to stand on: one for placing second on the day, another for placing second in the Distance World Cup, and yet one more for finishing the season in third in the Overall World Cup.
It was a suitable ending for Harvey’s storybook three-day venture in Quebec City, after he won Friday’s skate sprint and placed fourth in Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start.
Starting third the pursuit third, 23 seconds behind Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in first and 1 second behind another Norwegian Niklas Dyrhaug in second, Harvey set a blistering pace from the gun and caught Dyrhaug around 5 k in.
From there, the three jockeyed for the ideal position and ultimately, the win with over the next 10 k. The chase pack was closing on them slightly, but not enough to be a threat. A loose dog on course at the end of their third lap caused a little alarm as it ran alongside the three leaders, but didn’t affect any of the racers to be a problem.
On the fourth and final lap, just before one of the last long descents into and out of the stadium, all three nearly came to a stop — none of them eager to lead, fearing their attack out of the ensuing draft.
Klæbo finally decided to go first, and he put in a sprint in an attempt to catch the others off guard. The three remained together all the way to the finish, lining up side by side as they squared off for the final 100-meter showdown. In a photo finish for first, Klæbo took it by less than a one-hundredth of a second over Harvey in 32:44.5 minutes, and Dyrhaug settled for third, one-tenth of a second back.
The third Norwegian in the top four, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar outlasted the six-man chase pack that followed the top three across the line. Skar finished fourth, 26.1 seconds out of first, just 0.4 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Dario Cologna in fifth. Also in that group, Sweden’s Marcus Hellner posted the fastest time of the day (31:55.5) to finish sixth overall (+26.8) Norway’s Sjur Røthe followed in seventh (+27.2), Russia’s Andrey Larkov placed eighth (+27.6), and Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave ninth (+30.6).
American Erik Bjornsen (33) racing to the 11th fastest time of day in the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit at World Cup Finals on Sunday in Quebec City, for his career-best World Cup result. He finished 25th overall. (Photo: Gretchen Powers)
For time of day, American Erik Bjornsen broke through in 11th for his best World Cup result. He placed 25th overall (+2:19.1), just ahead of Canada’s Devon Kershaw in 26th (+2:21.4). Kershaw was 19th for time of day.
Four Americans landed in the points (top 30) for time of day, with Paddy Caldwell in 25th, David Norris 27th, and Scott Patterson 30th.
Overall in the pursuit, Patterson finished 41st (+3:45.6), Norris 43rd (+4:15.9) and Caldwell 46th (+4:25.6).
Also for the U.S., Andy Newell placed 44th, Simi Hamilton 45th, Noah Hoffman 52nd, Jack Hegman 57th, Brian Gregg 58th, and Cole Morgan 65th.
Among the Canadians, Graeme Killick finished 42nd, Knute Johnsgaard 53rd, Len Valjas 54th, Evan Palmer-Charrette 60th, Bob Thompson 61st, Brian McKeever 62nd, Joey Foster 64th, Andy Shields 66th, Russell Kennedy 67th, Jess Cockney 68th, Gareth Williams 71st, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 72nd, and Julian Locke 73rd.
The women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit podium on Sunday at World Cup Finals, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Heidi Weng (l) in second, and Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) in third. (Photo: Gretchen Powers)
In the women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit earlier in the day, Marit Bjørgen caught her Norwegian teammate Heidi Weng almost immediately after starting 1 second back in second, and the two skied together well ahead of anyone else for the rest of their three-lap race.
After leading for most of it, Bjørgen ultimately took the win, entering the finishing stretch slightly ahead of Weng and holding her off by 1.2 seconds across the line with a time of 22:36.1. For Bjørgen, it was her second win in two days, after winning Saturday’s 10 k classic mass start, and she ended her first full season back since having a child ranked second in the Distance World Cup. Weng won both the Distance and Overall World Cup titles.
Bjørgen also won for the time of day (22:35.1). Weng’s time ranked second and Sweden’s Stina Nilsson was third for both time of day and overall after moving up from seventh and outlasting the chase pack.
Nilsson finished exactly a minute after Bjørgen and 1.9 seconds ahead of her Swedish teammate Ida Ingemarsdotter in fourth (+1:01.9). Finland’s Krista Parmakoski finished fifth (+1:05.6) and ended the season second in the Overall World Cup and third in the Distance World Cup.
Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg started third but ended the day in sixth (+1:19.8) after skiing alone for a good portion of it, well behind Bjørgen and Weng and just ahead of the hungry chase pack. Østberg finished her season in third in the Overall World Cup.
Sadie Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) racing to the fifth-fastest time and 10th overall in the women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit on Sunday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. Dyrhaug placed third. (Photo: Gretchen Powers)
Sadie Bjornsen led the U.S. women with the fifth-fastest time of day in 10th overall (+1:27.2). Jessie Diggins moved up from 20th to place 16th (+2:14.8) with the 14th fastest time of day. Diggins ended up sixth in the Overall World Cup and seventh in the Distance World Cup.
Emily Nishikawa was the top Canadian woman in the pursuit in 38th (+4:52.7) and Cendrine Browne followed in 40th (+4:54.7).
For the U.S., Sophie Caldwell placed 36th (+4:26.1), Rosie Brennan 42nd, Caitlin Patterson 43rd, Chelsea Holmes 45th, Julia Kern 46th, Kaitlynn Miller 52nd, Liz Guiney 53rd, Becca Rorabaugh 54th, Erika Flowers 56th, and Jennie Bender 60th.
Also for Canada, Dahria Beatty finished 50th, Annika Richardson 55th, Frederique Vezina 57th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 58th, Andrea Dupont 59th, Annika Hicks 62nd, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 63rd, Sadie White 64th, Lisle Compton 65th, Katherine Weaver 66th, Laura Leclair 67th, and Mia Serratore 68th.
Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (r) crossing the line first in the men’s 15 k classic mass start on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, 0.5 seconds ahead of fellow Norwegian Niklas Dyrhaug (12), who placed second. Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh (behind Dyrhaug) followed in third, just ahead of Canada’s Alex Harvey (1) in fourth. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
QUEBEC CITY — As 75 men jogged out into the center of the World Cup area assembled on the Plains of Abraham for the men’s 15-kilometer classic mass start on Saturday, one man in particular stood out. Alex Harvey, wearing the red suit of the Canadian national team, led the group out. He wore bib No. 1, but if you couldn’t see that from a distance, it didn’t matter. Essentially everyone knew who he was.
The official hashtag of World Cup Finals in Quebec City this Friday through Sunday has been #GOALEX2017. He is a celebrity in Quebec, a hero to its locals, and someone even non-skiers know quite a bit about.
And so far, the 28 year old appears to be soaking up every minute of his homecoming. One day after winning the freestyle sprint to start the finals, Harvey was seeded first in Saturday’s classic mass start. He led racers into the stadium, waved to spectators, started on the front line, and led the pack out of the stadium.
Canada’s Alex Harvey leading Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and two other Norwegians and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (far left) during the men’s 15 k classic mass start on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Even when others took turns leading, with Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug, Emil Iversen and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo setting the pace on the first of four laps, the possibility of Harvey winning never seemed in doubt. He consistently positioned himself within reach of the lead, skiing around sixth for much of the first lap.
On Lap 2, the lead group remained about 30 strong. Harvey skied within two seconds of the Norwegians up front, with Pål Golberg, Didrik Tønseth, Finn Hågen Krogh, Dyrhaug, and even Klæbo — the 20-year-old Sprint World Cup champion — all still in contention. By the end of Lap 3, Harvey was into second, right behind Tønseth.
With 3.75 k to go and the crowd’s ability to see the racers on most of the exposed course, the excitement among Harvey fans began to exceed its already high point from the start. Bells, horns, “Gooo Alex!”
Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh attacked on an uphill and Harvey stuck behind him in second. On the second to last climb, a short and steep pitch that ascends up from the Old City’s historic wall, Dyrhaug surged into first, Bessmertnykh followed him in second and Harvey in third.
Behind them, Klæbo was sizing them all up in fourth, waiting for the perfect time to strike. He did so by moving to the outside lane on the last long downhill and glided into second behind Dyrhaug. They ascended the final pitch together and rounded the final corner before the 100-meter stretch to the finish, where Klæbo continued to accelerate past Dyrhaug and double poled to his first World Cup distance win in 35:23.7 minutes. Dyrhaug finished 0.5 seconds later for second place, Bessmertnykh 0.8 seconds back in third, and Harvey 1.2 seconds behind Klæbo in fourth.
Canada’s Alex Harvey racing to fourth in the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. With one race left, the 15 k freestyle pursuit, he is third in the mini tour and third in the Overall World Cup as well. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
While it wasn’t a podium for Harvey, it was a result he was proud of.
“I’m very satisfied,” he told reporters afterward in French. “Making the top 10 is always a big deal. Today was another step towards securing a third spot in the overall [World Cup]. That was my big goal coming in. So I’m satisfied … You can’t make the podium every time. I felt very good physically.”
With one World Cup race remaining, Harvey, who’s ranked third in the world, extended his lead on Finland’s Matti Heikkinen in fourth to 92 points. Heikkinen finished 26th on Saturday, 1:04.9 minutes out of first, and will start Sunday’s 15 k freestyle pursuit 27th, 2:15 behind Klæbo as the World Cup Finals mini-tour leader. Dyrhaug will start 22 seconds back in second, followed by Harvey 1 second later in third, and Krogh another 11 seconds back in fourth.
“Every pursuit is a manhunt so I’ll be hunting the young Norwegian in front,” Harvey said. “It was Klæbo’s first victory in a distance event. We saw him come in second behind Sundby in this year’s first mini tour. So of course, he’s strong. I mean, the guy won five or six gold medals at the Junior Worlds. He’s a complete skier…”
Asked if he thought he could work with Dyrhaug to reel Klæbo in, Harvey wasn’t counting on one Norwegian helping him bridge the gap to another.
“I don’t think Dyrhaug will chase, but I will,” Harvey said.
Dyrhaug told reporters that might not be the case.
“Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day,” he said in English. “I saw that me and Alex are going out together, so it is in both of our interests to cooperate and do good teamwork, and hopefully we can catch Johannes and then we’ll have to see…
“We ought to talk together with team staff, hear what Johannes says, too,” he added. “But it is in both interests to have a big gap behind [us]. So if I’m strong, I’m thinking maybe I’m going to help Alex to … yeah, and we’re going to cooperate.”
In the last year that Klæbo’s been racing World Cups, the three-time 2016 junior world champion (in the freestyle sprint, 10 k classic and freestyle relay) has reached the podium six times in individual World Cups and claimed bronze in the freestyle sprint at this year’s World Championships. But before Saturday, all of his podiums (with the exception of one mini tour) had been in sprints.
“I hadn’t dreamed about doing a distance race in the World Cup … and cross the finish line in first,” Klæbo said after. “It’s unbelievable.”
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo leading three other Norwegians, Emil Iversen (l), Finn Hågen Krogh (second from l) and Niklas Dyrhaug (r) during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. Klæbo went on to win, Dyrhaug placed second, Krogh 16th, and Iversen 25th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
He was the most consistent race leader on Saturday, winning one of sprint preems and crossing in second behind his teammate Iversen for the other. In all, he accumulated 27 bonus seconds, which were deducted from his overall time in the mini tour — putting him first by 22 seconds over Dyrhaug.
