December 30, 2011 (Obertsdorf, Germany) – Germany’s Axel Teichmann captured the victory and the series lead on Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski, winning the men’s 15km classic pursuit race in Oberhof, Germany holding off a hard-charging Petter Northug (NOR) who finished in 2nd with Dario Cologna of Switzerland in third.

Teichmann’s win ignited local fans in Oberhof and the finish might have been closer as Cologna went down on the final corner before the finishing straight taking a few skiers with him. Northug, who was just behind, deftly bypassed the crash on the inside, but lost time to Teichmann in the process. Amazingly Cologna recovered quickly from his fall and was able to challenge Northug settling for third as Teichmann takes over the TdS lead.

With fresh snow overnight and warm conditions around zero it was a tough day for the wax technicians and many did not hit the mark including the Canadians as Devon Kershaw lead the North American charge in 15th while his teammate Alex Harvey was 27th. Sweden’s Marcus Hellner suffered as well placing 29th.

Despite the tough conditions it looks like the USA’s Kris Freeman recovery is underway as he had the 20th best time of the day to finish 30th overall. Canada’s Ivan Babikov placed 52nd while the USA’s Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell came in 66th and 74th, respectively.

Northug led out the race after winning yesterday’s Prologue, but was quickly caught by Cologna and France’s Maurice Manificat. The lead group of three was then swallowed up by a much larger group of chasers and the pace settled down. The Russians and Germans soon established themselves close to the front and controlled the pace during the middle part of the race.

Knowing he didn’t stand a chance in a sprint finish, distance specialist and former Tour winner Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic, eventually increased the pressure up front with Jens Filbrich and Teichmann of Germany along with Russia’s Alexander Legkov.

With the pace accelerating, a lead group of roughly 15 skiers began to string out in the final kilometres, with Northug lurking behind in 10-12th position.

Just before coming into the stadium, with Teichmann in the lead, Cologna suddenly went down in the final corner bringing down Bauer and Matti Heikkinen of Finland in the process. Northug, who was just beginning to work his way to the front, side-stepped the crash on the inside and began chasing after Teichmann. Meanwhile Cologna made a surprisingly quick recovery and was able to catch on behind Northug and took third.

Full results HERE.
Pursuit detail results HERE.
Tour de Ski Overall HERE.