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.
Deep into this winter’s Walkabout de Northern Italy, we’re wearing a little thin, but Devon rallies just before midnight to recap stages three and four. We’ll have a wrap-up after the final climb.
You can reach us at devon[at]fasterskier.com and nat[at]fasterskier.com. We appreciate all the feedback we’ve been getting — happy new year!
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It’s time for the Tour de Ski, which really is just a northern Italy promenade this year — no races in Switzerland or Germany. Nonetheless, we’re excited for some fun storylines and to follow along with you this year. Here’s a quick preview.
Questions? Comments? Hit us up at devon[at]fasterskier.com and nat[at]fasterskier.com. For those of you who have become voluntary FasterSkier supporters, we’re really grateful.
Love Stories Like This? Help Keep Them Coming.
Feature stories like this one take time, access, and care to produce. If you value thoughtful storytelling and independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a Voluntary Subscriber. Your support directly fuels the work we do to cover the people, places, and moments that make our sport special.
World Cup skiers get a holiday break from the grind of the World Cup tour . . . but it’s up for debate just how much rest they get during that break. It’s gotta be tough to relax when the horizon is clouded by the impending approach of the Tour de Ski, possibly the most daunting challenge that skiers will face all season. As a ski-fan, I just adore the Tour de Ski—day after day of racing and competition and drama, staged for the edification of the viewing audience. If I were a World Cup skier, I think I might feel differently, especially during an Olympic year.
Over the span of eight exhausting days—Dec 28-Jan 4—Men’s and Women’s fields will each race six events from Sprints to Interval Starts to the the unbelievably steep and seemingly endless climb up the Alpe Cermis. Nearly insurmountable leads in FIS World Cup points are amassed by the winners of the Tour de Ski; most years, the eventual winner of the World Cup Overall Crystal Globe is the same as the winner of the Tour de Ski . . . except in those seasons—like 2025—when the Tour winner skips most of the other World Cup races in anticipation of a larger prize like the World Championships or the Olympics. In 2026, most of the primary Olympic contenders have also signed up for the Tour de Ski.
Tour Streaming
As has been the case for numerous years in a row, North American viewers can stream the 2026 Tour de Ski on skiandsnowboard.live. The website adjusts to the home-area of viewers, so the broadcast time on the thumbnail corresponds to your local viewing time. Yes, the races stream in brutally early time slots, especially for viewers on the west coast. Get up early anyway . . . it’ll be worth it.
The championship of the Women’s Tour de Ski is likely to be contested among Jessie Diggins (USA), Frida Karlsson (SWE), Heidi Weng (NOR), and Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR), and Norwegian upstart Karoline Simpson-Larsen (fresh off her recent win in the World Cup 10 k Interval Start in Davos). Certain contenders are choosing to stay home—Linn Svahn (SWE), Jonna Sundling (SWE)—thus opening up additional spots in Sprint heats for all-rounders who might not normally advance on Sprint days.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s prowess in Sprint events—and his competitive resilience in Distance events—makes him nearly impossible to beat in the race for the Crystal Globe. Even if he does not win the Tour—even if he drops out of the Tour—he’ll likely secure another Overall Crystal Globe if he remains healthy and stays on the World Cup Tour. Though if the Olympics deliver him another amazing week like the one he constructed at last year’s World Championships (where he won an unprecedented six out of six races), Klaebo just might sail off into a well deserved sunset, leaving World Cup scraps for other contenders to scrabble over.
In this episode, we connect with US Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb following the US Ski Team and National Training Group camp in Park City. Whitcomb answers a variety of questions to provide insight into the upcoming season leading up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Matt Whitcomb. (Photo: Twitter)
A couple of notes:
Firstly, you’ll notice some crackling in the audio on our end. We’re working out the kinks. Thanks for your patience.
Also, if your interest has been piqued, FasterSkier has an upcoming article providing a deeper look into the pace project that Whitcomb discusses here.
(13:30) Whitcomb’s cross country road trip and seeing various junior club programs
(15:30) The generational shift happening on the U.S. Ski Team following several notable retirements, and its implications for leadership and team dynamics
(19:30) Outlook for the men’s program as the crop of athletes successful at the junior level moves into the Olympic season
(25:00) Altitude training camps leading into Beijing: the when, where, and why.
