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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Stanislav Volzhentsev

Sunday Rundown: Planica, Chaux-Neuve, Rena, Red Deer

Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski after winning her first non-stage World Cup on Sunday in the women’s 10 k classic in Planica, Slovenia. She bested Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla’s time by 3.6 seconds. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)

FIS Cross Country World Cup (Planica, Slovenia): 10/15 k classic

Women’s report

Men’s report

Just when it looked like one of those Charlotte-Kalla days, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski swooped in and topped the Swede’s time by 3.6 seconds in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday for her first-career outright World Cup win.

Outright meaning non-stage; Pärmäkoski has two World Cup wins to her name for setting the fastest time of day in 2016 pursuit races.

But Sunday’s 10 k in Slovenia saw her rising to the challenge and besting Charlotte Kalla’s time of 27:12.3, which was at least 39 seconds faster than the first 57 starters. Kalla had started 32nd and beat the previous top time set by Swedish U23 skier Ebba Andersson (bib 28) by 48.6 seconds.

Austria’s Teresa Stadlober started later in bib 56 and clocked the second-fastest time to Kalla, 39 seconds back.

But it was Pärmäkoski in bib 58 who beat them all. Even Norway’s Heidi Weng, who started 60th, couldn’t come close, as she finished 33.5 seconds off Pärmäkoski’s winning time for third place. That put Stadlober in fourth and Andersson in fifth at the end of the day.

Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen placed sixth (+49.4), Norway’s Kari Øyre Slind took seventh (+49.5), Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (who’s more of a marathon skier these days) placed eighth (+1:02.1), Norway’s Kathrine Rolsted Harsem (who placed second in Saturday’s classic sprint) finished ninth (+1:03.2), and American Jessie Diggins was 10th (+1:05.4).

Another American, Caitlin Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), broke through with her second-best individual World Cup result in 20th (+1:45.2). (Last year, she finished seventh in the pre-Olympic PyeongChang World Cup 15 k skiathlon in a notably small field.)

Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team) followed in 23rd (+1:50.4), and her teammates Sophie Caldwell placed 31st (+2:17.2), Liz Stephen 35th (+2:34.9), and Ida Sargent 37th (+2:37.5).

For the second-straight weekend, no Canadian women competed.

The World Cup men’s 15 k classic podium on Sunday in Planica, Slovenia, with Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin (c) in first, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (l) in second, and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

In the men’s 15 k classic, Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin tallied his second win of the season and first in a race against Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo on Sunday, winning by 13.2 seconds over Klæbo in 36:54.7.

Poltoranin, 30, started 44th and a minute behind the 21-year-old Klæbo. When Klæbo finished, he bumped Russia’s Ivan Kirillov, also 21, out of the leader’s chair by 43.3 seconds. Then Poltoranin finished 13.2 seconds faster, but Klæbo held onto second when Sweden’s 60th starter, Calle Halfvarsson, finished third (+42.8). It was Halfvarsson’s second podium of the season after placing third in the classic sprint at the November World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland. In Saturday’s classic sprint in Slovenia, Halfvarsson qualified second but crashed out of the quarterfinals to finish the day in 30th overall.

Norway’s Emil Iversen started 66th and ended up fourth (+54.7) and Kirillov scored his first World Cup top 10 in fifth (+56.5). Russia had four in the top 10 with Stanislav Volzhentsev in sixth (+57.8), Andrey Larkov in eighth (+1:02.2) and Andrey Sobakarev in ninth (+1:03.4). Norway’s Mattis Stenshagen finished seventh (+1:00.8) and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen took 10th (+1:10.1).

Scott Patterson (U.S. Ski Team) was the top North American in 43rd (+2:56.2), Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished 46th (+3:04.9) and Tyler Kornfield (Alaska Pacific University) was 57th (+4:03.7). Andy Newell did not finish.

Canada’s Devon Kershaw returned to the circuit and placed 44th (+2:57.1), Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) was 64th (+5:05.0), and Dominique Moncion-Groulx (Alberta World Cup Academy) was 70th (+6:11.7).

