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  • Seeking Another Podium, Harvey Settles for 13th in World Championships Skiathlon

    Seeking Another Podium, Harvey Settles for 13th in World Championships Skiathlon

    Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey (l) finishing 13th in 30 k skiathlon at 2013 World Championships.
    Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey (l) outsprints Austria’s Johannes Duerr to place 13th in 30 k skiathlon at 2013 World Championships on Saturday in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

    FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, is brought to you by the generous support of Fischer Sports.

    VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – When you start the Nordic World Ski Championships with a medal on the first day, where do you go from there? Canadian Alex Harvey faced that conundrum on Saturday and didn’t have to think too hard to solve it.

    Go for the podium again, the 24-year-old Quebec native thought. Because, why not?

    Unlike the five men he had to take on in Thursday’s classic sprint final, where Harvey placed third as the first Canadian male to medal at World Championships, he had about 90 men to contend with from the start of Saturday’s 30-kilometer pursuit.

    Feeling confident in his classic and ability to contend through the freestyle portion, Harvey made his way into the top 10 on the second of eight laps. He continued to hang there, a few seconds outside the top 10 with competitors like Norway’s defending champ Petter Northug, eventual bronze-medalist Sjur Røthe (NOR), and Harvey’s teammate Ivan Babikov, who was 16th by the 5.5 k checkpoint.

    With an even pace throughout the classic leg, Harvey held his own in a pack of 50 through the transition. Tensions were high, several men had already crashed or tripped on one another, but the Canadian remained on control, he said.

    “It was such fast conditions, I knew there was no point being in the front,” Harvey said. “It was super-easy pace too, and I was just trying to conserve energy in the classic and hoping for a harder skating part.”

    Nineteenth at the halfway point and 3.1 seconds out of the lead, Harvey remained patient until the second-to-last skate lap, where he rose to ninth, three seconds behind eventual winner Dario Cologna of Switzerland up front.

    As Cologna tested his competitors, including Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, who broke away on the second skate lap but was back with the group the next time around, Harvey remained in the top 15.

    When Cologna finally went for it with two kilometers to go, only three men were in position and had the energy to go with him, namely Sundby, Røthe and Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin. Harvey was stuck behind a three-lane train up the long climb and dropped back around 20th amid the chaos. His podium hopes out of reach, he strived to pick off some places.

    Just 6.1 seconds behind Cologna at the finish, Harvey ended up 13th after outsprinting Switzerland’s Curdin Perl and Johannes Duerr of Austria.

    “I was hoping for a podium,” Harvey said. “I like this race, but I wasn’t positioned well enough and I obviously wasn’t strong enough to really be able to fight every inch from kilometer 20 to kilometer 30. … I made a couple bad lane choices in the last lap and it moved me back just a bit too much for me to be able to react when Cologna went.”

    While it wasn’t the result Harvey had hoped for, Canadian assistant coach Eric de Nys said he couldn’t be upset with it, either.

    “Alex had a great race,” de Nys said. “The guys are super professional about what we’re doing. Of course we’re always trying to hit the podium. Sometimes you have to have some luck on your side, and today I think everything went really well, but just some guys were a little bit stronger.”

    The second-best Canadian, Babikov placed 32nd (+53.7) after skiing in ninth on the last classic lap. In the top 25 after the transition, he fell outside 30th with about ten kilometers to go.

    “Classic felt really easy and I was controlling it and good technique,” Babikov said. “I was just relaxed and feeling really good, but as soon as I switched to skate, my legs, my muscles were so heavy. It’s a weird feeling and I couldn’t go with the tempo so I got dropped a bit. By the end, I felt a little better, but still not what I wanted.”

    Battling a strep throat since before the Davos World Cup a week ago, Babikov said he’s on the upswing and physically felt good. “My muscles just weren’t cooperating with me today,” he said.

    “I was on antibiotics for a week, 10 days actually and maybe that’s the reason,” he added. “Hopefully for the relay and for the rest of the races it’ll be over.”

    Kershaw, who did not start Saturday’s skiathlon, will partner up with Harvey to defend their 2011 title in Sunday’s freestyle team sprint. Struggling with a long-lasting stomach bug, Kershaw sat out the 30 k to prepare for that event.

    “We signed him up just in case he felt like going for it,” de Nys said. “He decided it would be best to save himself for the team sprint and be fresh.”