(30:15) Olympic team selection and athlete quotas
(35:00) Season planning: decisions around competing at the Tour de Ski and other World Cup weekends
(40:30) Managing athlete and personal wellbeing and holistic health, in the wake of Simone Biles decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics
A colorful rollerski session during the fall 2021 U.S. Ski Team and National Training Group camp in Park City, UT. (Photo: Alayna Sonnesyn/SMS T2 team blog)
This episode of the Devon Kershaw Show is brought to you by The Craftsbury Outdoor Center. The Outdoor Center is excited to offer a Collegiate Winter Term training program in 2021.
Beitostølen, Norway and Bruksvallarna, Sweden hosted FIS Cup racing over the weekend. The news from Norway tells of a Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who might be back on form when it comes to his distance racing chops. He’s also keyed in for the sprints. In his two races this weekend, he won the classic sprint and placed second in the 15 k classic. Therese Johaug, unsurprisingly, swept the women’s distance events in Beito. Same old same old for her on the World Cup this season? Maybe.
Devon also lets us know he was unimpressed by the members of the Swedish men’s national team in Bruksvallarna. That may be nothing new to listeners of the podcast, but it’s a reminder that while the women’s program in Sweden remains on par with Norway’s top-level talent, the men’s squad might be poised for another let down on the World Cup.
This much is true: the World Cup begins this Friday in Ruka, Finland with a three-race series starting with a classic sprint. Every athlete, regardless of talent, sponsor dollars, or pedigree, will have to deal with racing during a pandemic. There’s no need to dwell on what that means, besides the extra caution stakeholders and athletes must take to remain healthy. This will be a season with ups and downs, some unforeseen, some predictable.
Kuusamo, Finland’s nordic ski complex. (Screenshot from rukanordic.com)
In this preseason pod, Devon revs up for a race season rife with unknowns galore as the cross-country skiing world descends on Finland to kick it all off.
Devon Kershaw, for many years, was a go-to on the World Cup for Canada. He won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championship in the team sprint with Alex Harvey and finished second in the World Cup overall in 2012. He is accomplished.
Devon Kershaw. Vintage 2016 in Lillehammer. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
He is also a student of the sport. That was evident last season as he helped Eurosport with its television broadcast coverage of the 2019 World Championships. Watching Kershaw provide race previews each day was a highlight. It made sense to ring him up and get his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup season. Learn about online casino "Mr Bet" in this page and its main important parameters – what is the license for activity, information about bets, minimum bet and maximum bet, about the minimum and maximum deposit when replenishing an account at a time, what is the minimum and maximum withdrawal of money from the Mr Bet casino per day, per month , in Week. See the level of traffic on the site "Mr Bet" for 3 months to understand the activity of the players. Carefully review the list of countries where the casino can legally operate.
Never shy with analysis, Kershaw is a good listen.
It’s a long way from Ruka, Finland to Canmore — the site of the closing races for this season. Onward. (Here’s a link to our map infographic for the 2019-2020 World Cup.)
Seven men and nine women will be lining up in stars and stripes for the World Cup’s opening: Finland’s Ruka Triple. Three race series features a classic sprint followed by a two-day distance pursuit.
Jessie Diggins out-toes Russia’s Yulia Belorukova to take third in Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
At the top of the ranks, Jessie Diggins (USST/SMS T2) finished the 2019 season 6th in distance and 7th in sprint. It was a year of navigating the life of a gold medalist whose training time was suddenly competing with travel, media attention, and collaborating with sponsors. According to her blog, she packed in 25 events in the first 50 days after the Olympics. Diggins admitted this swell of opportunities also left her feeling mentally and physically fatigued during the season.
That said, you know American women’s skiing has come a long way when feeling flat leads to finishing 6th overall in the World Cup Standings. Diggins won the freestyle sprint in Cogne, Italy and took 3rd in the 10 k skate in Falun, Sweden. She also placed third in three stages of the Tour de Ski and skied the fastest time of day during the 10 k skate pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Presuming Diggins achieved her goal of finding a work-life balance that allowed her to better recover and absorb training, we can expect her to consistently remain one of the top athletes on the World Cup.
One thing is certain: The Minneapolis World Cup race on March 17th features a freestyle sprint, and Diggins will be racing in front of a home crowd amidst a cacophony of cowbell.
Another consistent performer, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (USST/APU) finished 8th in the sprint standings and 13th in the distance. She took third in the freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, NOR and cleaned up at the Super Tour Finals winning the freestyle sprint and both distance races. Another testament to how high the standard has been set for the American women, Maubet Bjornsen’s season was not particularly novel, despite consistently measuring up as one of the best all-around skiers in the world. We have come to expect her to perform, and she continues to meet our expectations. This year we expect no less.
