December 28, 2007 (Nove Mesto, Cze) – Defending women’s champion Virpi Kuitunen of Finland and national favorite Lukas Bauer opened year two of the FIS Tour de Ski on Friday, winning the opening prologue races.

Bauer covered the men’s 4.5km course in 11:00.6, six seconds ahead of Germany’s Axel Teichmann. Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset of Norway finished third (11:13.9) in the interval-start, classic technique race.

Two Canadian men competed. Devon Kershaw was 25th with a time of 11:39.2 and Dave Nighbor came in 37th in the field of 75 with an 11:46.5 clocking. The men raced over a course which included a 3.3 km track plus a 1.2 km sprint loop.

“I don’t think anyone knew how anyone would ski in such a short, distance race because it was the first one,” Kershaw said. “I was too tense today, and I am a little disappointed but we have no time to dwell on it. I need to park this race, regroup and be mentally prepared for tomorrow.”

The prologue race marks the official beginning of the 10-day affair, modeled after the Tour de France in cycling, which wraps up in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with a bruising climb into Cavalese from the Lago de Tesero plain below the village.

“The Tour de Ski is an amazing format,” added Kershaw. “The best skiers in the world are here, and they all want to win. I hope this is the future of skiing. It’s exciting and it looks like our sport is moving in the right direction.”

Women’s Race

Kuitunen, who used the inaugural Tour de Ski as a springboard to her World Cup overall title a year ago, finished in 9:07.8 with teammate Aino-Kaisa Saarinen runner-up in 9:13.5. Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland took third, another six seconds back. No North American women raced.

The 10-day Tour de Ski, conceived by FIS Cross Country Race Director Juerg Capol and Olympic champion Vegard Ulvang of Norway, features eight races in a relentless format patterned after the Tour de France cycling race. The races feature different distances and different skiing techniques; all athletes must complete each race.

Saturday, the men will have a 15km skate race in handicap start format, based on Friday’s results. The women will have a 10km skate.

Stay tuned for more coverage at skitrax.com.

Results (brief)

Women
1. Virpi Kuitunen (Fin) 9:07.8
2. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (Fin) at 8.32
3. Justyna Kowalczk (Pol) 17.38
4. Marit Bjoergen (Nor) 30.81
5. Seraina Mischol (Sui) 40.89

Men
1. Lukas Bauer (Cze) 11:15.6
2. Axel Teichmann (Ger) 11:16.6
3. Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset (Nor) 11:18.9
4. Sami Jauhojaervi (Fin) 11:19.1
5. Mats Larsson (Swe) 11:20.5

25. Devon Kershaw (Can) 11:39.2
37. David Nighbor (Can) 11:46.5

Full Women’s results.
Full Men’s results.