Results: Women| Men

***

Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova outsprinting Japan’s Ayane Miyazaki at the finish for the win at the inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup competition on Saturday in Rena, Norway. (Photo: FIS/Romina Eggert)

FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup (Rena, Norway): First-ever women’s competitions

Fourteen women, including American Gabriella Armstrong, made history this weekend by competing in the first women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup in Rena, Norway (after the scheduled opener in Jan. 6-7 in Otepää, Estonia, was canceled), with back-to-back days of individual large hill/5-kilometer Gundersen start races.

On Saturday, Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova took the win in 16:26.9, just 0.6 seconds ahead of Japan’s Ayane Miyazki in second. Germany’s Jenny Nowak joined them on the podium in third, 16.6 seconds out of first. Armstrong finished 12th (+6:24).

Nadymova, 23, had kicked off the event by jumping to first in the provisional round, which was used for the jumping results, and began the 5 k with a 10-second head start on Nowak in second place. Miyazaki jumped to third and started 14 seconds back. Armstrong jumped to 14th and started 4:08 out of first.

On Sunday, 15-year-old Miyazaki took the win in 16:23.2, swapping places with Nadymova, who finished second, 11.7 seconds back. Nowak, also 15, repeated in third, but finished over a minute and 21 seconds back out of first.

Miyazaki had jumped to first place earlier in the day and started the 5 k with a 20-second cushion to Nadymova in second. Nowak jumped to third and started 1:08 minutes back.

Armstrong, 19, of the New York Ski Education Foundation, jumped to 11th and finished 11th, 4:26.1 after Miyazaki.

Several U.S. Nordic Combined men also competed in Rena, with Taylor Fletcher placing fourth in Saturday’s individual large hill/10 k, 2.7 seconds behind Austria’s Thomas Joebstl in first. Fletcher had skied up from 25th and 2:17 back after the jump with the second-fastest course time.

Also for the U.S., Adam Loomis placed 33rd (+2:30.7) after jumping to 45th with the 12th-fastest course time. Grant Andrews finished 41st (+3:28.7), and Jared Schumate 43rd (+4:10.1).

Fletcher reached the podium in Sunday’s individual large hill/10 k in third behind two Austrians. After jumping to 19th, he skied the fourth-fastest course time to finish third, 3.7 seconds behind Dominik Terzer in first and 2.7 seconds behind Martin Fritz in second.

Loomis improved to 29th (+1:40.9), up from 35th in the jump, and Andrews finished 37th (+2:36.4) and Shumate 40th (+2:57.9).

Results:

Saturday: Women | Men

Sunday: Women | Men

***

The men’s large hill/4 x 5 k team event podium on Sunday at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Chaux-Neuve, France, with Norway (c) in first, Germany (l) in second, and Finland (r) in third. (Photo: FIS/NordicFocus)

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup (Chaux-Neuve, France): Saturday & Sunday

Four American men competed at the Nordic Combined World Cup this weekend in Chaux-Neuve, France, with three of them racing in Saturday’s individual large hill/10 k Gundersen and all four racing Sunday’s large hill/4 x 5 k team event.

Norway’s Jan Schmid was the big winner this weekend, racking up an individual win on Saturday and a team victory on Sunday. He won Saturday’s competition after jumping to fourth and starting 27 seconds behind jump leader Akito Watabe of Japan. Schmid worked his way up to first in the 10 k with the third-fastest course time, crossing the line 1.4 seconds ahead of Watabe in 23:32.7.

Watabe finished second and Finland’s Ilkka Herola placed third (+21.5), just ahead of Austria’s Lukas Klapfer in fourth (+21.8).

Ben Loomis led USA Nordic in 37th (+2:49), after jumping to 37th, Stephen Schumann finished 45th (+5:17.0) and Ben Berend 46th (+5:22.2).