Leading the American women on the short track, Sophie Caldwell (USST/SMS T2) finished the season ranked 4th in the overall sprint standings. Caldwell took second place in Davos, Val Muestair, and Lahti, and landed inside the top ten an additional three times. After posting the second fastest qualifying time in the World Championships in Seefeld, AUT, Caldwell was eliminated in the quarterfinals after throwing her boot across the line a three-way photo finish. Because the heat was slow and she was deemed third, she was unable to advance.
Julia Kern (L) and Sophie Caldwell after finishing fourth place in the team sprint (Photo: Garrott Kuzzy / LumiExperiences.com)
Julia Kern (USST/ earned her first Period 1 starts as the overall SuperTour leader in 2019. The 22-year-old also displayed her readiness to race at the World Cup level by scoring points in five events. Her best individual performance came during the freestyle sprint in Cogne, ITA where she finished 11th. She also battled for a gritty fourth place result while racing with Caldwell during the Dresden team sprint, and shone at US Nationals earning two sprint podiums.
Racing fearlessly with the best in the world, Kern cracked the top-20 in the skiathlon in Seefeld, finishing 19th. She also finished 23rd in the freestyle sprint two days prior. With another year of training and experience under her belt, Kern will certainly be worth following.
After recovering from mono, Rosie Brennan rebounded with a phenomenal season in 2019 and consequently was nominated once more to the U.S. Ski Team. Last year, Brennan blew through Period 1 with a vengeance, placing inside the top 30 and mostly within the top 15 in all of the distance races she entered. She cracked the top-10 in the 10 k skate in Davos, with a career best sixth place, and again in the skiathlon when the competition was at its peak in Seefeld.
The remainder of the women starting in Ruka who earned discretionary selection includes: Caitlin Patterson (USST B Team/CGRP) who landed inside the top 30 in the 10 k skate in both Lillhammer and Ulricehamn, SWE, Hailey Swirbul (USST B Team/APU) who stood on the podium after three Opa Cup distance races and landed inside the top 10 at U23 World Championships, and Rosie Frankowski (APU) who finished 24th during the skiathlon at the World Ski Championships in Seefeld.
The second weekend of racing in Lillehammer features a distance pursuit, followed by two sprint events in Davos, SUI and Planica, SLO. These women will be able to focus on the races that best suit their strengths in Period 1.
Before heading to the American men’s field, FasterSkier sends well-wishes to Hannah Halvorsen who was slated to contest the Period 1 sprint races. Halvorsen was struck by a car while crossing a street in Anchorage on November 1st, fracturing her skull and badly injuring her left leg and knee. According to her father who posted information on Facebook, Halvorsen will have a long road ahead of her, but doctors are optimistic that full recovery will be possible. FasterSkier wants to respect the privacy of the Halvorsen family, but will report when they are ready to share further information.
The U.S. women’s relay after taking a historic third in the 4 x 3.3 k relay at 2017 Junior World Championships on Sunday at Soldier Hollow in Midway Utah, with (from left to right) Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team/Tom Kelly)
Deep breath. Back to the World Cup.
Of the eight men who made the cut, three were selected objectively: overall 2019 SuperTour leader Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2), and USST A Team members Simi Hamilton (USST/SMS T2) and Erik Bjornsen (USST/APU).
Returning with a wealth of World Cup experience, Hamilton is a consummate contender in sprint races. His most noteworthy performance was aptly timed at the World Championships in Seefeld where he finished ninth. Hamilton advanced from the quarters in a lightning fast heat, then got hung up with another skier in the semi, losing both his momentum and contact with the leaders. On home turf, Hamilton also won the freestyle sprint during the SuperTour finals.
American Simi Hamilton (r) leading Great Britain’s Andrew Young during the 6 x 1.6 k classic team sprint semifinal at World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
Before World Champs, Hamilton had a strong performance in Cogne, finishing just off the podium in 4th. Displaying the agility and sure-footedness for which he is known, Hamilton dodged a crash in both the quarter and semifinals. This race marked a turning point in his season as crashes and illness prevented him from capitalizing on the fitness he felt confident he possessed. When the pieces come together, Hamilton is both a force to be reckoned with and a thrill to watch.
After popping the third fastest time of day during the 15 k classic pursuit in Lillehammer, Bjornsen has been promoted to the USST A-Team. Last season, Bjornsen whittled his way up the results list, particularly in distance racing. He finished 16th the 15 k classic Cogne, followed by a 17th place finish in the same event in Seefeld. Are you noticing a theme here?
