December 10, 2005 – North America’s first ever men’s 30 km pursuit without a break lived up to it’s exciting name. There was no break for the men as they raced 15K classic, lapped into the stadium to change into their skate skis and poles and continued to race another 15K in skate technique.

It was non-stop, heart-racing action as the Germans dominated taking all top five spots, with only five seconds separating them all. Tobias Angerer, World Cup leader, took the win followed by Axel Tiechmann, 2005 World Cup winner, with Adreas Schluetter in third. During the press conference, Tiechmann was asked if there was a team plan to place racers in these positions and (with a German tongue in cheek) he replied, “Of course, it was our intention from the start to finish top five”.

Excitement abounded as Russian Ivan Babikov, who has been training with the Canadian Team and will be a team member once his Canadian citizenship comes through, stayed with the leaders for most of the skate race. Thrilled spectators saw Babikov in his Canadian team suit racing with the big guns and the stadium erupted with cheers. The competitors looped through the stadium four times on both disciplines and Babikov hung in to finish 14th only 8.5 seconds behind the winners.

Kris Freeman was the top US competitor in 23rd place, just 22 sec. behind the winner. The lead 20-25 skiers stayed together for most of the race and Freeman skied well and was only six seconds off the leaders with 3K to go.

Canadian Dan Roycroft led the Canadians in 37th, 2:22 back. George Grey sat in 39th, with David Nighbor just behind.

American Justin Freeman placed 43rd, at 3:13 with teammate Andrew Johnson just behind him. U.S. veteran skier, Carl Swenson, DNF’d.

Top-5 Men and North American Results

1.Tobias Angerer, GER, 1:17:19.2
2. Axel Teichmann, GER, 1:17:20.5
3. Andreas Schluetter, GER, 1:17:21.4
4. Jens Filbrich, GER, 1:17:22.7
5. Rene Sommerfeldt, GER, 1:17:24.1

14. Ivan Babikov, CAN, 1:17:27. 8
23. Kris Freeman, USA, 1:17:42.1
37. Dan Roycroft, CAN, 1:19:41.3
39. George Grey, CAN, 1:20:05.2
40. David Nighbor, CAN, 1:20:14.3
44. Andrew Johnson, USA, 1:20:33.3
46. Graham Nishikawa, CAN, 1:20:39.9
48. James Southam, USA, 1:21:46.8
52. David Chamberlain, USA, 1:22:20.8
54. Chris Jeffries, CAN, 1:23:03.0
55. Eli Enman, USA, 1:26:42.1
56. Adam Kates, CAN, 1:27:22.3
57. Brent McMurtry, CAN, 1:27:24.5.
DNF Carl Swenson, USA

Complete Results

1 ANGERER Tobias GER 1:17:19.2
2 TEICHMANN Axel GER 1:17:20.5
3 SCHLUETTER Andreas GER 1:17:21.4
4 FILBRICH Jens GER 1:17:22.7
5 SOMMERFELDT Rene GER 1:17:24.1
6 NOVIKOV Serguei RUS 1:17:24.5
7 ESTIL Frode NOR 1:17:24.6
8 PILLER COTTRER Pietro ITA 1:17:25.2
9 VITTOZ Vincent FRA 1:17:25.3
10 AASEN Geir Ludvig NOR 1:17:25.7
11 FREDRIKSSON Mathias SWE 1:17:27.0
12 CHECCHI Valerio ITA 1:17:27.2
13 DI CENTA Giorgio ITA 1:17:27.7
14 BABIKOV Ivan RUS 1:17:27.8
15 GAUSTAD John Anders NOR 1:17:29.0
16 TAUBER Martin AUT 1:17:29.7
17 SKJELDAL Kristen NOR 1:17:30.9
18 ALYPOV Ivan RUS 1:17:31.0
19 SVARTEDAL Jens Arne NOR 1:17:31.3
20 KOMAMURA Shunsuke JPN 1:17:32.6
21 MAGAL Jiri CZE 1:17:33.2
22 GOERING Franz GER 1:17:35.9
23 FREEMAN Kris USA 1:17:42.1
24 SANTUS Fabio ITA 1:17:51.1
25 ROUSSELET Alexandre FRA 1:18:09.2
26 IVANOV Mikhail RUS 1:18:09.3
27 HASLER Markus LIE 1:18:26.6
28 BUNDI Gion Andrea SUI 1:18:27.3
29 LARSSON Mats SWE 1:18:37.3
30 OLSSON Johan SWE 1:18:39.0
31 TICHKINE Dmitri RUS 1:18:43.9
32 EBISAWA Katsuhito JPN 1:18:58.8
33 JONNIER Emmanuel FRA 1:19:35.6
34 BURGERMEISTER Reto SUI 1:19:37.4
35 IMAI Hiroyuki JPN 1:19:37.8
36 PERRILLAT Christophe FRA 1:19:37.8
37 ROYCROFT Dan CAN 1:19:41.3
38 AUKLAND Anders NOR 1:19:53.5
39 GREY George CAN 1:20:05.2
40 NIGHBOR David CAN 1:20:14.5
41 MORIGGL Thomas ITA 1:20:20.5
42 STEBLER Christian SUI 1:20:31.7
43 FREEMAN Justin USA 1:20:32.6
44 JOHNSON Andrew USA 1:20:33.3
45 CLARA Roland ITA 1:20:33.9
46 NISHIKAWA Graham CAN 1:20:39.9
47 BOLCHAKOV Nikolai RUS 1:21:15.4
48 SOUTHAM James USA 1:21:46.8
49 VILARRUBLA Vicente SPA 1:21:47.4
50 FISCHER Remo SUI 1:21:50.2
51 BRINK Joergen SWE 1:22:20.3
52 CHAMBERLAIN David USA 1:22:20.8
53 HOFSTAD Tore Ruud NOR 1:22:56.0
54 JEFFRIES Chris CAN 1:23:03.0
55 ENMAN Eli USA 1:26:42.1
56 KATES Adam CAN 1:27:22.3
57 MCMURTRY Brent CAN 1:27:24.5
58 DERRICK Ben AUS 1:27:26.3
59 SIM Ben AUS 1:27:39.6
60 KOONS Benjamin NZE 1:27:50.5

DNF SWENSON Carl (USA)
DNF KUHN Stefan (CAN),
DNF EDER Johannes (AUT),
DNF KANAMARU Tomio (JPN)
DNF PIROGOV Dmitri (RUS)
DNF KOUKAL Martin (CZE)