    Just outside the top 50 on Saturday, Graham Nishikawa of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) said he was “a bit disappointed” with 51st (+4:09.6). Through the first two classic laps, he remained with the group around 30th.

    “I was still with the pack until the last loop of classic, but on the last hill I got blown off and once you’re off, you’re off,” Nishikawa said. “If you’re dropped in classic then it’s hard to get back.”

    In his first race in 20 days since fighting a cold of his own, Nishikawa was hoping this was what he needed to recharge.

    “I felt pretty good the last couple days, but you need to have everything working for you out there; it’s so tough,” he said. “[The pace] was easy, but I was never too comfortable. I just didn’t really have it today.”

    Nishikawa’s sister, Emily, did not finish after pulling out of the 15 k around two kilometers in. According to de Nys and Nishikawa’s mother, she had some kind of heart issue and was going to get checked out by the team doctor.

    The other Canadian female in Saturday’s 15 k skiathlon, former national team member Brittany Webster (Highlands Trailblazers) placed 57th (+6:20.6).

    “It definitely wasn’t a good one, but I’ve been traveling a lot,” Webster said. “It took me three and a half days to get here and I was sick over the course of that so I really haven’t been able to train much and do much. Today was the first day I woke up feeling completely normal so I was hoping for a good one, but the legs just weren’t there.

    “I wanted to sort of be in the race more,” she added. “I was definitely way off the back and that really wasn’t something I was happy with. I would’ve loved to be in the 30s and sort of be in a pack a little more, but I was just out there.”

    Coming off surgery in the fall, which she had a rod removed from her leg from a past injury, Webster said she had to train “extra hard” to make Canada’s World Championships team.

    “I think now I’m paying the price a little bit,” she said. “But I’m just here to really enjoy it and race as hard as I can but not beat myself up over a crappy result.”

    Results: men  | women

    — Audrey Mangan contributed reporting

     

  • Cologna Keeps Calm, Strikes Late to Nab World Championships Title

    Cologna Keeps Calm, Strikes Late to Nab World Championships Title

    Switzerland's Dario Cologna leads Tobias Angerer of Germany, Russia's Alexander Legkov and nearly 20 others during the skate portion of Saturday's 30 k skiathlon at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Cologna went on to win gold for his first medal at worlds.
    Switzerland’s Dario Cologna leads Tobias Angerer of Germany, Russia’s Alexander Legkov and nearly 20 others during the skate portion of Saturday’s 30 k skiathlon at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Cologna went on to win gold for his first medal at worlds.

    FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, is brought to you by the generous support of Fischer Sports.

     

    VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – When you’re as cool as Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, getting your ski tails stepped on and faceplanting with almost 90 guys behind you doesn’t faze you.

    Just over a kilometer into the men’s 30 k skiathlon at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships on Saturday, Cologna became one of the first casualties in an anxious and tightly packed group after the mass start. But no matter. The 26-year-old got up and clawed back into the top 10 by the end of the first 3.75 k classic lap.

    That’s the power of an Olympic gold, three Tour de Ski titles and numerous World Cup victories, and Cologna also had the drive for his first World Championships medal on his side.

    The Swiss rose from a minor slipup to the front of the pack by the second of the four-lap classic leg, challenging defending champ Petter Northug and his Norwegian teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby, as well as Russia’s Alexander Legkov, Jens Filbrich of Germany, Sweden’s Marcus Hellner, and more in the 60-man strong crew.

    Despite changing leaders, the pace mostly stayed the same, even on the third lap when Hellner and Jean Marc Gaillard of France attempted to make something happen. Cologna had told himself before the race that he needed to take charge in the skate leg, and by the transition, he appeared in fighting position.

    The first into the exchange zone at 15 k, Norway’s Eldar Rønning stepped out of his classic skis and into his skates the fastest and led the group out of the stadium. Hannes Dotzler of Germany went with him, as did Legov, and Cologna hovered around 10th with Northug.

    In front of them, Sweden’s Daniel Richardsson surged ahead. Sundby answered, passing him and keeping the pace high. The group dropped to 20, and Cologna stayed steady take the lead with three laps remaining. Not long after, Cologna looked around for someone to share the load. He pulled over and started walking up the first big climb before Sundby decided he’d had enough and pushed onward up the other side.

    With no takers to help chase him down — perhaps part of Norway’s plot — Cologna made a bit of a gamble. Let Sundby go and be confident enough to rein him in, or make sure he doesn’t get away for good?

    Unrattled, the Swiss went with the first choice.