Once again in the 15 k classic in Quebec City, Bjornsen finished 18th followed by a second top 20 (19th fastest time of day) in the subsequent 15 k skate pursuit. At the SuperTour finals, Bjornsen took the win in both the distance races and finished second in the freestyle sprint, demonstrating his versatility as an athlete.
Bratrud’s lead in the SuperTour was primarily garnered through strong results in distance skiing, which also translated to encouraging results on the World Cup. The Minnesota native stood on the podium six times in NorAm and SuperTour distance races, taking the top spot in four of them. At US Nationals, he won the the 15 k classic and took second in the 30 k skate. During his mid-winter international stint, Bratrud landed inside the points in the 15 k classic in Cogne. This will be his first season racing on the World Cup in Period 1.
The remainder of the men to watch in Period 1 include Scott Patterson (USST/APU) and David Norris (APU), who will be focusing on distance racing, and Kevin Bolger (USST/SVSEF) and Logan Hanneman (APU) who will focus on sprint events. Hanneman will not start in Ruka, but plans to compete in both Davos and Planica.
The men’s podium from the 30 k skate mass start at U.S. Nationals in Craftsbury, VT. From left to right, Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2) second, David Norris (APU) first, and Scott Patterson (APU/USST) third. (Photo: John Lazenby)
Several athletes who were offered starts in Period 1 declined to focus on the SuperTour. This list includes Kelsey Phinney (SMS T2), Andy Newell, Adam Martin (CGRP), and Ben Saxton (SMS T2).
Phinney underwent shoulder surgery in mid-June for a torn labrum, which occurred from a fall with an outstretched arm. He doctors estimated a six to twelve month recovery process. Phinney spent six-weeks in a shoulder sling, then began to slowly reintroduce strength training and outdoor activities. So far, she has done some no-pole and one-pole skiing.
“My biggest priority is making sure my shoulder heals properly and gets back full range of motion,” wrote Phinney in an email on her return to competition. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back to racing, perhaps later this season if things go really well with rehab. In the meantime, I’m enjoying time at home in Boulder – it’s been nice to see friends and family here, and to explore life outside of the bubble of training and racing. And then in a couple weeks, I‘ll be at the first SuperTour races of the year to help my SMST2 team out with ski testing, driving around, and cheering very loudly! I’m hoping to start using two poles in the next few weeks, and ideally I’ll be able to ski quite a bit in Canmore and Sun Valley and see where I can go from there!”
Canada
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 11th
Women’s Ranking 2018/2019: 15th
Men’s Ranking 2018/2019: 9th
Canadians to Watch:
Alex Harvey takes in the cheers after placing second in the men’s 15 k classic in Québec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
Canada’s top skier, Alex Harvey, retired at the end of the 2019 season. He ended his career on a high note. He finished second in the 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit in his home city of Québec. Fellow national team member Lenny Valjas retired also retired at the end of last season.
Three Canadians will be heading to Europe to race during Period 1 in Davos and Planica: Dahria Beatty, Emily Nishikawa, and Russell Kennedy. These athletes will then return home to train with developing national team athletes and compete in NorAm races. Canada will not be contesting the Tour de Ski. Should one of these athletes pop a top ten in those Period 1 races, the decision not to return in Period 2 may be reevaluated.
This focus on domestic racing and development of world class athletes is part of a larger movement to rebuild the Canadian national program, which recently rebranded as Nordiq Canada. You can find more information on this here.
Beatty posted strong results in 2019. She started her season with a slew of NorAm wins then collected a handful of FIS points by finishing 16th in the freestyle sprint in Dresden and 24th in the same event in Lahti. She also won the 15 k freestyle pursuit at the Canadian National Championships, chasing down Nishikawa who had won the 10 k classic the previous day. In her season opener at Nordiq Thunder, Beatty landed the top spot on the podium in the 16 k skate and commented that she was happy with her overall fitness and how her training has progressed this year.
Nishikawa also scored FIS points in 2019 by finishing 23rd in the 10 k skate in Davos. She also placed 25th in last season’s Tour de Ski.
Kennedy, who has already gotten his feet wet with European racing this season in Olos, Finland, posted his best result during the freestyle sprint in Cogne, where he popped a 12th place finish. Domestically, he landed on the podium in five NorAm races.
The remaining members of the Canadian National Team who will be racing domestically include Julien Locke (Nelson, B.C.), Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.), Graham Ritchie (Parry Sound, Ont.), Antoine Cyr (Gatineau, Que.), Sam Hendry (Canmore, Alta.), and Julien Smith (Thunder Bay, Ont.).