On Sunday, Schmid teamed up with Espen Andersen, Jarl Magnus Riiber and Jørgen Graabak to win the 4 x 5 k team event in 47:22.5 by 13.1 seconds. Germany followed in second, with Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, Johannes Rydzek, and Vinzenz Geiger, and Finland placed third (+20.5) with Leevi Mutru, Arttu Maekiaho, Herola, and Eero Hirvonen.

Norway had led after the jump and started the relay 1:03 minutes ahead of Finland in second. France jumped to third and ended up fourth (+47.4), after being passed by Germany, which had started the relay in fourth.

Japan placed fifth (+2:50.9), Italy sixth (+3:59.9), Austria seventh (+4:06.8), Poland eighth (+5:22.1), Estonia ninth (+5:52.1), Russia 10th (+6:41.2), and the U.S. (with Schumann, Loomis, Berend, and Jasper Good) 11th (+6:52.4).

Results: Saturday| Sunday

***

Western Canadian Championships (Red Deer, Alberta): Relays

Nine men’s teams and six women’s squads contested the open relays on the last day of the NorAm Western Canadian Championships on Sunday in Red Deer, with Ontario’s Team “O” (Scott Hill, Michael Somppi and Andy Shields) winning the men’s 3 x 5 k and Alberta 1 (Annika Hicks, Emma Camicioli and Zina Kocher) winning the women’s 3 x 5 k.

For Shields and Hicks, it was their second win of the weekend after they won their respective classic mass starts on Saturday.

Team “O” posted a 19.9-second win over B.C. Storm (Remi Drolet, Tallon Noble and Greg Kilroy), finishing first in 36:22.6. Alberta 5.1 (Sebastien Boehmler-Dandurand, Sam Hendry and Russell Kennedy) placed third (+52.3).

In the women’s relay, Alberta 1 beat out B.C. Fast, Furious & Freakin’ Awesome (Katie Weaver, Michaela McLean and Kaia Andal) by 2 minutes and 37.8 seconds, winning in 43:17.2. Alberta had two teams on the podium with the Kit Kats (Ember Large, Molly Jane Strum, and Sara McLean) in third (+4:25.8).

Results

January 21, 2018
On the Attack, Newell Second in Gällivare Classic Sprint; Harvey 7th and Bjornsen 8th

Andy Newell before his qualifying start in Gällivare, Sweden’s opening FIS classic sprint on Saturday. (Photo: USSA)

Amidst some heavy hitters from Canada and Russia, U.S. Ski Team veteran Andy Newell proved he packed some punch during the men’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint on Saturday in Gällivare, Sweden.

“I felt good all day long, really,” said Newell in a post-race phone interview. “That’s kind of the main goal going into these races, is not so much the result, but getting a good response from your body.”

On Saturday, his body told him to go for it.

After finishing second in the qualifier, 2.87 seconds behind 23 year-old Russian Sergey Ustiugov, Newell, 31, explained his instincts only got better.

“I went into my quarterfinal heat and I knew I had [Canadian] Alex [Harvey] in there, who is a tough sprinter, so I tried to control the heat and put down a move up the last hill,” he said.

By controlling the heat early on, Newell won his quarterfinal and advanced with Harvey, who finished just 0.14 seconds later.

“None of us wanted to lead [the quarterfinal],” Harvey explained in a phone interview. “So Andy went in front.”

American Andy Newell (l) captures second in a World Cup semifinal just 0.25 seconds ahead of Canada’s Lenny Valjas in the 1.5 k classic sprint at the Davos World Cup in Switzerland 2013. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

Along with Harvey, two other Canadians finished second in their quarterfinals: Devon Kershaw and Lenny Valjas. Kershaw was just 0.83 seconds behind his heat’s winner Ustiugov. Valjas edged Poland’s Konrad Motor in a photo finish for second in his quarter final and Russia’s Evgeniy Belov crossed the line in first.

Rounding out the North American crew that moved on to the semifinals was 24-year-old Erik Bjornsen, who finished second in his quarterfinal, just one-tenth of a second back from Russia’s Stanislav Volzhentsev.

“Today’s race was a good chance to blow out some steam and get the body ready for the World Cup,” Bjornsen wrote in an email. “I’ve been feeling a little tired from the training year, so it was good to finally have some snap and spark to the movements.”