“I just tried to be in the front for the bonus seconds to be able to get some seconds,” he explained of his race tactic. “So that was my plan.”
Despite trying to lead for most of it, he noticed others trying to do the same on the third and fourth laps. In the final stretch of the race, coming off the long downhill toward the finish, Klæbo focused on moving up from fourth.
“Niklas gapped our group in the last downhill there so we had push really hard on the last uphill to get to him,” he explained. “At the finish, it was just all out.”
Bessmertnykh, who will start the pursuit in 13th, 1:08 back, after placing 59th in Friday’s sprint, described Saturday’s mass start as “a fun race,” in a post-race interview with the International Ski Federation (FIS). “There was a lot of things happening all the time. I followed Niklas and Johannes on the last climb. We gained a small gap. I managed to ski well the last curve before the homestretch and carried in good speed.”
Dyrhaug was also satisfied with his race.
“The only thing was, I was one meter behind in the end,” he said. “I tried my best. I went all in for a long sprint, when it was one half k left, and it was almost.”
Under blue skies and a beating sun, Dyrhaug described Saturday afternoon in Quebec as “amazing.”
“We have been competing for like 40 races this year, but this is the most pretty day, and most pretty conditions for the whole year, so thank you, Quebec,” he said.
Waxing was a challenge, with temperatures warming quickly to about 2 degrees Celsius (mid-30s Fahrenheit) by midday.
Canada’s Devon Kershaw (r) and Graeme Killick (l) skied together for most of Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start after Kershaw broke a pole early. They went on to place 28th and 32nd, respectively. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Devon Kershaw was the second Canadian in the top 30, finishing 28th (+1:08.4) after breaking a pole early on.
“It was pretty chaotic and broke a pole there pretty early in the start and went all the way back into the 60’s, so made for a lot of work to try to get back in,” he said after. “I am proud of the fact that I was able to ski back into the points, but I had a better body than that today for sure and just had a bit of bad luck there.”
He finished 9.3 seconds ahead of his Canadian World Cup teammate Graeme Killick, who placed 32nd (+1:17.7), and the two essentially skied together from 5.25 k on.
While Kershaw said he thought the 3.7 k course would be better suited to skating, he was impressed with the atmosphere and the race organization.
“I think for a classic, there are a lot of corners and it’s pretty tight … [but] to bring the skiing to the people like they did and to use the terrain they have available, I tip my hat, its a great event,” he said. “It is the most crowds I have ever skied with in Canada, the sun is shining, the venue is fantastic, the organizers did a great job, the tracks are in perfect condition. What a great place to race.”
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 31st (+1:16.8) and two seconds behind Switzerland’s Roman Furger in 30th. After losing contact with the lead group of 29 on one of the bigger climbs at the end of the second lap, Bjornsen found himself skiing in “no-man’s land” with Sweden’s Teodor Peterson.
Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) leads Sweden’s Teodor Peterson (r) up a climb during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. They went on to place 31st and 29th, respectively. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“It was a bummer to lose that front pack,” Bjornsen said. “I was struggling on the hills out there; I was a little light on kick. I think a lot of the guys were, but I wasn’t doing much striding. It was pretty much from double pole, to having to run outside the track. I felt pretty good, but I was losing time.”
While skiing with Peterson, Bjornsen said he led at times and wanted Peterson to help drive the chase as well. Peterson ended up just ahead of him in 29th (+1:14.3).
“I was like, ‘Come on, dude.’ I could see that there was a group behind, chasing us, and we were kind of right in that no-man’s land, which is always a bad spot to be,” he said. “But it was fun. It’s fun to be racing in North America, and have people cheering my name. It’s so unique, and I love it. I wish we could race over here more often.”
Matt Gelso was the second American in 37th (+1:32.6), Andy Newell finished 45th, Scott Patterson 46th, Noah Hoffman 48th, Ben Lustgarten 49th, David Norris 50th, Simi Hamilton 54th, Paddy Caldwell 59th, Jack Hegman 62nd, Cole Morgan 64th, and Brian Gregg 69th.
While the U.S. started 12 men, Canada had 15 in Saturday’s mass start with Bob Thompson finishing 55th, Knute Johnsgaard 57th, Len Valjas 61st, Russell Kennedy 63rd, Evan Palmer-Charrette 65th, Andy Shields 66th, Jess Cockney 67th, Brian McKeever 68th, Joey Foster 70th, Gareth Williams 72nd, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 74th, and Julien Locke 75th.
— Gerry Furseth, François Léger Dionne, Jake Ellis, and Ian Tovell contributed
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium on Day 2 of World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) in first, Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug (l) in second and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh (r) in third. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) in first and Niklas Dyrhaug (l) in second, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): 10/15 k classic mass starts
During Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic mass start at World Cup Finals, Canada’s Alex Harvey was in it until the end. But so were Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Niklas Dyrhaug, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh, to name a few.
Sitting in second with a few hundred meters to go, Harvey was primed to make his move on Dyrhaug, who was leading at the time. But then came 20-year-old Klæbo, the season-long Sprint World Cup champion, who proved to have more left in the tank than anyone else and passed them both to lead into the finishing straight.
Klæbo took the victory — his first in a World Cup distance race — on a bluebird day under a beating sun in 35:23.7 minutes, 0.6 seconds ahead of Dyrhaug. Bessmertnykh followed another 0.2 seconds back in third (+0.8) just ahead of Harvey in fourth (+1.2).
Norway’s Sjur Røthe took fifth (+1.7), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna placed sixth (+1.9), and Norway’s Pål Golberg was seventh (+2.5), half a second ahead of another Norwegian Didrik Tønseth in eighth (+3.0). The top nine were within 3.7 seconds of first, with Russia’s Andrey Larkov in ninth.
Devon Kershaw was the second Canadian in the points on Saturday in 28th (+1:08.4), after breaking a pole and working his way back up from outside the top 60.
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 31st (+1:16.8), about a second ahead of Canada’s Graeme Killick in 32nd (+1:17.7).
Also for the U.S., Matt Gelso finished 37th, Andy Newell 45th, Scott Patterson 46th, Noah Hoffman 48th, Ben Lustgarten 49th, David Norris 50th, Simi Hamilton 54th, Paddy Caldwell 59th, Jack Hegman 62nd, Cole Morgan 64th, and Brian Gregg 69th.
For Canada, Bob Thompson finished 55th, Knute Johnsgaard 57th, Len Valjas 61st, Russell Kennedy 63rd, Evan Palmer-Charrette 65th, Andy Shields 66th, Jess Cockney 67th, Brian McKeever 68th, Joey Foster 70th, Gareth Williams 72nd, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 74th, and Julien Locke 75th.
The women’s 10 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Norway’s Heidi Weng (l) in second and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
In the women’s 10 k classic mass start earlier in the day, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen racked up her seventh victory of the season after leading a pack of two other Norwegians and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski and holding them off to the finish.
Bjørgen put a few meters into the foursome as she entered the finishing stretch and held her lead across the line in 24:23.6 minutes. Norway’s Heidi Weng finished 0.6 seconds back in second to lock up the Distance World Cup title, in addition to the Overall World Cup title she secured on Friday.
Pärmäkoski finished 2.9 seconds after Bjørgen in third, and Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg missed the podium in fourth (+7.8).
Behind them, Germany’s Nicole Fessel outlasted a large chase pack to place fifth (+18.6), just ahead of Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in sixth (+19.9) and Anna Haag in seventh (+19.1).
Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team led the North American women in 15th (+29.9) after skiing at the back of that chase pack in the final stretches of the race. Also for the U.S., Jessie Diggins placed 27th (+1:06.9) and Sophie Caldwell 38th (+1:56.0).
Canada was led by Emily Nishikawa in 37th (+1:51.7). Behind her, Cendrine Browne finished 41st (+2:28.2), Dahria Beatty was 53rd, Annika Richardson 54th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 56th, Frederique Vezina 59th, Annika Hicks 60th, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 61st, Andrea Dupont 62nd, Katherine Weaver 63rd, Alannah MacLean 64th, Sadie White 66th, Lisle Compton 67th, Mia Serratore 68th, and Laura Leclair 69th.
For the U.S. Caitlin Patterson finished 44th, Liz Guiney 45th, Kaitlynn Miller 47th, Chelsea Holmes 48th, Rosie Brennan 50th, Julia Kern 52nd, Erika Flowers 55th, Becca Rorabaugh 57th, and Jennie Bender 58th.
One day left in the 2016/2017 World Cup season remains, with the women’s and men’s 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday in Quebec City.
World Cup Finals standings (Day 2 of 3): Men | Women
***
Finland’s Mari Laukkanen pointing to the sky in honor of her late shooting coach, after she won the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit on Saturday at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)
IBU World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Women’s and men’s pursuits
Less than 24 hours after winning her first IBU World Cup on Friday in the women’s 7.5 k sprint, Finland’s Mari Laukkanen immediately capitalized on her ideal position with a start-to-finish victory in Saturday’s 10 k pursuit that was never in doubt, cleaning the first three shooting stages before incurring one penalty in her final standing shooting (0+0+0+1) to cross the line in a time of 29:33.3 minutes.
In addition to experiencing the most successful weekend of her biathlon career by far, it was an emotional day for the 29-year-old Finn due to a personal reason. Laukkanen spread her arms like wings skiing down the homestretch with a commanding lead, pointing repeatedly to the sky and a black ribbon she wore around her right upper arm, before kneeling in the snow in the finish for a few seconds. With those gestures, she reportedly wanted to commemorate her shooting coach Asko Nuutinen, who passed away Friday after suffering a heart attack during the World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, a week ago. He was 60 years old.
“It’s been a really emotional day for me. We have heard really really sad news that last night we lost our longtime shooting coach,” Laukkanen told reporters with a trembling voice in the press conference. “After this it was more or less only about working for him. Working as he has asked me to do for years and years. So I wasn’t thinking about losing or winning today, I was only thinking about him. And I feel really big pleasure that I was able to come to the finish like this, that I can own the victory for him.”
“I knew it will be difficult after the first victory in my career took me so long,” she added. “And to do it again immediately with good shooting. But as I said I didn’t think about winning or losing today, just doing my work.”
Finishing 26.5 seconds after her, the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová reached the finish, moving up from her fourth place starting position with a clean shooting performance (0+0+0+0).
“I wanted to miss all targets yesterday because I was so tired I didn’t even want to race,” Koukalová confided in the press conference. “It’s difficult to concentrate, three World Cups after the main goal of the season [the World Championships] is too much. Last year it was many times easier… I tried to catch her, but about one kilometer before the finish I saw her far away so I was happy I didn’t have to fight with anyone and was just enjoying the last meters.”
Despite four penalties (1+1+0+2), France’s Justine Braisaz defended the third place on the podium against a three-person chase group on the last loop (+1:01.4), falling back only one position after having finished the sprint in second.
“I did not expect such a good place today during the race,” Braisaz commented in the press conference. “Because in the last shooting I completely [failed]. I really wanted to have a clean shooting today, and I did not succeed. So I am happy and surprised, too.”
Her teammate Anais Bescond who had started the pursuit in third place fell back to 22nd position (+2:53.5) with seven penalties.
Slovenia’s Teja Gregorin finished fourth with one penalty (+1:08.2), Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser shot clean as the only athlete aside from Koukalova on her way to move up from 22nd to fifth place (+1:12.5), while Norway’s Marte Olsbu finished sixth like in the sprint despite three penalties (+1:15.9).
Unlike in Friday’s sprint race where Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier had still given up a seemingly commanding lead in the sprint World Cup discipline standings to Koukalova, she held onto her lead in the pursuit standings on Saturday, moving up from the 31st starting position to ninth place with a penalty in each of her standing shootings (0+0+1+1, +1:53.8). A 22nd place would have been sufficient to win the “small crystal globe” award in the pursuit. Laukkanen’s teammate Kaisa Mäkäräinen finished 8th with two penalties in the standing stages (+1:51.2), and thereby claimed the third place in the World Cup pursuit ranking.
“I knew that I didn’t need to have a perfect race today, just a good one, but that’s always easier said than done,” Dahlmeier told broadcaster ARD after the race. “I am incredibly happy that it worked out and that I could secure myself another small globe… It’s a bit of a weird feeling, standing at the start gate in the middle of the field and the clock ticks and ticks as one athlete after another skis out on the course. And you can only observe how far they have gone and have to wait and be patient, and not make a false start. But then the snow burns, then the chase begins!”
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee experienced an uncharacteristically problematic day on the shooting range and fell back to 37th place (+4:00.2), after starting seventh and less than a minute behind Laukkanen. Dunklee had three misses between two prone stages and seven more in her standing shootings (2+1+4+3) therefore having to ski more than an additional kilometer in the penalty lap.
“It is a testament to her fighting spirit that she notched the fourth-fastest ski time — one of her best ranks of the season — and never gave up despite suffering a biathlon blowout on the range,” teammate Clare Egan said of Dunklee, according to a US Biathlon press release. “Bad races happen to the best and Susan is no exception, but not everyone fights through till the end no matter what.”
Egan herself started the pursuit in 34th position and initally was able to make up ground, but then fell back slightly to 41st place (+4:13.9) with four penalties (0+2+0+2).
“I am satisfied with my race even though the result was not what I was hoping for, and that’s how I would summarize my entire season as well,” Egan said after the final race of her season. “I’ve made a good step forward but my competitors also work hard all summer and we seem to improve at a similar rate.”
Canada Biathlon’s Julia Ransom moved up to 47th place (+5:04.8) with three penalties (1+0+1+1), after starting in 52nd position.
[UPDATED] Later on Saturday in the last men’s 12.5 k pursuit of the season, the three best athletes of the season fought throughout the race exchanging in the lead, before they stood next to each other on the range for the final shooting to decide the winner.
Russia’s Anton Shipulin managed to shoot clean with his elaborate rifle stock in the design of a red dragon, proudly waving to the cameras as he left the arena while his two competitors had to ski into the penalty lap. France’s Martin Fourcade – who had already secured himself the overall World Cup Total Score title as well as the award for the pursuit discipline – was left to duke it out against Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, the winner of Friday’s sprint.
On the last big climb before the Holmenkollen arena, Fourcade accelerated with a series of explosive jump-skate steps to decisively gap Bø. He even got fairly close to Shipulin on the finish stretch, who had slowed down a bit to grab a Russian flag before skiing over the line in a time of 32:11.9 minutes with one penalty (0+0+1+0), 5.7 seconds ahead of Fourcade who had incurred two penalties (1+0+0+1). While Fourcade shook hands with Shipulin, Bø came into the finish in third place, 21.6 seconds back and also with two penalties (1+0+0+1).
“It was a crazy race, but I am happy that I managed to finish first,” Shipulin said in the press conference through a translator. “Tough conditions on the shooting range, I had to really work to concentrate on my shooting. On the last loop I was all alone until I saw Martin chasing me, then I got a little bit scared but I managed to [keep him behind].”
It was Shipulin’s second win of the season, for which he credited his recently improved shooting performance.
“It was a really exciting competition with Johannes and Anton,” Fourcade agreed with his rival. “I expected to fight with them for the victory on the last loop, but then Anton was simply stronger in the last shooting. My strategy was to be focused on my technique and skills and not on the results, like I did too often in the past few weeks focusing on records and not the victory.”
Asked about his blazing attack on the final climb, Fourcade added: “Of course I train for that, but I think a lot of athletes do. I talked to Johannes, it was my revenge for the [2016] World Champs where he did exactly the same to me on the last uphill. But I know how it is, it can be different already tomorrow.”
“I am happy with a new podium of course,” Bø said in the press conference. “I was not at my best in the skiing today. But I still managed to shoot 18 out of 20. As Martin said it was [annoying] that we did not shoot zero [misses] and could not fight with Anton in the finish, but it was quite interesting and fun to stand there in the last shooting … I expected Martin’s attack the second he did it, but I had no energy to fight with him. That was quite strong.”
Sweden’s Fredrik Lindström placed fourth with no penalties (+44.7), and was the only man in the field who managed to shoot clean in all four stages.
“For the podium, I was never really close“, Lindström told the IBU in a post-race interview. “But it was a great day anyway. Four times zero [misses], and especially in the standing stages that makes you climb a lot in the standings. Super happy with my performance.”
US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey, who had to start closer to the back of the field in 44th position, almost two minutes behind the leaders based on his sprint result, managed to move up 21 spots in the race despite three penalties (2+0+1+0).
“I’m happy with the race, considering it started out pretty rough with the first two misses,” Bailey told US Biathlon after placing 23rd (+2:23.3). “I just read the wind wrong and didn’t correct enough. After that, I tried to keep my head in the race and make the best of it. I was happy with my skiing and glad to clean the last stage; this brought me up nine spots and I was able to gain another in the last loop. Now, it’s just one race to go. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Shooting quickly, Bailey recorded the ninth-ranked range time of the day and the ninth-fastest last loop.
His teammate Sean Doherty started 35th but fell back after having to ski six times through the penalty lap (1+3+1+1) to finish 46th (+4:05.6).
For Sunday’s mass starts as the final races of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season, the only qualified North American starters will be Dunklee (currently in 10th position in the World Cup Total Score standings) and Bailey (currently in eighth).
The women’s season award in the mass start discipline once more will be decided between Germany’s Dahlmeier and Czech Republic’s Koukalova, while Germany’s Simon Schempp will try to defend his narrow lead on Fourcade. But during Saturday’s final loop, the French star did consider saving energy for the final competition.
“No,” he simply quipped when asked about this in the press conference. “Of course the mass start is important tomorrow because it will decide about the [mass start] crystal globe. But I think today the pursuit was also really important, and you fight for victory and being one of the best athletes. You can’t be satisfied with only a third place when you can claim a second, and I think all athletes in my position would do the same.”
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby after winning the Norwegian 54 k classic Birkebeinerrennet, part of the Ski Classics series, on Saturday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Ski Classics)
54 k Birkebeinerrennet (Rena to Lillehammer, Norway): Part of the Ski Classics series
[UPDATED] Not even a snowmobile clipping him and sending him tumbling 20 k before the finish could keep Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby from winning the Birkebeinerrennet on Saturday in Norway. Representing Team United Bakeries, Sundby set a high pace from the start and broke the group down to three by 9 k, with Petter Eliassen of Team LeasePlan and Simen Østensen of Team BN Bank sticking with him until about 30 k in the 54 k marathon.
With about 20 k to go, Sundby collided with a Ski Classics TV production crew snowmobile while trying to double pole in the snowmobile’s tracks. He was OK and went on to win by 48 seconds over Eliassen in second, and smiled about the incident after the finish.
“It came in with tremendous speed and mowed me down,” Sundby told NRK, according to a loose translation.
Ski Classics CEO David Nilsson told NRK he didn’t know exactly how that happened and emphasized that it was unacceptable.
“We always put safety first, but it is a difficult balancing act with the snowmobile at high speed to get TV pictures,” he said, according to a loose translation. “The skiers often ski in the [snowmobile] track and here it happened and somehow the driver missed it.”
While Sundby pulled out the win in 2:20:53.5 hours, Eliassen took second and Østensen followed another 3.5 seconds later for third place.
In the women’s race, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (Team Santander) pulled out a 4 minute and 15 second win over Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team). Japan’s Masako Ishida (Team United Bakeries) was another 48.6 seconds back in third.
“I’m really happy to win this race,” Kowalczyk said, according to a Ski Classics press release. “Everything went well and the cheering on the course was amazing. I will do the rest of the races in Visma Ski Classics, but this victory was the most important for me. Of course, I want to win again in Årefjällsloppet like I did last year, but to win here in front of this audience means so much to me.”
Tord Asle Gjerdalen, who finished fourth in the men’s race, and Johansson Norgren continue to lead the overall Ski Classics standings with three races to go. The next stop is the Årefjällsloppet in Sweden on March 25.
“It was a great race and we kept a high tempo up all the way,” Sundby said, according to the press release. “I was able to use uphills for my advantage and get a gap. I had good skis, the conditions were perfect, and to win here was one of my goals for the season. I have the Norwegian Championships in two weeks, and I haven’t counted out the option of going to Finland for the Visma Ski Classics finale.”
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby exits the stadium as Finland’s Iivo Niskanen shadows during the men’s 50-kilometer classic mass start on Saturday at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway.
OSLO, Norway — Here’s something dizzying: six times around an 8.3-kilometer course with a total vertical gain of just over two thousand meters. In non-metric terms, all 47 finishers on Saturday’s Holmenkollen 50 k classic race accumulated roughly 6,574 feet of climbing.
On the sharp end of the race for most of those kilometers were Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen. They were the animators for the hordes of Norwegians lining the course — in some places four deep.
Around 16 k, the lead group was seven strong with a host of skiers dangling just off the back. Up front there were the alphas — Niskanen and Sundby — and a heavy hitter gang including Norway’s Sjur Røthe, Niklas Dyrhaug, Hans Christer Holund, Sweden’s Jens Burman, and the defending 50 k world champ, Canada’s Alex Harvey.
This went down on a day when the views from Holmenkollen were almost limitless, Oslo Fjord shimmered and the storied venue’s atmosphere was buoyant. The air temps were an above-freezing blend of hello-spring and we’re-not-sure-we-want-you-gone winter. In other words: perfect.
Finland’s Iivo Niskanen leads Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby during the Holmenkollen 50 k classic in Oslo, Norway.
It was also a day to see if risk could play out with good fortune. What could go wrong with such a backdrop?
Niskanen left Lahti World Championships with two medals: a gold in the 15 k individual classic and a bronze in the classic team sprint, both of which were confidence boosters. With speedy skis and his kick not waning, he rolled the dice passing through the stadium after two 8.3 k laps. No ski change.
The six skiers behind opted for fresh skis. With new fluoros and fresh kick, they also found themselves in Niskanen’s wake as he made a break while the others exchanged.
“When Niskanen didn’t change at the second lap, it made Sundby chase really hard to close the gap to him,” Harvey told FasterSkier after the race. “Then that kind of blew the pack apart.”
Niskanen threw down in Sundby’s castle. For a bit, it looked like the challenge might stick. At 18.8 k, Sundby was down 15.4 seconds.
When Niskanen made his break, the gap back to Sundby was really a static line when it came to Niskanen building a lead. By 22.5 k, Sundby latched back on. The reward for Niskanen’s no-ski-switch gamble was that it became a two-skier race for 2017 Holmenkollen 50 k title.
Late in the race at 47.5 k when Sundby made a break and built a six-second lead, the gap to Niskanen was still tenuous as the waning kilometers clicked off. But Sundby’s surge was enough for the win. First is first whether by one second or a minute.
After 50 k, all that climbing, all the Norwegian-flag waving, and all the Carlsberg beer consumed by fans along the course, 9.9 seconds separated the winner Sundby from runner-up Niskanen. Sunday skied the 50 k in 2:02:59.7.
With the win, Sundby locked some things up: he secured both the Overall World Cup and Distance World Cup crystal globes. This season’s overall win makes it Sundby’s third of his career (not counting the his overall World Cup win in 2014/2015, which he was stripped of because of a doping violation concerning his use of asthma medication).
“It was a tough pace right from the beginning today,” Sundby told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after the race. “When Iivo broke away and I was able to get back to him, we worked well together and I actually convinced him to change skis with me on the fourth lap. He was going to change on third lap but I told him I would lead and we could get away together. He’s the 15 k world champ in classic and it was a tough fight with him.”
For Niskanen, Saturday’s second place was his best World Cup 50 k result and marked his best Holmenkollen 50 k classic. In 2014, he placed fourth and was 12th in 2016.
“After the fourth lap we both switched skis and it meant that I had fresh skis to battle with Martin,” Niskanen told FIS. “He was really strong today. I didn’t have any chance in the last uphill. He was running like Mo Farah. I’m happy with second but my goal was for the victory. You have to have a good race to be on the podium and I think I made a good race today but Martin was better. “
The podium’s third step wasn’t decided until after five skiers lunged at the line. Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh won the photo finish for third (+1:15.2) ahead of Røthe in fourth, (+1:15.2) and Dyrhaug in fifth (+1:15.2).
A five-deep pack fighting for third place in the Holmenkollen men’s 50 k classic on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. Norway’s Hans Christer Holund (6) leads Canada’s Alex Harvey (behind, in red).
Also part of that multi-skier lunge was Harvey, just 0.2 seconds back in sixth (+1:15.4).
Asked about the Niskanen-Sundby breakaway and how that unfolded in the chase pack, Harvey lumped praise onto others.
“After that we tried to chase, but it wasn’t me doing the chase, it was mostly Hans Christer Holund,” Harvey said. “He was really strong today, probably the strongest of us all … But then after that the gap was too big, it was just a matter of not letting the guys behind us catch up and get ready for the final sprint.”
Harvey has contested the Holmenkollen 50 k classic on three other occasions. His best result prior to Saturday was 13th. “It was one of my best races here ever, so that was a great day,” he said.
Next up for Harvey is a trip back home to Quebec for World Cup Finals. He’ll land in Canada ranked third in the World Cup overall with 844 points. Finland’s Matti Heikkinen sits fourth with 837 points.
The next best North American was U.S. skier Scott Patterson (Alaska Pacific University). Patterson placed 28th (+7:18.8). Most recently, Patterson scored World Cup points after placing ninth in the 30 k skiathlon in PyeongChang, Korea.
Jonas Baumann of Switzerland (27) leads U.S. skier Scott Patterson (APU) during the Holmenkollen 50 k classic in Oslo, Norway.
Saturday was more of a final exam; the Holmenkollen 50 k remains a big test. (Many big names were present in Oslo that had skipped the pre-Olympic World Cup in PyeongChang.)
It was Patterson’s second-ever World Cup 50 k after racing at Holmenkollen last year, where he placed 32nd in another 50 k classic.
“It was pretty good, it could have been better,” Patterson said of his top 30 this year. “I had a little crash on the sixth lap that was frustrated because I lost a little group. Then also, one time when I went through an exchange, most of my group didn’t so I kind of lost that little, there was a group not too far in front of me that I really wanted on, but couldn’t quite get up there.”
Patterson explained this was a bottom-line race: he’s here to score World Cup points.
“I was kind of sitting in 27th for a while and at that point, [U.S. coach] Matt [Whitcomb] and some others kept giving me splits and it was, like, 45 second up to the top 20,” Patterson added. “And at that point, I was aiming for that instead. But I’m pretty happy with some points, it’s the first time I’ve scored points in Europe, so I’m psyched.”
Whitcomb had praise for all four U.S. skiers entered in the race: David Norris (APU) placed 35th (+9:56.4), Noah Hoffmann (USST) 38th (+11:02.6), and Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) 46th (+18:44.7).
“It was definitely a day that we were happy with as a staff,” Whitcomb said on the phone. “It was inspiring to see four starters and four finishers in the Holmenkollen. It’s just an accomplishment of itself, to start the thing and finish it. … Of particular note was Scott Patterson’s race. He’s been in the points before, most recently in Korea, but this was really his first big time landing in the points, he came from the 30’s and worked his way into the 20’s early in the race. It was a nice step up from his 32nd last year.”
Alaska Pacific University’s David Norris (36), representing the U.S., strides out of the stadium followed by Canada’s Devon Kershaw (26) during the Holmenkollen 50 k classic mass start in Oslo, Norway.
Of note, it was Norris’s first European World Cup; he skied two World Cups in Canada back in 2012.
“This was my first World Cup in Europe, and I don’t know if it’s ignorant or not, but I want to try for top 30, get points, and come back here,” Norris said when asked about his goals coming into the race. “To have a shot on the US Ski Team, you have to be able to show that you can top 30 on a given day, and that’s my goal, to be on that team, so I’m setting my goals high, to top 30 in everything I can.”
Also for Canada, World Cup Team member Devon Kershaw placed 33rd (+8:59.4), and Russell Kennedy (Canmore Nordic/Team R.A.D.) was 47th (+20:16).
Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh with the victory stoke as he wins the 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, by 4.6 seconds over Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (behind). (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
LAHTI, Finland — There were three medals up for grabs during Friday’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay at 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday. Yet after the scramble leg, two distinct races: Norway and Russia’s dance for gold, and what eventually became a four-way tango between Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany for bronze and silver.
Russia’s Andrey Larkov and Norway’s Didrik Tønseth first strung out and then smoked the field late in their leg. By the tag to their second-leg skiers, Norway and Russia were twenty seconds up.
Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh leads Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug as they sustain the break during the second leg of the 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
That margin grew to thirty seconds, as Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh and Niklas Dyrhaug finished Leg 2 and the transition to skating began.
Coming in just a half a minute later in third place, was Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, giving the fans a premature taste of the podium.
Racing the third leg was Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Russia tried to match the Norway’s trump card with Alexey Chervotkin. The 21-year-old Chervotkin skied the third leg for Russia in both team relays that took place this season: the first in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, the other in La Clusaz, France, where the team placed second both times to Norway.
However, the World Championship leg was the first time Chervotkin matched up against Sundby this year.
Late in the leg, it was unclear what Sundby’s strategy would be as the young Russian shadowed the 32-year-old Sundby move for move. With Sergey Ustiugov up for the Russians in the anchor leg against Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh, many armchair-relay strategists would have thought the Norwegian’s line up ploy was a dud.
Not until 1.2 kilometers left in the leg did Sundby make a sufficient gap. At that point, the time spread from silver to gold was only eleven seconds. Not exactly a huge buffer for Krogh.
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, marked by Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin (4), during a critical third leg of the 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
By Sundby’s tag to the anchor skier, he had gifted Krogh a 17.7-second margin for error. The rhetorical question at the start of the fourth leg: when will Ustiugov catch Krogh?
“He’s the worst the worst guy you can have in back of you,” Krogh said during a press conference, referring to Ustiugov. “He made the race tough for me.”
At 1.3 k into that fourth leg, Ustiugov was 8.8 seconds back. In another 1.2 kilometers, it ballooned again to 11.6 seconds, and then it contracted again to 5 seconds with 3.8 k to go. But until the finishing stretch, when Krogh rounded the final turn with a 100-meter lead on the Russian, was Norway a sure win.
Krogh crossed first in a time of 1:37:20.1 hours for the ninth-consecutive Norwegian championship 4 x 10 k relay gold. Finishing 4.6 seconds later in second place was Russia’s Ustiugov.
“It’s not just for us, it’s the whole team,” Sundby said during a press conference of their ninth world-champs relay gold. “It’s for the waxers, it’s for the trainers. When you go the relay for the Norwegian team, you feel you’re going for your country. So it’s a massive victory for us.”
What kept the capacity crowd engaged was not so much the battle for gold and silver, but the fate of the on-again, off-again Finns.
Let’s back up to when Niskanen tagged off to Finnish skier Lari Lehtonen for the first freestyle leg. At that point, the Finns were in third, a solid 15 seconds ahead of France in fourth place, 32 seconds ahead of Switzerland in fifth, roughly 55 seconds ahead of Germany in sixth, and almost a minute ahead of Sweden in seventh.
“We are individual athletes, and you have to focus on your own leg,” Sweden’s Johan Olsson said after the race. “Both me and Daniel [Rickardsson] thought the medal chance was over when we had done two legs.”
The first sign that something was awry for the Finns was a restless home crowd. What may have been perceived as a plush-time cushion for Lehtonen was in fact cardboard thin.
Sweden’s Marcus Hellner (r) leads Germany’s Florian Notz (7), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (behind Notz), and Finland’s Lari Lehtonen (8) during the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Sweden’s Marcus Hellner and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna were on the hunt. Seemingly an afterthought, Hellner skied the fastest third leg, animating the race for bronze by pulling Sweden back into contention.
These four teams — Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden — stuck together through the exchange into the fourth leg until the last headwall climb, called Indian Hill.
It was then that Finland’s Matti Heikkinen hop-stepped around Germany and Switzerland, bringing Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson with him.
“I know that Matti will go on the last uphill and it was good game for me to go after him,” Halfvarsson said during the press conference.
The two appeared to have dropped Switzerland’s Curdin Perl, until Perl miraculously slotted behind the Finn-Swede duo. Finland entered the final 100-meter stretch in a sprint for bronze.
One errant pole plant as Heikkinen ramped up his gear, causing him to fall to the ground was Finland’s loss and Sweden’s gain. Halfvarsson crossed third for Sweden (+2:31.8) and Perl fourth for Switzerland (+2:32), and Finland ultimately crossed fifth (+2:42.4).
(Story continues below)
Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (2) crossing the line in third place, ahead of Switzerland’s Curdin Perl (5) in fourth at the finish of the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Finland’s Matti Heikkinen (far left) is seen after righting himself due to a errant pole plant. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The U.S. fielded a team comprised of Kyle Bratrud, Erik Bjornsen, Tad Elliott, and Simi Hamilton. Bratrud scrambled the first classic leg for the Americans, handing off to Bjornsen in 11th, 1:28.2 minutes behind the leader.
“I was definitely more nervous for this one because I was starting,” Bratrud said afterward.
While this is the second World Championships for Bratrud, a 24-year-old member of the Central Cross Country (CXC) Team, Friday was the first time he raced the scramble leg in a relay — he raced the third leg for the U.S. in the 2015 world champs 4 x 10 k relay in Falun, Sweden. Though he eventually lost contact with the front group, Bratrud was happy he was able to hold on for as long as he did, even if it caused him a yellow card for a technique violation.
“It was nice to at least see the front before they really picked up the pace,” Bratrud said.
“Props to Kyle on the yellow card,” Elliott wrote in an email. “Scrappy out there.”
Tad Elliott racing the third leg of the U.S. men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
While Bratrud had company for approximately one lap, Bjornsen raced completely alone.