“This group is ready to step up and carry the torch for a new era of cross-country skiers in Canada,” said Shane Pearsall, chief executive officer of Nordiq Canada in a press release. “They are equally as fierce and determined to deliver medal winning performances as their heroes before them. We are going to work with our sport and funding partners to deliver this dynamic group of athletes the tools they require to succeed on the road to 2022 and beyond.” The site https://x100casino.com contains the best 100 online casinos in the world
Dahria Beatty on course during the 10-kilometer skate in Ulricehamn, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, Ebba Andersson, Charlotte Kalla and Anna Haag faced the cameras after winning the silver medal in the women’s relay at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti. (Photo: John Lazenby)
Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts. The World Cup begins with a classic sprint in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24th
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Sweden
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 2nd
Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 2nd
Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 5th
Swedes to Watch:She’s fast. She’s fierce. And she’s Swedish. While last spring gave rise to the retirement of many veteran cross-country ski names, 31-year-old Charlotte Kalla wasn’t one of them.
Kalla, who has been racing World Cups since 2006, is back for her 13th season on the circuit and not about to slow down. She finished last year, on a limited World Cup schedule, ranked seventh in the women’s overall, after securing five top three performances, two thirds of them victories.
Her singular focus remained peaking for the Games. She entered the 2018 season scorching fast, winning the the overall in the opening Ruka triple weekend. She won the following weekend’s 15-kilometer skiathlon in Lillehammer, Norway.
Kalla dialed back the racing in mid-December, did not race the Tour de Ski, and returned to World Cup racing on January 21, in Planica, Slovenia. She placed second in the 10 k classic.
Kalla returned from the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games with four medals, two for individual performances–most notably a gold in the women’s skiathlon.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla leads American Jessie Diggins and Norway’s Ragnhild Haga during the 2018 Holmenkollen women’s 30 k freestyle mass start at the World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
When not name dropping Kalla, the Swedes have plenty to look to in the remainder of their women’s team. There’s the ever shining sprint star, Stina Nilsson, not to mention the up-and-comer Ebba Andersson. In between those two, with the retirement of Anna Haag, there’s sprint power houses,Hanna Falk and Ida Ingemarsdotter. Throw in Anna Dyvik and you’ve got your female Swedes for the season.
On the men’s side, despite the retirements of Emil Jönsson, Martin Johansson and Marcus Hellner, Calle Halfvarsson remains a name to watch out for on course. Halfvarsson ended last season ranked 13th in the overall, with six individual top-10 finishes, four of those on the podium.
Then there’s the 36 year old veteran, Daniel Rickardsson, as well as the 23-year-old Oskar Svensson, who both landed in last season’s World Cup top-30 more than once.
Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski (32) edges Norway’s Marit Bjørgen for the win in the women’s 10 k classic mass start at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka weekend in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24 with a classic sprint.
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Finland
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year:4th
Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 4th
Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 7th
Finnish Skiers to Watch:
If there are two names Finland’s cross-country ski fans loves to cheer–and will be looking to chant again this season–it’s Krista Pärmäkoski and Iivo Niskanen. And with good reason.
Pärmäkoski opened Period II of last season with a win, cruising to first in the 10-kilometer classic race in Planica, Slovenia. Pärmäkoski racked up two more 10 k victories after Planica, winning both the Lahti 10 k and the Falun 10 k. Altogether, Pärmäkoski landed on the World Cup podium seven times last season, capping off the FIS 2017/2018 season ranked fourth, just ahead of Norway’s Marit Bjørgen in fifth.
Outside of the World Cup, Pärmäkoski also came away from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games with three individual medals, one silver and two bronze.
ComplimentingPärmäkoski on the men’s side, Niskanen, earned two World Cup podiums last season, placing third in the Ruka 15 k and third in the Lahti 15 k. He landed in the top-20 twelve times during last year’s World Cup season, and finished 15th in the FIS overall.
Like Pärmäkoski, he also departed the Winter Games with hardware, a gold medal from the men’s 50 k mass start.
Pärmäkoski and Niskanen aren’t the only Finns capable of pushing into the top tiers of World Cup skiers. With the retirement of Aino-Kaisa Saarinen this past spring, the women’s side will look to Kerttu Niskanen (Iivo’s sister), Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Anne Kyllönen and Laura Mononen–all of whom scored World Cup points more than once last season– to keep the women’s team’s forward momentum.
Following Niskanen, Matti Heikkinen and Ristomatti Hakola are two veteran Finnish names who are not about to let up as the 2018/2019 season prepares to get underway.