In a North American showdown, Newell, Harvey, Valjas, and Bjornsen all advanced to the same semi-final. Bjornsen finished fourth, two seconds behind Newell in second and Harvey in third. Valjas finished four seconds later in fifth. While Harvey, Bjornsen and Valjas did not advance (ultimately placing seventh, eighth and 10th overall) and Kershaw was fifth in the other semifinal (for ninth overall), Newell moved on to the final.

“I think the challenge of [sprinting] is knowing how to respond to different tactics out there and knowing when to use your strengths and also recognizing what your weaknesses might be,” Newell said. “Between the Russians and Canadians, it was a pretty tough field with a lot of good sprinters. In order to make the final, I actually came into the lanes in third and [had] to sprint past Harvey and [Russia’s Evgeniy] Belov.”

While Belov beat Newell by 0.17 seconds for the semifinal win, Newell edged Harvey for second in a photo finish by 0.18 seconds.

The lone North American in the final, Newell knew where he wanted to set his sights.

“Anytime I get on the start line in a sprint I want to try and win the race” he said. “In the final I knew I just had to hang on to Ustiugov, because he had been trying to go off the front all day.”

With tenacity, Newell entered his fourth hard effort of the day and posted his fastest course time, just 1.43 behind Ustiugov’s winning pace of 2:45.95.

“[Ustiugov and I] were able to pull away from most of the field and I stuck with him up the last hill,” Newell said. “[When] we came into the lanes, I was right behind him and I thought for a second I might be able to get around him, but he just had too much speed in the last hundred meters.”

Ustiugov managed to gap Newell by 1.63 seconds for the win. Belov placed third, 2.63 seconds back. Rounding out the sprint final were Poland’s Maciej Staręga in fourth (+4.96), Volzhentsev in fifth (+6.36), and Sweden’s Johan Haeggström in sixth (+13.07).

“Newell has been skiing exceptionally well all year at camps, better than I’ve ever seen him and he proved today that that was no illusion, he was stronger and stronger every heat,” said U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb. “He looked absolutely fantastic in the last part of his final round today, so that was really exciting.”

Despite not having any skiers in the final, Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth feels his athletes are ready for the World Cup.

Canada’s Alex Harvey skiing in his quarterfinal en route to second in the 1.4 k classic sprint at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com)

“Right now, I think everyone is ready to start the [World Cup] mini-tour next week in Finland,” he said during a phone interview. “Everyone is in a good place, we’ve just got to tune up the engines a little bit more, but that’s kind of normal for our team at the start of the year so I’m not too concerned.”

“It was the first race on snow since last March, so just getting the bib on, getting the routine on again … is important,” Harvey explained.

Keeping the Kuusamo World Cup next weekend and the rest of the season beyond that in mind, Newell said he thought the Gällivare sprint races benefitted his team.

“I think we’re already looking better than we did last year because we were able to get this practice race in and I think we’re going to be feeling a lot better next weekend than we did last year,” he said.

With the proper preparation and practice, Newell is personally feeling more ready than ever for the upcoming season. “What a good sprint racer can do is make decisions while they’re out there racing and kind of react to certain attacks or make the attacks themselves,” he said. “I think what you’ll see more from me more this year is I’ll be the one making attacks and not responding to other peoples’.”

Racing in Gällivare continues Sunday with the 10/15 k freestyle.

November 21, 2015
Russians Go 1-2 in 15 k Classic; Canadians All Land in Top 8 in Gällivare Distance Race

Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey kick-double poling in the 2012 men’s pursuit in Kuusamo, Finland, where he placed 23rd. Last year, Harvey was 42nd in the Kuusamo freestyle pursuit, one of the first races of the season. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

Kick-double pole was the name of the game on Sunday in Gällivare, Sweden; if you did that well, you were basically golden on the four-lap course. Easier said than done, but the Russians managed to power through, with Evgeniy Belov pulling out the 20-second win in the International Ski Federation (FIS) men’s 15-kilometer classic race.

