November 23, 2014 – It as another busy day of competition across Scandinavia including Rovaniemi, Finland; Beitostolen, Norway; Bruksvallarna, Sweden; Saariselkae, Finland; Gallivare, Sweden. Our next race report will be from the World Cup season opener next weekend in Ruka, Finland.

Petter Northug... © Nordic Focus

Rovaniemi, FINLAND

Krista Parmakoski put in a strong effort to take her first Finnish Cup win of the season.  After being close a number of times so far she stopped the clock in today’s 10 km classic in a time of 25:03.7 to win by 21.4 seconds ahead of Kerttu Niskanen.  In third was Laura Mononen +48.4.

Women (brief)
1. KRISTA PÄRMÄKOSKI 25:03.7
2. Kerttu Niskanen +21.4
3. LAURA MONONEN +48.4
4. ANNE KYLLÖNEN +59.6
5. Riitta-Liisa Roponen 1:03.3
6. MONA-LIISA Malvalehto +1:11.0

Complete women’s results available HERE.

Iivo Niskanen showed he is coming into form for the start of the World Cup season winning the 15 km C. Strong from the start Niskanen charged to the finish line to win by 19.3 seconds over Sami Jauhojärvi.  In third was Ville Nousiainen +27.9.

Men (brief)
1. IIVO NISKANEN 33:59.4
2. SAMI JAUHOJÄRVI +19.3
3. VILLE NOUSIAINEN +27.9
4. JUHO MIKKONEN +35.8
5. RISTOMATTI HAKOLA +54.3
6. PERTTU HYVÄRINEN +1:01.6

Complete men’s results available HERE.

Iivo Niskanen (FIN) © FIS

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Beitostolen, NORWAY 

Petter Northug Jr. stole a victory away from the day’s fastest qualifier Sondre Turvoll Fossli in the final meters to win the Beitostolen classic sprint competition.  In third was Johan Kjølstad +1.1 back.

Men’s CL Sprint Final
1. NORTHUG JR Petter NOR 3:32.3
2. FOSSLI Sondre Turvoll NOR +0.4
3. KJØLSTAD Johan NOR +1.1
4. GOLBERG Pål NOR +4.1
5. BAKKEN Timo Andre NOR +6.4
6. HATTESTAD Ola Vigen NOR +6.6

Complete men’s sprint results HERE.

Despite qualifying in 15th position Barbro Kvåle shocked the home crowd winning the ladies’ classic sprint final.  Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes took second just +0.3 back and in third Kathrine Harsem +0.5.  It was a tight finish with the top four separated by just 0.9 seconds.

Women’s CL Sprint Final
1. KVÅLE Barbro NOR 2:56.8
2. GJEITNES Kari Vikhagen NOR +0.3
3. HARSEM Kathrine NOR +0.5
4. ØSTBERG Ingvild Flugstad NOR +0.9
5. VISNAR Katja SLO +4.9
6. CARL Victoria GER 2:55.93 +5.9

Complete women’s sprint results HERE.

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Charlotte Kalla (SWE) © Nordic Focus

Bruksvallarna, SWEDEN

Charlotte Kalla completed the sweep of the competitions in Brukvallarna handily winning the ladies’ classic sprint.  In second +2.35 seconds back was Ida Ingemarsdotter and third went to Hanna Falk +2.75.

Women’s CL Sprint Final
1. Charlotte Kalla SWE 4:09.61
2. Ida Ingemarsdotter SWE +2.35
3. Hanna Falk SWE +2.75
4. Maja Dahlqvist SWE +14.12
5. Lina Korsgren SWE +20.74
6. Evelina Settlin SWE +25.52

Complete women’s sprint results will be available HERE.

In the men’s sprint competition Calle Halfvarsson finally got a much deserved win after taking second place by a combined +1.0 seconds during the previous two competitions.  In second place was Maciej Starega of Poland +0.51 and in third Teodor Peterson +0.63.

Men’s CL Sprint Final
1. Calle Halfvarsson SWE 33:44.70
2. Maciej Starega POL +0.51
3. Teodor Peterson SWE +0.63
4. Carl Quicklund SWE +1.55
5. Simon Andersson SWE +4.19
6. Oskar Svensson SWE +11.10

Complete men’s sprint results will be available HERE.

Saariselkae, FINLAND

Alexander Legkov led a Russian sweep of the men’s 15 km F competition in Saariselkae today.  It was a dominant performance from Legkov winning in a time of 36:37.4.  In second place was Andrey Larkov +26.9 and Maxim Vylegzhanin in third +29.6.

Men
1. LEGKOV Alexander RUS 36:37.4
2. LARKOV Andrey RUS +26.9
3. VYLEGZHANIN Maxim RUS +29.6
4. TURYSHEV Sergey RUS +36.1
5. YOSHIDA Keishin JPN +47.5
6. LIVERS Toni SUI +55.0

Complete men’s results available HERE.

Alevtina Tanygina of Russia won the ladies’ 10 km F with just 7.3 seconds separating first from third.  IN second place +6.2 seconds behind the winning time of 29:01.4 was Kateryna Serdyuk of Ukraine.  In third was Maryna Antsybor also from Ukraine.   

Women 
1. TANYGINA Alevtina RUS 29:01.4
2. SERDYUK Kateryna UKR +6.2
3. ANTSYBOR Maryna UKR +7.3
4. ISHIDA Masako JPN +8.6
5. KOBAYASHI Yuki JPN +17.2
6. SHEVCHENKO Valentina UKR +36.4

Complete women’s results available HERE.

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Gallivare, SWEDEN

It was a battle again today in Gallivare between Russia and Canada but this time in the 15 km classic.  Evgeniy Belov of Russia came out on top with a winning time of 35:04.0, enough for a 20.7 victory over second place finisher Sergey Ustiugov.  In third was Canada’s Alex Harvey +27.5  Like the day before it was all Russia/Canada in the top six with three from each nation.  

Men
1. BELOV Evgeniy RUS 35:04.0
2. USTIUGOV Sergey RUS +20.7
3. HARVEY Alex CAN +27.5
4. VOLZHENTSEV Stanislav RUS +1:24.8
5. KERSHAW Devon CAN +1:25.3
6. BABIKOV Ivan CAN +1:38.6

Complete men’s results available HERE.

Petra Novakova led a full Czech podium in the ladies’ 10 km classic.  Winning in a time of 25:44.0, Novakova was joined on the podium by teammates Eva Vrabcova-Nyvltova +39.0 in second and Karolina Grohova +50.9 in third.   

Women
1. NOVAKOVA Petra CZE 25:44.0
2. VRABCOVA – NYVLTOVA Eva CZE +39.0
3. GROHOVA Karolina CZE +50.9
4. NISHIKAWA Emily CAN +1:22.8
5. MANNIMA Tatjana EST +1:29.8
6. RAJU Heidi EST +1:53.6

Complete women’s results available HERE.