Finland’s Iivo Niskanen celebrating his first World Championships gold in the men’s 15 k classic on March 1, 2017, in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby)
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 last season in Olso, Norway. (Photo: Logan Hanneman)
Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts. The World Cup begins with a classic sprint in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24th.
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France
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 7th
Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 12th
Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 3rd
French to Watch: Subdued, understated, but right there when it counts. That would encapsulate France’s men’s team – a group never demanding your attention, but certainly deserving of it.
Maurice Manificat, at 32 years old, placed 5th in the distance rankings last season. When the technique was freestyle, Manificat became a top-10 lock. Of his eight distance top-10’s last season, only two involved classic technique: he placed 9th in a 15 k classic pursuit and 5th in a 30 k skiathlon. Otherwise, it was all skate. In particular, if the race format is a 15 k skate, keep Manificat within your sights.
His Olympics impressed for their consistency and hardware. A fifth place in both the 30 k skiathlon and 15 k skate kept Manificat in the medal hunt. He helped deliver Olympic bronze in the men’s 4 x 10 k relay — he actually skied the second classic leg — and the team sprint which suited his skate skiing endurance.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jean-Marc Gaillard lends stability to the French distance team. He posted several top-20 results and finished 7th overall in the Tour de Ski. Sitting 18th in the distance cup and 21st overall, Gaillard may not podium, but he takes pressure off Manificat and plays a key role when it comes to championship relays – he was part of France’s bronze performances in the 4 x 10 k relay in PyeongChang and Sochi in 2014 as their scramble leg starter.
The speed is also reliable for France’s men. Lucas Chanavat, Baptiste Gros, and Richard Jouve form a reliable trifecta of sprint qualifiers that can move through the heats.
Chanavat posted four podiums last season all in skate. Gros earned seven top-20’s. Jouve sported five top-10’s including a 4th place in Dresden’s skate sprint. Jouve also earned Olympic hardware with Manificat in the team sprint.
This season, France does not have an “A” level women’s team according to a team announcement. The “B” team will feature several younger skiers with limited World Cup experience. However, Anouk Faivre-Picon, at thirty years old, was a steady top-30 distance skier for France last season. She notched a season-best 13th place in the Olympic skiathlon. Maybe this year will see an uptick in results and organizational commitment from France which did not bring a women’s team to the 2017 Lahti, Finland Nordic Ski World Championships.
Italy’s Federico Pellegrino outlasting Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (not shown) and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (behind) for the win in the men’s freestyle sprint final at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Welcome to World Cup Windup, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24.
ITALY
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: Ninth
Women’s Ranking 2016/2017: Ninth
Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: Eighth
Who’s Back:
Federico Pellegrino, World Champion in the sprint and runner-up in the Sprint Cup; Dietmar Nöckler, who joined him for team sprint silver at World Championships and with one individual World Cup top-10; Francesco de Fabiani, with two top-tens in Tour de Ski stages; Ilaria Debertolis, top-30 in both the distance and sprint rankings and with two individual top-10’s.
Who’s Missing:
Ilaria Debertolis competing in the World Cup team sprint in Toblach, Italy, in January. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
Debora Agreiter announced on Facebook that she is taking a break from World Cup racing to focus on medical school. “Dear friends, fans and fans, I have made a decision to leave high-level sport and to embark on a new road.” She wrote, according to a translation. “I am also going to be very active in the future, doing what I have always loved, but I am putting sport on the second floor and I am dedicated to medical studies. I sincerely thank my family, who has always supported me and also supports me in this new experience. Thank you!” Agreiter finished 16th in the 30 k mass start at the 2014 Olympics
Pre-Season Results:
In pre-season racing in Davos, Giacomo Gabrielli and Stefan Zelger were third in fourth in a classic sprint while Ilaria Debertolis was fifth in both the women’s sprint and distance competitions; Giandomenico Salvadori was fourth in the men’s distance race.
Federico Pellegrino is raring to go for the World Cup season. “Now I can’t wait to leave for the north and for the first sprint of the season,” he told Fondo Italia. “In Kuusamo, I want to try to win.” He told SkiTime.it that he also will compete in the Tour de Ski (or at least part of it), unlike some other top World Cup skiers who have already said they will bow out. He will also compete in a few distance races during World Cup Period I.
Russian Sergey Ustiugov (center) takes the win ahead of Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani (l) and Norwegian Niklas Dyrhaug (r) during the men’s 15 k freestyle mass start in Falun, Sweden, in 2016. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
One of the target races for the Italians is the team sprint in the Olympics, and Dietmar Nöckler has been focusing on this. “The preparation has been similar to the past years, although we have an eye on the Games,” he told Fondo Italia, according to a translation. “I have worked hard on skating, because the goal is to qualify for the Olympic team sprint team. This race could be very important for my career.”