    Despite Sundby gapping the group by nearly 20 seconds, Cologna’s calculated move turned out to be spot-on; they caught him with about five kilometers to go.

    Cologna celebrates his first World Championships gold after winning the 30 k skiathlon handily on Saturday at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
    Cologna celebrates his first World Championships gold after winning the 30 k skiathlon handily on Saturday at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

    “I really want to fight for the gold medal and not for the silver medal so I decided to close the gap myself,” Cologna said at a post-race press conference. “In the end it was the right decision. Everything was perfect for me.”

    By “perfect,” he was referring to his attack up the second to last hill, dropping all but three: Russian Maxim Vylegzhanin, Røthe and Sundby, respectively. They went with him with two kilometers to go, but couldn’t match his kick on the final climb. Cologna opened up a several-second gap on the other three, with Northug also closing from behind.

    Charging hard through the stadium, Cologna looked back as he entered the finishing lanes. He stopped pushing and cruised over the line with his hands in the air. Finally, he had done it, and his first World Championships medal just happened to be gold.

    Cologna finished in 1:13:09.3, and Sundby placed second, 1.8 seconds back, to top his individual bronze from the 2011 World Championships 15 k classic. Røthe, 24, was third for his first individual world medal, and seven-time world champion, Northug placed fourth (+5.2).

    “It was really a dream to win here and to win the first race is even better,” Cologna said in this first distance race of the Val di Fiemme World Championships, just a two-hour drive from his hometown of Val Müstair, Switzerland.

    “I felt great the whole race and to come alone into the stadium is always a great feeling,” he added. “It was also my plan.”

    Cologna said he expected someone to attack earlier, and when they didn’t, he took it upon himself to do so. After trying to drop the pack initially in the skate leg, he said it didn’t work so he chose to conserve while Sundby went for it.

    Meanwhile, he visualized that last uphill. Three weeks ago at the pre-Olympic World Cup in Sochi, Russia, Cologna dropped several Russians up something similar to win the skiathlon.

    Swiss winner Dario Cologna (c) with Norwegians Martin Sundby (l) in second and Sjur Røthe in third on the 30 k skiathlon podium at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
    Swiss Dario Cologna (c) with Norway’s Sundby (l) in second and Røthe in third on the 30 k skiathlon podium at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

    “Dario was the best today,” Sundby told reporters after Saturday’s race. “We [Norway] managed to get second and third and for me second place is like a victory.”

    A strong classic skier, Sundby took it upon himself in the offseason to make some major improvements to his skate technique, NRK reported. It paid off, as he felt strong enough to leave the group around on the first of four skate laps.

    “I did not quite know what happened. Suddenly I had fifteen seconds without really knowing what to do,” he told NRK.

    “I didn’t at any point think that this would hold for a gold medal,” he said at a press conference. “So for the third lap I tried to calm down, rest a bit and wait for the guys and be prepared for a very tough fourth lap.”

    That last lap turned out to be tough, with Sundby outlunging his teammate, Røthe, by two-tenths of a second for silver. After Vylegzhanin trailed Cologna up the last hill, Røthe and Sundby went on either side to pass the Russian. They soared down into the stadium in second and third, while Northug made a late move to pass Vylegzhanin as well.

    Røthe told reporters he was extremely satisfied with his career best, especially in sharing the podium with Sundby.

    “It’s my own fault that I wasn’t in back of Dario, but I’m really satisfied and it’s good that Martin’s by my side,” Røthe said.

    Norwegian men’s coach Trond Nystad said it was a good day for Norway with two medals in the men’s race and a podium sweep for the women.

    “Dario wins, that was deserved; he was a better skier today,” Nystad said. “We got two, three and four and we have to be happy with that.”

    As for which of his athletes he thought might be in the hunt for gold, Nystad said he wasn’t surprised by Sundby or Røthe, who was third in the Canmore World Cup skiathlon in December.

    “Of course, Petter who was fourth, he was also expected to be in there and fight for the medals, but he was sleeping a little bit on top of the hill,” Nystad said.

    “I would like all medal, so it was a disappointing race for me,” Northug told NRK. “Fortunately, two Norwegians medaled.”

    After Northug, Vylegzhanin led the Russians in fifth (+6.1), Legkov was sixth (+10.1) and Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden was seventh. Hellner placed eighth, Tobias Angerer of Germany was ninth and Gaillard finished 10th.

    — Audrey Mangan contributed reporting

    Results