Russia went 1-2 in the men’s 15 k classic FIS race in Gallivare on Sunday with Evgeniy Belov (pictured) taking the win by more than 20 seconds. (Photo: SportEventGallivare)

The 24 year old finished with the top time of 35:04.3 minutes, 20.67 seconds faster than Saturday’s classic-sprint winner, teammate Sergey Ustiugov. And while the Canadians fared similarly well on Sunday with all four men in the top eight (and their lone woman, Emily Nishikawa, in fourth), most of them will be happy to race on a harder, hillier course next weekend at the first World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland.

“[Gällivare] is quite opposite from the race course there because here, there’s lots of kick-double pole, double pole — that’s what the Russians were really strong at,” Ivan Babikov, of the Canadian World Cup Team, said on the phone Sunday. “Talking to Devon, it sounds like Belov was like a beast on those sections. That’s where he made all the time.”

For Babikov, as well as several other Canadians, bigger climbs in next weekend’s classic sprint and 15 k classic — the same race formats as Gällivare — should be a good thing.

Babikov placed sixth in his first FIS race of the season, about a minute and 38 seconds behind Belov and 13.34 seconds behind teammate Devon Kershaw in fifth. Alex Harvey, who was second in Saturday’s sprint, took third, 27.51 seconds behind the winner and 0.8 seconds from Ustiugov.

Harvey started second-to-last, just in front of Gällivare’s hometown hero, Marcus Hellner, with the advantage of knowing where he stood for most of the race. In fourth at the end of the first 3.75-k lap after three Russians — Ustiugov, Belov and Stanislav Volzhentsev, respectively — Harvey moved to third ahead of Volzhentsev by the halfway point.

“I felt good today. A bit sore from yesterday’s classic sprint but everyone was in the same boat there!” Harvey wrote in an email. “It’s nice to do a distance race for sure, but it was a reminder of how hard ski racing is, especially individual start!

“The course was work the whole time,” he added. “I feel like I was strong in the kick double pole section, I think I could push it a bit further up the hill compare to the others.”

On his last lap, he caught Babikov, whom he started a minute behind, with about three kilometers to go.

Ivan Babikov racing two seasons ago the 15 k classic in La Clusaz, France, where he posted Canada’s best result of 39th in January 2013.

“I wasn’t feeling like I was racing, it was kind of like a bit harder than Zone 3 or Zone 4, but I couldn’t get in my hurt locker, you know?” Babikov said. “I couldn’t go all-out for some reason.”

When he saw Harvey, he knew he had something left.

“That’s where I could feel that I can go faster and last lap was much better, more like racing,” Babikov said.

Before then, he had been waiting for Volzhentsev, who started 30 seconds behind him, to catch him on the last lap. Babikov said the Russian came within 10 seconds of him on the third loop around.

“For some reason, he died a bit on the last lap and next thing I know, it’s not him passing me but Alex,” he said. “I did not see him coming at all so I kind of got a bit surprised there.”

But it wasn’t a bad thing. Babikov pushed even harder and estimated he made up about 17 seconds on Volzhentsev, who ended up fourth (+1:24.8). Babikov stayed with Harvey for as long as he could, before Harvey took off with about two kilometers to go.

“After I caught him I yelled at him ‘stay with me,’ so he did for a while,” Harvey recalled.

“I think it was a good weekend for me,” Harvey summed up. “Of course, nobody is at 100%. Personally I’m coming off 2 weeks of 20+ hours of training so I’m not super fresh but again, I think everyone is in the same boat here.”

He was looking forward to Monday — his first rest day in almost two weeks.

“I’m gonna take a normal week of training next week and do some high quality intensity on Wednesday before travelling to Kuusamo,” he wrote.

The Canadians leave Gällivare for Finland on Wednesday.

“Good racing and training this weekend for everybody,” Canadian World Cup Head Coach Tor-Arne Hetland wrote in an email. “We needed this weekend and will be better prepared next weekend and later in the season. The races had ok race quality.”