Virginia de Martin Topranin made some summer training videos for the Sportful apparel company. “A roller skiing session is definitely less romantic than cross-country skiing in the midst of glistening snow crystals, since you have to deal with asphalt and cars, but I have to admit that reaching the top of a pass on those four wheels offers great satisfaction, and the view is the reward for the effort!” she wrote in the accompanying text.
Best Social Media Presence:
Francesco de Fabiani posts a lot of training and drone videos on his Facebook page. A recent video showed training on the Schnalstal glacier, with great skiing shots but also some beautiful landscapes and scenery.
Dietmar Nöckler consistently posts great training and racing photos on Instagram.
Hands-down the most prolific Instagrammer on the team, and with more followers than all except Pellegrino, is Continental Cup skier Alice Canclini. If you want a tour of how to be an athlete in Italy, follow her and go along for the ride.
France’s Maurice Manificat celebrates his “time of day” victory in Stage 7 of the 2017 Tour de Ski, with the fastest time in the 9 k freestyle hill climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Salomon/Nordic Focus)
Welcome to World Cup Windup, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24.
FRANCE
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year:Eighth
Women’s Ranking 2016/2017:15th
Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: Fifth
Who’s Back:
France’s Baptiste Gros leads teammate Richard Jouve in their semifinal of the freestyle sprint at the Ski Tour Canada in Quebec City in 2016.(Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Maurice Manificat, the fastest man up the Tour de Ski final climb last season, and a World Cup race winner previous seasons as well; Lucas Chanavat, a finalist in several World Cup sprints and third in the U23 standings; Richard Jouve, third in the sprint at World Cup finals and fifth in the U23 standings; the World Cup podium relay team of Manificat, Jean Marc Gaillard, Clement Parisse, and Alexis Jeannerod, as well as Robin Duvillard, a member of the World Championships relay team and the 2014 Olympic bronze-medal relay team (soon to be silver), and Baptiste Gros, who won a World Cup in 2016.
Who’s Missing:
A women’s team. Not a single French woman scored World Cup points in the 2016/2017 season. France didn’t even send a women’s team to 2017 World Championships. That’s right, there were no French representatives in the cross-country ski races at World Championships. French women competed at only two few World Cups: the home races in La Clusaz and the sprints in Toblach, Italy.
Pre-Season Results:
Lucas Chanavat of France had the fastest men’s qualifying time in the Davos World Cup freestyle sprint in 2017.
In early November, Lucas Chanavat won both the qualifier and final in a King’s Court style sprint in Davos, besting Italy’s Federico Pellegrino among others; Richard Jouve and Alexis Jeannerod were second and third, and Aurore Jean won a lightly-attended women’s race.
More recently, the French attended FIS races in Saariselka, Finland, where Maurice Manificat tore it up, winning the 10 k classic and, in a surprise, also winning the classic sprint ahead of his sprint-specialist teammates.
Recent Drama:
In the year or so after the 2014 Olympics, where the French women finished fourth in the relay, the women’s program lost its best skiers. Three started families, and Celia Aymonier became a biathlete (she now has several World Cup top-tens and a World Championships bronze medal in the relay).
For two seasons, the French women were nearly completely absent from the World Cup, but that may change this year, in part because the Olympics always bring out efforts to get each country represented. The three new moms are back training: Coraline Thomas-Hugue, Aurore Jean, and Anouk Faivre-Picon, who in the meantime won some big Worldloppet races like the Engadin Ski Marathon. Several younger skiers are also joining them. It’s not straight into the thick of things; the team will do some FIS racing throughout the season. There is the possibility of a few participating in the World Cup sprint in Ruka, Finland, but none will go to Lillehammer and instead a group will focus on competing at the third World Cup in Davos, Switzerland.
Aurore Jean racing in Davos in 2014.
“The atmosphere in the group is very good and it’s nice to see positive girls and a team in training,” coach Alexandre Rousselet told ski-nordique. “We will have a quota of four girls each [World Cup] but they will not be filled. We are waiting for the girls to have encouraging results at OPA Cup and FIS events before they register… We will first work on this 10 k skating goal. to try one or more qualifications for the 2018 Olympics. The relay and the other races would be a bonus… The Olympics are in their heads but for the moment, at this stage of the winter, it is still far away.”
(And yes, he refers to them as “les filles” rather than “femmes” or “dames”.)