“It’s not the position you necessarily want to be in, but took it for what it was worth and tried to charge up to the group in front of me, which was [the Czech Republic’s Lukas] Bauer and [Germany’s Jonas Dobler],” Bjornsen said.
“But I mean…they were moving fast,” the 25-year-old U.S. Ski Team member added. “I tried to mentally just keep pushing, but it’s tough to be out there by yourself. I felt pretty good, it’s just a different type of race.”
Bjornsen tagged to Elliott, for the Americans’ first freestyle leg. He skied the eighth-fastest third leg, 1:47 behind Hellner.
“I was also getting great splits from the coaches on making ground on the group in front of me,” Elliott wrote.”I wanted to catch them, I just didn’t really get there for Simi to save it all for his sprint. Simi skied one hell of a leg.”
Elliott handed off to Hamilton, the anchor leg for the U.S.
“By the time he tagged off to me, I think I was 10 or 15 seconds from [the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Italian teams],” Hamilton recalled. “They fortunately started pretty conservatively, which was nice for me.”
Those three teams were in fact 16 seconds ahead of Hamilton. He eventually closed that distance, putting the U.S. in contention for a top 10.
“I wanted to start fast and see if I could make up some time on them,” Hamilton siad. “And I did, I ended up catching them by the top of the climb after the tunnel. So I was psyched about that.”
However, when Hamilton came through for his fourth and final lap, the hill-laden course had taken a toll on his legs. He finished in 10th (+5:31.3), just half a second ahead of the Czech Republic’s Petr Knop in 11th (+5:31.8).
Canada’s Alex Harvey racing the third leg of the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“That last lap my legs were definitely feeling it a little bit and those guys are all really good climbers,” Hamilton said. “I couldn’t quite make the moves that I wanted to in the last kilometer because I was a little whupped by then … but I was still able to pick off Czech Republic at the finish. Maybe not the best day for us, but still a day that we were fighting.”
Canada’s team of Graeme Killick, Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey and Lenny Valjas finished 12th, after being lapped and thus pulled from the race on Valjas’s final leg.
In January of this year, Canada raced to a historic third place at the Ulricehamn World Cup relay in Sweden.
“It just wasn’t our day,” said a dignified Valjas after Friday’s relay. “We’re all in shape, it’s just none of us were on our A-game today and that’s what it takes to be fighting in this.”
Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) racing the second leg of the men’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The men’s 10 k sprint podium at Friday’s IBU World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Austria’s Julian Eberhard (c) in first, American Lowell Bailey (l) in second, and France’s Martin Fourcade (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
IBU World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Men’s 10 k sprint
US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey kept his clean-shooting streak alive with another one of his personal best results on Friday, racing to second in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Bailey started 81st and hit all 10 targets in the two-stage race to cross the finish line in first, 4.7 seconds ahead of France’s Martin Fourcade, who locked up the 2016/2017 overall World Cup title with an eventual third-place finish on Friday.
An even later starter in bib 90, Austria’s Julian Eberhard rocketed to his third-career World Cup victory (and second win this season), cleaning both stages and topping Bailey’s time by 40.7 seconds. That bumped Bailey to second place and Fourcade to third, for Bailey’s second World Cup podium this season (including his win in the 20 k individual at IBU World Championships).
In the last five non-relay races, including four at World Championships, Bailey has not placed outside the top six. And in all of those races, he’s only had one miss.
Bailey is up to ninth in the World Cup Total Score standings. Fourcade ran away with the season-long title in first, now that he’s 360 points ahead of Russia’s Anton Shipulin in second.
While Eberhard and Bailey shot clean on Friday, Fourcade missed two — one on each stage (1+1) — but made up for it with the fastest course time. Eberhard had the second-fastest course time and fastest shooting time of the 102-man field.
Austria nearly had two on the podium with Dominik Landertinger finishing fourth (+48.1), 2.7 seconds out of third, with clean shooting.
Three Canadians finished in the top 60 to qualify for Saturday’s pursuit, with Scott Gow in 27th (+1:40.3) with two penalties (1+1), Brendan Green following in 28th (+1:42.1) with one miss (0+1) for his first individual top 30 of the season, and Christian Gow in 56th (+2.33.6) with two prone penalties (2+0). Nathan Smith finished 88th (+3:32.5) with two standing misses (0+2) in his first World Cup race since early December, and Macx Davies finished 98th (+4:20.2) with four penalties (3+1).
For the U.S., Leif Nordgren placed 37th (+2:03.7) with two misses (1+1) to qualify for the pursuit, along with Bailey. Sean Doherty was 80th (+3:13.3) with two penalties (1+1) and Paul Schommer 101st (+4:38.1) with five misses (3+2).
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined 2 x 7.5 k team sprint
The nordic combined 2 x 7.5 k team sprint podium on Friday at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Germany’s Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel in first (c), Norway’s Magnus Moan and Magnus Krog in second (l) and Japan’s Yoshito and Akito Watabe in third (r). (Photo: FIS Nordic Combined/Twitter)
[UPDATED] Johannes Rydzek and Team Germany completed the World Championships sweep on Friday, with Rydzek teaming up with Eric Frenzel to win the final nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland: the 2 x 7.5-kilometer team sprint.
Rydzek won all four NoCo competitions over the past week, including two individual events and two team events.
On Friday, he and Frenzel, the defending World Cup champion, jumped to second and started the 2 x 7.5 k cross-country race 16 seconds behind France’s Maxime Laheurte and François Braud, who jumped to first. The Frenchmen both posted jumps of 125 meters for a total of 264.2 points. Frenzel and Rydzek, meanwhile, scored 256.1 points after jumps of 125.5 and 122 meters.
The Germans pulled off a 1-second win over Norway, finishing in 28:45.8 minutes, while Norway’s Magnus Moan and Magnus Krog claimed silver after starting the ski race in fourth, 24 seconds behind France. Together, the Norwegians posted the fastest course time, and Moan skied the fastest 7.5 k (13:53).
“It’s still unbelievable,” Rydzek told German broadcaster ARD. “The race today was so suspenseful again, down to the last curve with the lapped athlete [Russia]. I knew that I am very fast on the homestretch, and had explicitly looked at that section before the race. Eric did a great job today, and despite all circumstances pointing against us we managed to do it again today. Just cool to be back on the top of the podium with Eric.”
Just a couple hundred meters before the finish, Rydzek used the moment when they approached the lapped Russian athlete to slingshot between him and Krog and gained a decisive edge.
“I was scared of that situation with the lapped athlete, because that was really close,” Frenzel told ARD. “I thought, ‘What is he doing out there?’ But in the end you can rely on Johannes to solve that like a world champion, that was top.
“We knew ahead of time that Lahti suits us well, that we can be good here if the conditions work out,” he added. “So we are very happy to be able to go home with so many medals.”
Japan took the final spot on the podium after brothers Yoshito and Akito Watabe jumped to third, started 18 seconds after France, and held their position to finish for third place, 10.2 seconds after Germany.
Austria’s Wilhelm Denifl and Bernhard Gruber missed bronze by half a second in fourth (+10.7) after starting in fifth, and France ended up fifth (+11.5).
Nearly a minute later, Italy placed sixth (+1:10.6) and Finland seventh (+1:10.7). The Czech Republic followed in eighth (+1:26.4), and the U.S. was ninth (+1:48.1) with Bryan and Taylor Fletcher after starting 12th and 2:08 out of first. The Fletcher brothers recorded the second-fastest course time out of 14 teams.
“Taylor did a good job stepping up in competition and it gave me motivation to step up as well,” Bryan said, according to a U.S. Ski Team press release. “Unfortunately I wanted it a little too much and didn’t have the jump I am capable of.
“The races went well but we were just too far back,” he continued. “We had the second fastest time as a team overall, which is solid and continually shows our strength on that side of the sport.”
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Men’s 4 x 10 k relay
The men’s 4 x 10 k relay podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships, with Norway (c) in first, Russia (l) in second, and Sweden (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
The men’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay as the last team event of 2017 Nordic World Championships came down to a two-way battle for gold between none other than Norway and Russia on Friday in Lahti, Finland,
The two teams skied in either first or second throughout the four-leg race, with Russia’s Andrey Larkov tagging Alexander Bessmertnykh 2.9 seconds ahead of Norway’s first leg Didrik Tønseth, then Bessmertnykh coming through the second exchange just half a second ahead of Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug.
Behind them, Finland skied alone in third place at the race’s halfway point, but was ultimately swallowed by the chase pack on the third leg.
On that third leg, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby worked hard to drop Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin, and eventually did so, coming through the final exchange 17.7 seconds ahead. That gave Norway’s anchor Finn Hågen Krogh just enough of a gap on Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, and he was able to hold off Ustiugov by 4.6 seconds at the finish to give Norway the gold in 1:37:20.1 hours.
Russia claimed silver and Sweden outlasted Switzerland for bronze after Calle Halfvarsson attacked in the final kilometer to drop Finland’s Matti Heikkinen and Germany’s Lucas Bögl. Halfvarsson finished 2:31.8 minutes out of first, and just 0.2 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Curdin Perl for third place for Sweden (which included teammates Daniel Rickardsson, Johan Olsson and Marcus Hellner).
Switzerland was fourth (+2:32) with Jason Rueesch, Jonas Baumann, Dario Cologna and Perl, Finland fifth (+2:42.4) with Sami Jauhojärvi, Niskanen, Lari Lehtonen, and Heikkinen, and Germany sixth (+2:42.8) with Thomas Bing, Jonas Dobler, Florian Notz, and Bögl.
France finished seventh (+3:52), Italy eighth (+5:29.8), Kazakhstan ninth (+5:30.6), and the U.S. 10th (+5:31.3). The U.S. team (Kyle Bratrud, Erik Bjornsen, Tad Elliott, Simi Hamilton) skied in 11th for most of the race before Hamilton moved them up to 10th with the sixth-fastest anchor leg.
Canada (Graeme Killick, Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Len Valjas) ended up 12th after being lapped on the last leg. In 14th at the first exchange, Kershaw moved them up to 13th, then Harvey put them in 12th with one leg to go.
Finland’s Iivo Niskanen (c) celebrates his World Championship title as Norwegians Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) and Niklas Dryhaug hoist him up on Wednesday after the men’s 15-kilometer classic race at the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Men’s 15 k classic
After narrowly missing the victory in Sunday’s classic team sprint, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen got his gold, winning Wednesday’s men’s 15-kilometer individual classic start race at the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships on Wednesday in Lahti, Finland. Niskanen covered the course in a time of 36:44.0, besting Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby by 17.9 seconds.
Starting in bib 64, Niskanen didn’t take long to ski in the top spot, posting the fastest time from the 4.7 k mark until he finished. He held off Sundby, as well as Norwegian Niklas Dyrhaug, who started a minute behind Niskanen in bib 66 and ultimately finished in third (+31.3).
Missing the podium by 10.5 seconds was Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh in fourth, 41.8 seconds behind Niskanen’s winning time. Placing fifth (+53.2) was Didrik Tønseth of Norway. Russia’s Andrey Larkov took sixth (+53.2), while kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin placed seventh (+1:06.3). The second Finn to finish in the top ten was Sami Jauhojaervi in eighth (+1:09.7). Ninth (+1:10.6) went to the former 2015 World Champion, Johan Olsson of Sweden, and his Swedish teammate, Calle Halfvarsson rounded out the top ten in tenth (+1:15.0).
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men, placing 18th (+1:56.7) after starting in bib 26. The second American to finish was Kyle Bratrud in 33rd (+3:11.5) followed by Andy Newell in 50th (+4:21.7) and Ben Lustgarten in 55th (+4:56.9).
Devon Kershaw led the Canadians, placing 35th (+3:24.8). Knute Johnsgaard was the next Canadian, finishing 56th (+5:00.7), followed by Jesse Cockney in 65th (+6:20.7).
The women’s 4 x 5 k relay takes place Thursday. The U.S. is slated to start (in no particular order): Jessie Diggins, Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, and Sadie Bjornsen.
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined large hill/10 k
Bryan Fletcher (U.S. Nordic Combined) jumping to 31st on the large hill in Lahti, Finland. He later finished the day in 31st in the 10 k Gundersen to lead his team. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek racked up win #3 in as many nordic-combined competitions at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, winning the individual large hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start on Wednesday.
The last individual competition of the championships began with Austria’s Mario Seidl jumping the farthest at 132.0 meters and earning 137.3 points. His Austrian teammate, Wilhelm Denifl finished second in the jumping portion, earning 125.7 points. Japan’s Akito Watabe was third for the jumping, with 123.8 points.
Competitors returned later in the day for the 10 k cross-country portion, with Rydzek racing to first after starting a minute back in fifth. Rydzek won the 10 k event in a time of 26:41.6. Just 4.8 seconds later, Watabe captured silver after starting 54 seconds back. The bronze medal went to France’s François Braud, who also started 54 seconds back and finished 13 seconds off Rydzek’s time.
Four U.S. Nordic Combined Team skiers contested the event. Bryan Fletcher led the Americans finishing 31st (+3:58.3), after jumping to 31st and starting 2:39 back. His brother, Taylor Fletcher was the second American to finish the cross-country portion, racing to 36th (+4:55.6) after jumping to 51st and starting 4:26 back.
Ben Berend (U.S. Nordic Combined) jumping to 21st to lead the U.S. on the large-hill jumping portion of Wednesday’s competition at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Ben Berend jumped the farthest for the Americans in 21st, and raced to 40th (+5:08.6) after starting 1:55 back.
The 21-year-old explained during an interview with FasterSkier that he sees his recent success in jumping as a result of not overthinking his efforts on the hill.
“Basically, I’ve just turned my mind off,” Berend said. “I didn’t take training yesterday, I’ve just been kind of not jumping as much as I usually do, and like when I’m at home I’m not thinking about ski jumping, I just kind of go up and do it and it’s working right now, and so I’m not going to change any of that. I’m just having fun, it’s been a blast.”
Adam Loomis finished the day in 44th (+5:47.9) after jumping to 45th and starting 3:29 back.
Canada’s Nathaniel Mah jumped to 52nd and finished the day in 52nd.
The U.S. Nordic Combined’s Bryan Fletcher (31) chasing Italy’s Alessandro Pittin on Wednesday in the individual large hill/10 k at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Fletcher finished 31st and Pittin placed 20th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby won his first individual race in a little over a month on Sunday with a 37.1-second victory in the men’s 15 k classic at the World Cup in Otepaa, Estonia. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
If the Otepää World Cup = a World Championships tune-up, consider Martin Johnsrud Sundby primed and ready. On Sunday, the 32-year-old Norwegian put together one of his best races ever from start to finish, by his own assessment, which resulted in at 37.1-second win in the men’s 15-kilometer classic individual start in Otepää.
For the last four years, Sundby (the 2014 and 2016 Overall and Distance World Cup winner, who was stripped of his 2015 overall title for violating asthma-medication rules) has been the man to beat in World Cups. Yet somehow, he hasn’t won a World Championships gold in an individual race (he won with the men’s relay at 2011 World Championships and earned silver in the 30 k skiathlon in 2013). But Sunday was a good sign, he said.
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby racing to a 37.1-second victory in the men’s 15 k classic on Sunday at the pre-World Championships World Cup in Otepaa, Estonia. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
It was the first time in years he felt really good and executed his plan for the entire duration of the race, Sundby told NRK.
“I have been in doubt this winter if I was going to get on the same level as last year,” he said, according to a loose translation. “I have not had the same feeling as I had occasionally had last winter. I’ve been looking for it, technically and physically, and today I am there.”
His first target race at World Championships in Lahti, Finland: the 30 k skiathlon on Saturday, Feb. 25.
With his first win in a month and fourth individual victory of the season (compared to 14 total wins last season), Sundby, the overall World Cup leader by 82 points over Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, is feeling much better about his chances.
“Last month has been really good for me training,” Sundby said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release. “It was a difficult race. I had amazing skis. I had to look for high speed on the snow and constantly change positions. I was mentally prepared for an 18 k race.”
He started 70th out of 82 men in the 15 k. Through all eight checkpoints on FIS live timing, Sundby not only posted the fastest times, but was leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else on the rainy Otepää afternoon — with one exception.
Between 3.8 k and 5 k, Sundby appeared close to Finland’s Iivo Niskanen in second place, with a 5 k time that was just 0.5 seconds faster than Niskanen’s. But by 7.5 k, Sundby was more than 8 seconds clear of the 25-year-old Finn, who started 3 minutes ahead of him. At the finish, Niskanen, in bib 64, bumped Norway’s Niklas Dyrhaug (bib 56) out of the leader’s chair by 17.9 seconds. Another Norwegian, Hans Christer Holund (bib 66) came up 12 seconds short of Niskanen’s time after starting a minute ahead of him.
The men’s 15 k classic podium at the Otepaa World Cup in Estonia, with Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (c) in first, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen (l) in second, and Norway’s Hans Christer Holund (r) in in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Dyrhaug had previously unseated Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin, who started 21st and held the lead for close to 20 minutes, before Dyrhaug finished 6 seconds faster.
Finland’s Matti Heikkinen, who started 68th, a minute ahead of Sundby and a minute behind Holund, snuck in the mix with a faster time than Poltoranin. Despite crossing the finish line just ahead of Sundby, Heikkinen was still 58.1 seconds off the Norwegian’s winning time of 40:38.2 minutes. Sundby’s time pushed Niskanen to second place (+37.1), Holund to third (+49.1), and Dyrhaug off the podium in fourth (+55.3). Heikkinen ended up fifth (+58.1), and Poltoranin sixth (+1:01.3)
“I still need to improve my level to be ready for the World Championships,” Niskanen said after, according to FIS. “First three kilometers were OK, then it was skiing like on a glue. It was a very tough 15 k.”
Holund, 27, was thrilled with third, which matched his individual career best from two previous World Cups last season.
“The third place means a lot for me,” Holund said, according to FIS. “I had a difficult last year with the injury. In the finish I could not believe I was third. It was probably the hardest 15 k I have ever skied. The course was hard and snow conditions made it even harder.”
Harvey 19th, Bjornsen 36th
Canada’s Alex Harvey racing to 29th in the men’s freestyle sprint qualifier on Saturday at the World Cup in Otepaa, Estonia. He went on to place 15th overall on the day. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)
Canada’s Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 19th, 1:50 behind Sundby. Harvey started 42nd and posted splits that ranked around the top 10 for the first half of the race.
“I felt like I was skiing within myself for the first 6km, then I got caught by Sundby who was starting his first lap,” Harvey wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “I followed him up the biggest hill of the course and it put me in the red, by 7.5km I had moved up from 11th to 5th in about 2km.”
There, Harvey’s time ended up being about 40 seconds slower than Sundby’s at 7.5 k, but within 10 seconds of fourth.
“Following Sundby like that who was on a crazy day and just starting his race proved to be too much for me, after that I blew up and just starting losing too much time,” Harvey wrote.
“I feel like if I played it a bit more conservative, i.e. not trying to get on Sundby, I could have held my position but I wanted a real hard session today since it’s the last one before Worlds so in that perspective it was a great day,” he added.
At World Championships later this week, Harvey, who’s currently fourth in the overall World Cup standings (97 points behind Heikkinen in third), will also be focusing on the skiathlon.
“My favorite race is the skiathlon,” Harvey wrote. “I’m excited for the two team events and of course the 50km. I will skip the 15km [classic].”
While Canada entered six men in Sunday’s race (including Len Valjas, who did not start), four finished outside the top 40, with Graeme Killick in 47th (+3:44.6), Devon Kershaw 49th (+3:51.3), Knute Johnsgaard 58th (+4:50.4), and Jess Cockney 72nd (+7:15).
U.S. Ski Team member Erik Bjornsen chasing Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby at a December 2016 World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway. Sundby went on to finish sixth in the men’s 10 k freestyle and Bjornsen was 45th. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Two Americans competed, with Erik Bjornsen placing 36th (+3:12.1) and 24-year-old Ben Lustgarten finishing 66th (+5:34.1) in his second World Cup start.
“I was really hoping for a top 30 result today so when I fell short of that I was disappointed,” Bjornsen wrote in an email.
With split times that consistently ranked in the mid-30’s, his finishing time was about 45 seconds back from 30th place.
“I’m feeling close to being in form. Hopefully in a week it will come around,” Bjornsen continued. “I’m focused on the sprint and the distance races, hard to pick one out. I’ll skip the 50k this year but I’m looking forward to the rest!”
World Championships begin on Wednesday with 5/10 k classic qualifying races for athletes from “non-skiing” nations that don’t have enough FIS points to qualify outright for the championships. Regardless of their result on Wednesday (they need a top 10 to start the distance races in Lahti), every athlete can race the freestyle-sprint qualifier on Thursday — the first medal race of the championships. The women’s 15 k and men’s 30 k skiathlons will take place Saturday, followed by classic team sprints on Sunday, Feb. 26, before six more days of racing the following week.
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) celebrating second place in the women’s 12.5 k mass start on the final day of 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. It was her first World Championships medal. (Photo: US Biathlon/Twitter)
IBU World Championships (Hochfilzen, Austria): Women’s & men’s mass starts
Silver medal for Susan Dunklee. That’s the big news coming out of Hochfilzen, Austria, on the final day of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships after the American finished second, just 4.6 seconds out of first, in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start.
Dunklee started in bib 17 in the mass start and cleaned all 20 targets to put herself in the hunt for gold. She finished just behind Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier who took the win in 33:13.8 minutes, also with perfect shooting. Just three out of 30 women cleaned, with the other being Italy’s Alexia Runggaldier in ninth.
“I think my mistake a lot this season has been wanting the results too much,” Dunklee told FasterSkier after. “[I’ve been] slowly been coming to terms these last couple weeks, trying to focus more on the process and not worrying too much if the medal comes or not so that was a big trick today.”
Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen reached the podium with a since miss in the first prone stage in third (+20.1). The U.S. had two women in the mass start, with Clare Egan finishing 24th (+3:04.1) with four penalties (1+0+1+2).
Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) taking aim during the second prone stage of the men’s 15 k mass start on the last day of IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. He cleaned all four stages to fight for the medals until the final loop, and ultimately finished sixth. (Photo: ARD broadcast screenshot)
[UPDATED] In the men’s 15 k mass start that followed, Lowell Bailey was in contention for a medal until the very end, after being one of three athletes to clean the four-stage race.
Bailey left the range for the last time in third, 16.8 seconds behind Austria’s Simon Eder in first and 14.5 seconds behind Germany’s Simon Schempp in second (both Eder and Schempp also cleaned every stage). Behind Bailey, Johannes Thingnes Bø had recovered quickly from a penalty on the last stage, and left the range in fourth, 8.4 seconds behind Bailey.
Early on the final loop, Bø caught Bailey to fight for a medal. Bø didn’t stop there, catching up to Eder as well after Schempp dropped the Austrian around 13.6 k. With about a kilometer remaining, Bø passed Eder and stayed ahead of him for silver, crossing 9 seconds after Schempp in first and 1.1 seconds ahead of Eder — who notched his first World Championships medal — in third.
Schempp hit all of his targets for his first individual World Championships gold in the final race of the championships, finishing in 35:38.3. Bø and Eder shared the podium with him, and Russia’s Anton Shipulin and France’s Martin Fourcade passed Bailey on the last loop for fifth (+25.3) and sixth (+31.3), respectively. Bailey finished sixth (+33.5) for his fourth top six (in as many individual races) at the championships, after notching a gold medal in the 20 k, fourth place in the sprint and sixth in the pursuit.
“I just told myself to hang as long as I could,” Bailey told FasterSkier after. “Unfortunately I only had four laps and the fifth was bru-tal as they say in Germany. But I’m so psyched with this whole world champs. I never cleaned a mass start and I never cleaned an individual and I just did both at world champs.
“I’m so happy for the team, for Susan,” he added. “Our whole team deserves this world champs. We haven’t shown what we’re capable of, there’s always been one setback or another … and the stars aligned for this one. We were waiting for this moment and everything clicked for the team and it’s so great to see, and god am I glad I stuck around to be here.”
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Otepää, Estonia): 10/15 k classic
The women’s 10 k classic podium at the Otepaa World Cup on Sunday in Estonia, with Norwegian winner Marit Bjørgen (c), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (l) in second and Norway’s Heidi Weng (r) in third. (Photo: Gro Eide/FIS Cross Country Twitter)
Remember the days when Marit Bjørgen used to win by 30 seconds or more? Well, the Norwegian multiple-time world champion was nearly there again, racing to first in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start with a margin of 26.5 seconds to second on Sunday.
Bjørgen started in the middle of the pack, in bib 38, and bested the time of her teammate Heidi Weng by 57.2 seconds on the two-lap World Cup course in Otepää, Estonia.
That bumped Weng to second, and another Norwegian Ingvild Flugstad Østberg to third (+1:17.4), until Sweden’s late-starting Charlotte Kalla in bib 60 broke up the Norwegian sweep in second. Kalla finished 26.5 seconds shy of Bjørgen, but 30 seconds faster than Weng for the second spot on the podium. Weng ended up third for the second-straight day and Østberg fourth.
Also in the top 10, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk placed fifth (+1:19.7), Finland’s Krista Parmakoski was sixth (+1:23.1), Russia’s Anastasia Sedov seventh (+1:29.6), Sweden’s Anna Haag eighth (+1:50.7), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva ninth (+1:57.2), and Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen 10th (+1:57.8).
American Sadie Bjornsen finished in the top 20 in 19th (+2:30.5). Also in the points for the U.S., Rosie Brennan placed 24th (+2:37.8) and Liz Stephen 29th (+2:53.8). Kikkan Randall was about 10 seconds outside the top 30 in 34th (+3:04.7), Ida Sargent finished 42nd (+3:46.1), and Chelsea Holmes 50th (+4:47.5).
Emily Nishikawa led the Canadian women in 40th (+3:39), Dahria Beatty was 45th (+4:11.9), Cendrine Browne 54th (+5:09.2), and Katherine Stewart-Jones 57th (+5:37.1).
The men’s 15 k classic podium at the Otepaa World Cup on Sunday in Estonia, with Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (c) in first, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen (l) in second, and Norway’s Hans Christer Holund (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
[UPDATED] Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby dominated the men’s 15 k classic from start to finish on Sunday, starting near the back of the nearly 80-man field and clocking the fastest splits throughout the three-lap race.
He topped the previous best time set by Finland’s Iivo Niskanen by 37.1 seconds with a winning time of 40:38.2. Conditions weren’t easy on the rainy afternoon in Otepää, with tracks appearing shallow at best and visibly washed out in places.
Norway had two on the podium with Hans Christer Holund in third (+49.1). Niklas Dyrhaug was 6.2 seconds short of the podium in fourth, Finland’s Matti Heikkinen placed fifth (+58.1), Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin sixth (+1:01.3), Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh seventh (+1:02.5), Norway’s Sjur Røthe eighth (+1:03.5), Norway’s Didrik Tønseth ninth (+1:14.5), and France’s Maurice Manificat 10th (+1:21.3).
Canada’s Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 19th (+1:50). Graeme Killick finished 47th (+3:44.6), Devon Kershaw 49th (+3:51.3), Knute Johnsgaard 58th (+4:50.4), and Jess Cockney 72nd (+7:15).
Erik Bjornsen was the top American in 36th (+3:12.1) and Ben Lustgarten finished 66th (+5:34.1).
Norway’s 25-year-old Emil Iversen celebrates his first win of the season on Sunday in the men’s 30 k classic mass start, which he won by 3.7 seconds over fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby (yellow bib). (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
$75,400: the yearly amount top Norwegian national-team members reportedly make, not counting sponsorships — closer to the amount someone like Iversen, 25, is now making.
The look on Iversen’s face on Sunday after crossing the finish line first on Sunday for his first World Cup win of the season? Priceless.
The victory, which he secured by 3.7 seconds over his team’s superstar Martin Johnsrud Sundby in the men’s 30-kilometer classic mass start in Falun, Sweden, was his second in a World Cup distance race and fourth of his career.
But the way Iversen talks, he should’ve been winning every race this season.
“My performance says a lot; I’m pretty good at skiing and I master several things,” he told VG.
Iversen’s World Cup win on Sunday was redemption for what he deemed a sub-par performance on Saturday. Second place by 0.06 seconds was unacceptable, and the look on his face and the pole he snapped in two after the men’s freestyle sprint final said it all.
“I’ve been pretty mad at my little brothers, but I don’t think I’ve been this angry in years,” Iversen told NRK.
For the sake of reflection, let’s rewind to a year ago, when Iversen credited training with the best, Norway’s Petter Northug.
“I have trained too much with him now I think,” Northug said at a February 2016 post-race press conference in Lahti, Finland.
Iversen, then 24 with his second sprint World Cup victory, jested that he knew Northug’s weakness, but there was no way he was disclosing it.
“I know what that is, so I’m going to use it also next year,” he said.
It’s now next year, and Northug’s nowhere in sight — at least not until Sunday, when he returned to the World Cup for the first time in over a month to finish 31st as the seventh-best Norwegian (out of nine) in the 30 k mass start.
Northug finished a whopping 3 minutes and 10.6 seconds behind Iversen, who’s proven himself one of Norway’s strongest starters in any given race.
“The plan is sprint, team sprint, classic distance and the relay,” Iversen said of 2017 World Championships, slightly less than a month away in Lahti, Finland.
At the same time, he explained he hadn’t heard anything definitive about Norway’s World Championships team.
“I haven’t heard sh*t, so maybe they don’t have faith in me. But I’ve handed in some good applications,” he said. “I think I was born to do a team sprint. The distance suits me incredibly well.”
Asked who he’d pick as his teammate, Iversen was uncertain.
“It would have been fun to do it with Petter, but if you’re gonna do the team sprint you need to have performed well in the distance,” he said.
How the tables have turned…
Emil Iversen (11) leading fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby (yellow bib) in the men’s 30 k classic mass start on Sunday at the World Cup in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
On Sunday, Iversen hung in where he needed to, within striking distance of the leaders in the six-lap 30 k.
Conditions weren’t easy, with temperatures around -4 degrees Celsius (25 Fahrenheit) and snow that was described as “sugary” in Falun. Iversen scored bonus points at three out of the four intermediate sprints on the course, racing through the 6.5 k checkpoint in fourth, 16.5 k in fifth, and 21.5 k in fifth.
Meanwhile, his teammates Sundby and Sjur Røthe mostly drove the pace up front. With 10 k to go, Røthe made a move and put five seconds into the field. One and a half kilometers later, at the final bonus sprint, Røthe had built that lead to 8.5 seconds. Skiing alone and having to herringbone outside the tracks, however, isn’t easy, and Røthe was swallowed by the pack as he entered the stadium for the final lap at 25 k.
Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson was one of several different men to take the lead after that point, before Iversen moved into first halfway around the loop at 27.5 k. Finland’s Iivo Niskanen followed, along with Sundby, both within a second of first. By 28.2 k, Sundby was again leading Iversen and Niskanen, with a 1.4-second gap to Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh and Røthe in fourth.
With less than a kilometer remaining, Sundby began his final push. Iversen caught up to him, ultimately challenging Sundby for the win. With about 200 meters to go, Iversen made it clear he was going take it all on Sunday — not second to Sundby or anyone else. He crossed the line first in 1:15:46.7 minutes, 3.7 seconds ahead of Sundby.
Norway’s Emil Iversen double poling to a decisive victory on Sunday, ahead of Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (yellow bib) and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (in white) in the World Cup men’s 30 k classic mass start in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
“It felt good when I realized there was no Italian in the final stretch like yesterday,” Iversen told NRK, referring to his photo-finish loss in the sprint to Italy’s Federico Pellegrino.
“There was a war between me and Martin,” he said of Sunday’s distance race. “It turned out a little like I wanted it to, and then it’s all about attacking.”
The overall World Cup leader by more than 300 points, Sundby settled for second and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson locked up third, 5.6 seconds behind Iversen. Just 0.1 seconds off the podium, Røthe placed fourth. Norway had four in the top five with Niklas Dyrhaug in fifth (+8.2), while Niskanen finished sixth (+9.8), Rickardsson was seventh (+10.3), and Bessmertnykh eighth (+10.9).
Iversen currently ranks seventh in the overall World Cup standings, behind Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (who placed 12th on Sunday) in second, Finland’s Matti Heikkinen (14th on Sunday) in third, Canada’s Alex Harvey (15th) in fourth, Sweden’s Marcus Hellner (didn’t race on Sunday) in fifth, and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (16th) in sixth.
‘Double Whammy’ for Canada’s Harvey
For most of the first two laps of Sunday’s 30 k, Harvey skied in the top three. By 10 k, he had dropped to ninth, but was still within 3 seconds of Ustiugov up front. One lap later, he remained in the top 10 and 2.3 seconds out of first, before dropping back to 16th and 7 seconds behind Iversen in first at 20 k.
“The first lap the kick was still, it was not locker kick, but I honestly don’t think anybody had locker kick today, it was hard to get good grip,” Harvey explained on the phone after. “So the first two laps, till 10 k was fairly comfortable, I was not fighting the skis too much, but then from 10 k to 20, I started fighting the skis a lot. I would kind of drift on the uphills, but my skis were really fast so I could kind of come back with the group. Even being at the tail of the group I could still use the draft and everything, but then at one point, the elastic just popped and I couldn’t come back anymore.”
Canada’s Alex Harvey (3) skiing behind Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (17) and ahead of Russia’s Dmitriy Japarov (r) during the World Cup men’s 30 k classic mass start in Falun, Sweden. Harvey finished 15th. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)
For the last 10 k, Harvey held on, skiing with Cologna (among others) while fighting to stay within reach of the podium. Just 6.8 seconds out of first in 16th at 25 k, Harvey slipped to 55 seconds back in 15th just over 3 k later. He finished 1:17.5 back in 15th (13.8 seconds behind Heikkinen in 14th and 4.7 seconds ahead of Cologna in 16th).
“I was just losing a bit more kick every lap and getting more and more tired,” Harvey explained. “So it’s harder to compensate and yet you have less energy to compensate so it was just kind of a double whammy.”
According to Canadian World Cup coach Ivan Babikov, he told the team’s two racers on Sunday — Harvey and Cendrine Browne (who competed in the women’s 15 k classic mass start) — that no one would have perfect kick because of the soft conditions.
“It’s more like a running, double poling [race],” Babikov said on the phone after. “The uphills, especially Mördarbacken, got pretty mashed-potatoey. It was really sugary, super soft and really hard to get kick for many nations, and we struggled with the kick wax today. That’s a bit disappointing to all of us … but it’s one of those days that we did our best…
“We tried actually changing it for Cendrine, but it actually got even worse somehow and she struggled even more,” he said of Browne, who finished 46th in the women’s race.
“Not the proudest day of the season so far on the waxing side, but we’re just moving forward and learning from our mistakes,” Babikov continued.
The day before, Harvey missed qualifying for the skate-sprint heats in 46th. It was only his second time time not qualifying in a sprint this season and first time outside the top 40.
“Falun being arguably the best stop for me on the World Cup, I really had quite high expectations,” Harvey said on Sunday. “I think I went to the start line [of the skate sprint] a bit too excited and with too much adrenaline and I just really skied really bad. I didn’t ski like myself yesterday. I skied all tempo and no tempo and no glide, and for me, that’s not a good way to ski.”
Canada’s Alex Harvey finishing 15th in the World Cup men’s 30 k classic mass start on Sunday in Falun, Sweden, ahead of Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (in black) in 16th. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)
As for the conditions on Sunday and how they affected his race, he blamed his choice in skis.
“[The conditions were] kind of a bit abrasive, but we think the binder didn’t hold up enough,” he explained. “I made a bit of a risky pick because I had a pair [of skis] that was way faster, but the kick was a bit limited on them in the beginning so I for sure paid for it when I started losing a bit of kick.”
He started to lose it after 10 k, he said.
“Then I could kind of fake it for 10 more k’s, but then that was it,” Harvey explained. “Coming 15th is a bit of a disappointment after the previous two weekends, but I know that the shape is still really good. I think that with the mistake I made, with picking a bit of a too slick of a ski, I could’ve been out of the top 30 today in those conditions, so it was still kind of a good sign even though it was a bit disappointing.”
The Canadian team in Falun was a lean one, not by design but rather because of circumstance, especially on the men’s side. Babikov explained that Knute Johnsgaard had been recovering from a stomach bug he picked up last week, which prompted an overnight hospital stay in Falun. He was on the mend, Babikov said, but had a “rough couple days.”
Graeme Killick had returned to Canmore, Alberta, after the Tour de Ski earlier this month and originally planned to be back on the circuit in Falun.
“But unfortunately he got sick as well so that kind of postponed all of it,” Babikov said. “We made the decision that it would be best to get ready for the World Champs … so he’s doing some good training at home and we’ll see him in a week in Davos [Switzerland, at the team’s training camp].”
Until then, Harvey will go to Livigno, Italy, with coach Louis Bouchard, Johnsgaard, and Browne, Babikov will return to Canmore, Len Valjas will race at next weekend’s World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, and Devon Kershaw will continue to await the birth of his first child with his wife, Kristin Størmer Steira.
Among the Americans in Sunday’s 30 k classic, a race that has only been held three times in the last 10 years, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release, Erik Bjornsen and Noah Hoffman finished 35th (+3:30.8) and 37th (+3:59.8), respectfully, followed by Matt Gelso in 44th (+5:23.6) and Andy Newell in 53rd (+7:45.3).
For Bjornsen, who finished about 20 seconds behind Northug in 31st, he reflected that he was happy with the majority of his race.
“Most of the race I was skiing in a position I would have been very happy to finished in,” Bjornsen wrote in an email, after hovering in 25th to 30th throughout it. “I skied alone for about 10km near the end of the race and that was enough to put me over. I really needed some help to stay away from a pack of 10 guys that were hunting me down. I could see a them chasing me down for about 10km. They finally caught me with 4km to go. I didn’t have much fuel left in the tank. It was really disappointing to finish in 35th when at 25km I was in 24th.”
On Monday, he planned to head to France, where he’ll spend two weeks training before racing the pre-World Championships World Cup in Otepää, Estonia.
Meanwhile, FasterSkier caught up with Hoffman while he was packing his bags for South Korea.
“I had not a great start for the first k and a half, and then kind of made a good move on the first time up the big hill and was able to run by a bunch of people and move up into the top 30, which is where I wanted to be skiing,” Hoffman reflected of his race on Sunday. “And I noticed that I had the fastest split of the whole race for that section [from around 0.5 to 2 k].
“But then I paid the price for that a little bit and faded pretty quickly,” Hoffman added. “And really Laps 2 and 3 were a bit of a struggle, and I ended up in no-man’s land off the back of the group all by myself.”
He regrouped for the third and fourth laps, catching back up to a sub-group of skiers that had been dropped from the main group, skiing between 30th and 40th place.
“I skied with that group for a while and was feeling pretty good, and I was actually helping lead the charge up to another group that was falling off the main pack, and that represented all the way up to 24th place,” Hoffman said. “And right as we made contact with them, with about 5 k to go, I crashed on the same corner that I crashed on three years ago when I was having a good race in the mass start skate race here. And it’s just a terrible place to crash, right on the sprint course as you are coming into the stadium with a lot of speed.”
In an instant, he had lost an estimated 13 places and skied alone for the final 5 k, out of reach of that group.
“All of a sudden, I was like ‘OK, six or seven people out of this group are gonna get points … and that could have been me.’ I felt good, and so I let points today go with that crash,” he said. “There were some good signs today, and it’s a frustrating result. It’s a result where I felt I was better than the result shows. But it’s kind of been a frustrating season.
“I still feel good, and I think today was a positive sign, and there are still some really good races [coming up for me],” Hoffman added.
Among those were next weekend’s races in PyeongChang, with a classic sprint, 15/30 k skiathlons, and a freestyle team sprint from Feb. 3-5. (Hoffman planned to race the skiathlon.)
“Next weekend [in Korea] it’s gonna be a light field. And then we go back to Otepää, where I scored my first-ever World Cup points on a course that I really love,” he said. “And then with the World Championships, which obviously if you are successful at World Championships then nobody remembers the rest of the season. And I feel like I can have a really good championship. Those courses suit me really well, and I am particularly psyched for the 50 k skate there…”
American Matt Gelso racing to 59th in his first-ever World Cup sprint on Saturday in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)
He’ll be joined in PyeongChang by a few other U.S. Ski Team members (mostly sprinters, as well as distance skier Liz Stephen). Gelso, the Period 1 SuperTour leader from the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, also planned to be there.
“Today was a solid race, not great, but solid,” Gelso, who previously raced in Falun at 2015 World Championships, wrote in an email on Sunday. “World Cups in Scandinavia are very competitive so I am relatively happy with my result although it leaves MUCH room for improvement. My body also felt MUCH better than it has since I have been here. The sprint yesterday was my first World Cup sprint and was also a decent result for me [in 59th], however it was easy to identify a few costly mistakes.
“The overarching goal on the World Cup is to score World Cup points/have a top 30 result,” Gelso explained. “As far as a non-result goal it is hard to get over to Europe and acclimate to sea level, European courses, wetter snow, different food, very stout competition, timezone changes, long travel, etc. It is easy to come over here and feel pretty bad racing, always feeling like you are blowing up and hanging on and never really racing. My goal today was to not feel like that and actually be able to get a race feeling going in my body.”
Looking ahead, he was focused on next weekend’s World Cup in South Korea. While an individual top 30 remains his goal, Gelso explained he also wanted to “nail my travel and acclimatization there so that I can feel good racing, and race well.”
He planned to return to the U.S. after to race the SuperTour in Ishpeming, Mich., and the American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin. Ultimately, he hoped to qualify for the World Cup Finals in mid-March in Quebec City.
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/08/11277.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/08/11276.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/image1.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Bolger07032018fm1541.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-04-at-10.44.56-AM.png")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-17-at-2.06.20-PM.png")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group17032018fm2504.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/29261816_10160055657770043_1367412252973465600_o.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group17032018fm2554.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Falun-men-pileup-1.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group17032018fm2541.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/29315195_10160055008385043_9179238108267282432_o.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Feature10032018fm1593.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/IMG_0625-e1520725190826.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group10032018fm1606.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group10032018fm1708.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/IMG_0642-e1520725029663.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Group10032018fm1735.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/IMG_3151-e1520725537436.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/Caldwell10032018fm1738.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/DXc35kfXUAEWFXc.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/image1.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/image2.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/image3.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/@GPOWERSFILM170319_142.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/@GPOWERSFILM170319_112.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/@GPOWERSFILM170319_80.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/@GPOWERSFILM170319_36.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0375_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0347_2W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0171_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_9808_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0198_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0188_2W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_2383_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C7N_vL5X4AA503j.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C7Nbu44X0AApYbq.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/image-3.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/f41866dc-1e81-4908-a87c-33c1c7daf69e-1.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/HK-50-exports.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/HK-50-exports-4.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/HK-50-exports-5.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/HK-50-exports-2.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/HK-50-exports-3.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Krog-line-e1488564515429.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Rus-Nor-classic-1-e1488564664909.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Sundby-leg-3-e1488565143277.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Hellner-leg-3.2-e1488565760140.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Halfvarsson-finish-e1488566120327.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_5315_1W-e1488565214750.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_5327_1W-e1488565239697.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_5013_1W-e1488566585527.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/jpg-1-1.jpeg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C6AmusaWUAAJ2BC.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C5_4x7eWgAA75vD.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C51d8nqWMAAv9Qs-e1488382428732.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_2000_1.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_1816_1.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Bryan-e1488398526315.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Sundby19217fm0028.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Sundby19217fm0055.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Podium19217fm0043.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/0000219857_1200px_0IVZRSW0JW0UF40LLNWXS003N37L.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/Sundby03122016vt079.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C5CNa90UMAA09CP.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-2.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C5BbI50WcAABnbD.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C5B4L1MXUAAKEad.jpg")
![Norway's 25-year-old Emil Iversen celebrates his first win of the season on Sunday in the men's 30 k classic mass start, which he won by 3.7 seconds over fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Iversen29117fm0011.jpg")
![Emil Iversen leading fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby in the men's 30 k classic mass start on Sunday at the World Cup in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Group29117fm0134.jpg")
![Norway's Emil Iversen double poling to a decisive victory on Sunday, ahead of Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby (yellow bib) and Sweden's Calle Halfvarsson (in white) in the World Cup men's 30 k classic mass start in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Iversen29117fm0007.jpg")
![Canada's Alex Harvey (3) during the World Cup men's 30 k classic mass start in Falun, Sweden. He finished 15th. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Harvey29117fm0139.jpg")
![Canada's Alex Harvey finishing 15th in the World Cup men's 30 k classic mass start on Sunday in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Harvey29117fm0152.jpg")
![American Matt Gelso racing to 59th in his first-ever World Cup sprint on Saturday in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/Gelso28117fm0192-1.jpg")