According to the event website, Belov called it a “good race on fine courses and a lovely start to the season with two podiums the first race weekend,” he said, after placing third on Saturday. “I’m very happy with this shape before the World Cup premiere next weekend.”

Hellner, who finished seventh, 1:41 behind Belov, said the Russians were impressive.

“They skied really hard today; it would’ve been enough for a World Cup,” he said, according to a translation. “I didn’t have a good race, but it’s still nice to be competing again. It always takes a few races to get started with both the technique and feel. I’m still training hard and it’s the World Championship in Falun, which is the big goal. I don’t expect top results at the start of the World Cup.”

Out of the top seven, Ustiugov was the earliest starter and posted the times to beat at each 3.75 k checkpoint. Kershaw consistently clocked the second-fastest times after him, and Harvey started two minutes after Kershaw and came through 3.75 k just one place and 11 seconds faster.

Kershaw wrote in an email that his goal was to start hard.

“It’s the last chance to try some stuff before the big leagues start again next weekend,” he explained. “That didn’t really work that well for me today. I started what I thought was hard, but felt like I was just stuck in the pace I could go. Not feeling much lactate, but not able to really push it any harder. I guess that’s a bit of fatigue I’m carrying.”

“It’s the last chance to try some stuff before the big leagues start again next weekend.” — Devon Kershaw, fifth in first FIS race of 2014/2015 season in Gällivare

Belov caught him at 7.5 k, where Kershaw recalled feeling so good, he thought, “OK, here’s the race — stay with him!”

Devon Kershaw in the Frozen Thunder classic sprint in late October in Canmore, Alberta, where he won the following freestyle distance race on Oct. 27. (Photo: Angus Cockney)

“And I did for 3km before exploding big-time,” he added. “The last 3.75km was a rough outing. I was on fumes. I lost a lot of time to Alex, Ustiugov, and Belov but compared to the other dudes, I guess I didn’t lose that much. I felt like I was giving away minutes actually. So it was a race with two very different, very distinct feelings in it.”

At the finish, Kershaw described feeling “pretty bummed. … I was frustrated that I got owned so hard by Belov. He really crushed me.”

What he didn’t know was that Belov crushed most of the field.

“Of course I was completely outclassed by the top 3 — but compared to last season’s opening race, the feelings were better for sure, as was the result (even though this wasn’t a world cup),” Kershaw wrote. “It was a good, hard workout at least — which is needed at this time of year with the World Cup on the horizon.”

Next weekend, “the big show starts,” Kershaw explained. His goal is to finish in the points (top 30) at least once. “That’s easier said than done sometimes. We’ll just have to see,” he wrote. “I’m excited and nervous.”

Canada’s fourth man, Graeme Killick (Development B Team) placed eighth out of 16 men, 1:57 behind Belov and 3 seconds behind Hellner in seventh.

Three Czechs and Nishikawa

Petra Novakova of the Czech Republic racing to a 39-second win in the women’s 10 k classic FIS race on Sunday in Gallivare, Sweden. (Photo: SportEventGallivare)

Another Canadian national-team member, Emily Nishikawa placed fourth out of 10 women. She finished 1:22.8 behind Petra Novakova of the Czech Republic, who won in 25:44 and was second in Saturday’s sprint to Canada’s Perianne Jones.

The Czechs swept the podium with Eva Vrabcova-Nyvltova in second (+39.0) and Karolina Grohova in third (+50.9). Their team has been in Gällivare since early November.

“It was good to get the first race of the season done!” Nishikawa wrote in an email. “I felt good for the first half of the race, then started to fade towards the end. Definitely room for improvement!”

The third-to-last starter, she came through each checkpoint with the second-fastest times after Grohova, who started 1:30 in front of her. Ultimately, all four of her lap times ranked fourth.

“The conditions were really good today and we had great skis,” Nishikawa added. “I just wanted to focus on the process for my race today and get back into the routine of racing again.”

Now done with her first race, she plans to compete in distance races at every World Cup before Christmas.

“Looking forward to lots more racing to come!” she wrote.

Results: Men (with splits) | Women (with splits)

November 23, 2014
Babikov Up to 19th, Harvey & Kershaw Slip Behind in Tour in Lenzerheide 15 k

Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (black sprint leader’s bib) and Canada’s Alex Harvey (red leader’s bib) lead the men’s 15 k mass start early in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski on Wednesday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

After proving themselves a force to be reckoned with in the first three stages of the Tour de Ski, Canadians Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw confidently charged to the front early in Wednesday’s 15-kilometer classic mass start in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

The Tour leader through the end of 2013, Harvey started in the first position on the first line of attack ahead of more than 100 men in Stage 4 of 7. He was in the company of guys like Norway’s Finn Haagen Krogh and Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson and Germany’s Jens Eriksson. Confidence wasn’t a problem, as Harvey explained on the phone while traveling from Germany to Switzerland for the second stop of the Tour de Ski.

“I always have fairly high confidence, even when things aren’t going too well,” Harvey said.

Start of the Tour de Ski men’s 15 k mass start in the fourth stage on Wednesday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

For Kershaw, that confidence was coming back. After slipping from third overall in the Tour the day before, Kershaw in bib No. 8 started near Harvey. By the first climb out of the stadium, the two teammates had united at the front of the pack, plodding along on the first of four laps.

Almost immediately, both sensed something was wrong. Their skis weren’t gliding, and while the extra kick on the 3-degree Celsius afternoon helped them climb, it wasn’t working for them on the downhills and flats.

“It was pretty evident our skis were bad,” Harvey said. “Even double poling.”

After testing in the morning, Harvey said their wax techs added some more kick, fearing the sun’s rays would hit the course and change the integrity of the conditions.

Didn’t happen.

Second behind Sundby through 2.4 k, Kershaw hung within two seconds of the leaders (Halfvarsson, Sundby and Russian’s Ilia Chernousov and Alexander Legkov) for the first five kilometers. Meanwhile, Harvey hovered around fourth place, and Kershaw ended up following one or two places behind him for the first lap and a half.

At the first sprint preem at 5.1 k, Harvey picked up bonus seconds in third, 1.3 seconds behind Sundby and 0.9 behind Legkov. A kilometer later, Harvey had dropped eight seconds off the pace in eighth, and Kershaw was another eight seconds back in 15th.

Halfway through the race, Harvey slipped to 17th and Kershaw was just outside the top 20, yet both remained within 6.3 second of Russia’s Stanislav Volzhentsev and Legkov up front.

By the end of the third lap, Harvey and Kershaw were back in 31st and 32nd, respectively, 24 seconds out of the lead. Their teammate, Ivan Babikov stepped up in their place, passing nearly 50 people to put himself 26th (+17.5) with one lap to go.

Over the next 3.6 kilometers, Babikov in bib 75 continued to pick off the places, finishing 18 seconds back from Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin (who won in 34:28.1) in 19th.

“I’m pretty satisfied with the race,” Babikov said on the phone. “Too bad with the skis, but whatever, it happened. I’m glad I got some points and got closer to the top 30 overall, just trying to chip some time off the leader.”

Babikov improved to 32nd in the Tour, 2:08.9 out of the overall lead, picking off 43 places in less than 35 minutes.

“After two sprints in a row it was almost like a sprint tour: tour de sprint,” Babikov said. “I had a pretty good prologue, though, and that kind of gave me a good boost, but after two sprints went really bad, I lost a lot of time. I know I do my best every day, and it is what it is. I was just trying not to get too upset.”

Starting 12 or 13 rows back, Babikov said it helped to ski around competitors like Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic (bib 77) and American Noah Hoffman (bib 89). Knowing “there was no way” he could pass everyone early on, Babikov relaxed and tried to stay smooth for the first lap.

His plan worked as racers tired on the second and third laps, and Babikov picked them off in bunches.

“I tried to go hard over the top and catch people in the draft,” he said. “I tried to keep the pace similar .. going hard by the third and fourth lap, people are gonna start popping. Luckily I had a good amount of shape to do that.