In Saariselka, the women showed their stuff: Coraline Thomas Hugue won the 10 k skate over Anna Shevchenko of Ukraine, with Aurore Jean third, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk fourth, and Anouk Faivre Picon fifth. They did not fare as well in the classic technique, with Jean leading the group in fifth in the 5 k classic and Delphine Claudel finishing seventh in the classic sprint, where none of the team made the final.
Best Social Media Presence:
This year’s “One of Those Nordic Days” videos has been posted, featuring skiers acting silly and doing stunts on skis. It is made by Team Valoche and former biathlete Alexis Boeuf, and features many national team members as well as biathletes Martin and Simon Fourcade, the Italian women’s biathlon team, and alpine skiers Julien Lizeroux and Tessa Worley.
Maurice Manificat is fairly prolific on Twitter, posting content from his own Instagram and Facebook pages as well as re-tweeting content from other French sports personalities and engaging in conversation. His handle is a good way to keep track of what’s going on in nordic sport in France.
Richard Jouve posts beautiful photos of wherever he happens to be, both on his Twitter account and on Instagram.
And Lucas Chanavat also posts crisp photos of training and racing, and also shots of him upside down in different places.
For the day-to-day-to-day of training with the French team, follow Robin Duvillard.
And Anouk Faivre Picon is among those documenting life as a high-performance mom.
Germany’s Thomas Bing (7) leads Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson (2) and Switzerland’s Jason Rüesch during the first leg of the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Welcome to World Cup Windup, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24.
GERMANY
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year:Seventh
Women’s Ranking 2016/2017:Sixth
Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: Ninth
Who’s Back:
Nicole Fessel and Steffi Boehler, top-20 in the World Cup distance standings; sprint finalist Sandra Ringwald; Victoria Carl and Katharina Hennig, who joined Ringwald and Boehler to finish second in the World Cup relay in Ulricehamn; Florian Notz, Elizabeth Schicho, Laura Gimmler, and Thomas Bing, each of whom had a single World Cup top-10 last season, and Hanna Kolb, who had two.
Who’s Missing:
Veteran sprinter Tim Tscharnke retired partway through the summer. The 2010 Olympic team sprint medalist has struggled with back problems and finally called it quits. “The last three years of my career were riddled with many mediocre months, punctuated by health problems and athletic setbacks,” he said.
Pre-Season Results:
The World Cup women’s 4 x 5 k podium on Jan. 22 in Ulricehamn, Sweden, with (from left to right) Germany (Stefanie Boehler, Sandra Ringwald, Victoria Carl, Katharina Hennig) in second, Norway (Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Heidi Weng, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Marit Bjørgen) in first, and Sweden in third (Ida Ingemarsdotter, Sofia Henriksson, Charlotte Kalla, Hanna Falk). (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
Earlier this month in Davos, Switzerland, Thomas Bing won a sprint race and Laura Gimmler was the runner-up in the women’s race. Katharina Hennig and Steffi Boehler went 2-3 in a distance race.
Recent Drama:
After being sick in both August and September, Florian Notz is aiming for a World Cup debut in Davos in December, not earlier. “I did not have any real training for two to three months,” he told Südwest Press. “That’s why Kuusamo is too early for me… I have set myself as a goal, that I want to attack fully [in Davos]. I am still optimistic that I can be in shape by then. But of course, everything has to go right.” If not, Olympic qualifying will be tricky.
Lucas Bögl is among the athletes joining the new “Athleten für Deutschland” athlete union, which was recently founded as an independent alternative to the athletes’ council run by the German Olympic Committee. The head of the German Olympic Committee is not a fan, saying basically that athletes trying to make demands will only bring problems upon themselves. Bögl disagreed. “The club should help the athletes commission and support the athletes,” he told OBV-online. “That should be in the interest of everyone involved.” He also said: “Cross-country skiing is not something you do for the money, it’s more of a way of life. I have turned my sport into a profession. I feel privileged that I don’t have to sit in an office. I can do that for a long time after my career is over.”
Sandra Ringwald, who just missed making the 2014 Olympic team for Germany, and is particularly focused on 2018 Games this winter. “I want to fulfill my Olympic dream and be in PyeongChang,” she told the Südkurier newspaper in an interview. “However, I’m going easy on the whole thing. In the past few years I have often set my goals too high… I’m not working just for Olympic qualification. My aim is to play a good role in the World Cup as well. I want to show what I can do at the very first races.”
Best Social Media Presence:
Steffi Boehler is a consistent Instagram poster, and also includes some of her artwork along with training and daily-life pictures.
Sprinter Sebastian Eisenlauer also posts gorgeous training shots:
