November 21, 2010 (Gallivare, Sweden) – In a close finish to the wire Sweden 1’s Marcus Hellner held off Alexander Legov (Russia 1) for the win to the delight of Gallivare fans in the men’s 4x10km mixed technique relay with Norway 1 third on the podium.

Team USA got off to a great start as Andy Newell had a very strong lead off on the first classic leg and Kris Freeman caught the leaders on his classic section to put the team in 5th. Noah Hoffman held his own on his skate leg at only his second Euro World Cup with the team losing a bit of ground falling to 6th. But Anchor Chris Cook, who just arrived in Europe, had a tough day on the final skate leg as classic is his stronger suit, and the team finished in 17th.

For the Canadian squad in 18th it was another day of not hitting the mark. Newly arrived George Grey struggled on his classic leg and while Devon Kershaw was able to move the team into 19th on the second classic leg it was too little to late. Ivan Babikov advanced them to 18th on his skate leg where they ended up with Alex Harvey as the anchor.

“It was super day and I felt much better than yesterday,” said Newell who had one of his best classic days finishing 10th on the first leg 15 seconds behind the leaders. “I’m used the bumping and jostling on the opening leg so I felt relaxed and had a good start. Then Kris laid down a super race and Noah also had a strong day showing great form only falling off a bit. Chris did his best in the final lap – he’s better at classic. All in all we’re happy with the team’s performance – it was an encouraging start and we’re playing around with the order a bit to get things dialed.”

Freeman tagged off for the second classic leg and was suitably impressed with Newell as he jammed through the field with the third fastest leg time and bridged to the leaders putting the Americans in 5th. “Andy had a great start and we had three very strong legs. I was able to join the leaders and tag Noah who was impressive. I was a bit jealous seeing a young guy up there with the top skiers – I remember when I was 21 and at my first relay [laughs]. Chris is more of a sprinter and gave his all on the final lap – now we’ve got something to build on.”

With Kuusamo a mere four days away Freeman is excited as it’ll be his first mini-tour with a classic sprint on Friday, 10km classic on Saturday (his favourite), and 15km freestyle on Sunday. “I’m looking forward to my first mini-tour,” said Bird. On his 9th place finish at the previous day’s 15km Free he added, “You can’t be disappointed with a top-10 at any World Cup but my goal each race is the podium.”

The Hoff was on a high again following his stellar race. “I didn’t feel quite as good as yesterday but it was fun day and I was really excited when I saw Kris coming in with the leaders. I was able to stay with them for awhile and that felt good. I’m just psyched to have this opportunity and just ski well and not worry too much about the result. I’m excited about being with the team in Kuusamo.”

According to US coach Matt Whitcomb they were all pleased with both relay teams effort as they fine tune the program.”We’re trying some different things to stay in the race longer and stronger. Many teams go with their strongest skiers second so we tried this as well and saw some results. Newell showed he’s great in the scramble and Kris joined the leaders putting us in the top five. Noah is taking things in stride so well and is a real talent. He got bucked along the way but others did too yet he held his own. It wasn’t the ideal spot for Chris who’s more of a classic skier but he just arrived, went with the plan and did the best he could. It’s a case of tweaking and adjusting as we go forward depending on who’s in the mix.”

For team Canada just behind the US in 18th it’s a case of regrouping for Kuusamo as their expectations for the first World Cup were not realized. That’s part of racing and with the long season ahead Head Coach Justin Wadsworth is looking forward not back. “Yep, it was a tough day. Not much changed from Saturday – still some tired guys who are fit, but need some rest for various reasons. I’ve seen the fitness from each of these guys in training over the last few weeks, so it’s cliche to say it’s early, but it is and we will continue to do the right things to put us up where we should be.”

Full results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Sweden 1 (Mats Larsson, Johan Olsson, Daniel Rickardsson, Marcus Hellner) 1:29:56.3
2. Russia 1 (Evgeniy Belov, Maxim C Vylegzhanin, Petr Sedov, Alexander Legov) 0.8
3. Norway 1 (Eldar Roehhing, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Chris Andre Jespersen, Sjur Roethe) 47.9

17. USA (Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman, Chris Cook) 3:39.6
18. Canada (George Gray, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey) 3:43.5