“Unfortunately I got too tired going around 60 guys, 70 guys [and] on the last lap I got a bit too dropped on the lead pack,” he added.

Babikov nearly caught the lead group around the second sprint preem at 9.6 k, but that’s where some of the frontrunners started to break away. He came within 8.7 seconds of Finland’s Matti Heikkinen, who led with 2.7 k remaining, skiing in 19th, then fell a few seconds and places behind before closing hard for a top 20.

Harvey and Kershaw finished 40th (+45.5) and 47th (+58.3), respectively, skiing with each other until the last kilometer or so. Harvey said he lost contact after going hard at the first preem (the second was on the third lap, and the leaders picked up additional seconds at the finish).

“These are the days you wish you were a runner or a swimmer.” — Devon Kershaw, 47th

“I was still with the group at the end of lap two, but drifting more and more,” Harvey said. “Lap three I got popped off the main group.

“The result was pretty bad,” he added. “It was a tough day for the skis for Devon and I. We had the same wax as Babs … He’s like, ‘Yeah, my skis were bad, but yours were really, really bad.”

Canada’s Alex Harvey (l) in the leader’s bib at the start of the 1.5 k skate sprint quarterfinals last Sunday in Oberhof, Germany. After winning the qualifier (for the first time), Harvey placed second in the heat and went on to finish 11th overall. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

For the first time in the Tour, Harvey had to give up the leader’s bib as he settled in third in the overall standings, 35.3 seconds behind Sundby in first and 5.6 seconds back from Halfvarsson in second.

While he was hoping for a podium, or at least a top five to repeat his success in the 15 k classic in Oberhof last year, Harvey was glad to have the opportunity to chase a bit in Friday’s 35 k pursuit from Cortina to Toblach, Italy. He’ll start third behind Sundby and Halfvarsson, and expects to work with a group to try to rein Sundby in.

No matter what happens, Harvey said he won’t finish the Tour. Saturday will be the end of his road; he won’t participate in the final climb.

Currently 22nd in the Tour, 1:43 behind Sundby, Kershaw said he was frustrated with the last two races after placing 56th in Tuesday’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint.

“Fifteen k classic and skate sprint, those are my two best events with no question, and I came out of it way worse than I’d hoped,” Kershaw said.

“I know I’m in good shape based on Oberhof,” he added. “We had really, really, really tough skis in the sprint; obviously Alex is in the best shape of his life…”

Harvey placed second in Tuesday’s sprint to Simi Hamilton of the U.S. Ski Team.

“I had the same sprint yesterday as I did in Oberhof, it’s just that Alex wasn’t where he was in Oberhof and consequently so was I,” Kershaw said.

Feeling good in Wednesday’s warmup and relaxed on the climbs during the race, he simply couldn’t hold the pace with the skis he had been dealt.

“These are the days you wish you were a runner or a swimmer and you could use your actual physiological strength,” Kershaw said with a laugh. “[The Tour is] a pretty unique competition and we’ll just have to see how the body is and hopefully the equipment is better than it was in Switzerland, but I finally feel like my energy and body is back.”

Kershaw went to a dentist on Monday for a toothache and came away with some anti-inflammatories that he hopes will help his molar pains and headaches.

“Don’t go to the dentist in Lenzerheide thats rule number one,” Kershaw said. “Hopefully the nerve pains subside, but it’s not affecting me when I race.”

The lone Canadian woman in Tuesday’s 10 k classic mass start, Dasha Gaiazova placed 58th, 3:10.8 behind winner Kerttu Niskanen of Finland.

Perianne Jones ended her Tour run on Tuesday after placing 39th in the women’s 1.5 k skate sprint.

“Now I will train until Nove Mesto, which I think is just what I need,” Jones wrote in an email on Tuesday. “Doing the whole Tour would put me into a big hole at this point. We are focusing on doing things one step at a time, and although I didn’t qualify today I feel like things are coming along.”

Results: men | women

Tour standings (through Stage 4): men | women

January 2, 2014