January 08, 2012 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Dario Cologna (SUI) was unstoppable as he conquered the Tour de Ski claiming his third title with the 16th best time on the final 9km FR on Stage 9 up Alpe Cermis.

The real race was for the other podium spots as Petter Northug (NOR) was no match for the hard-charging Marcus Hellner (SWE) who had the third best time of the day to grab the silver, but the Norwegian held on for third collapsing across the line.

Devon Kershaw scored Canada’s best-ever result at the Tour finishing 4th. His teammate Alex Harvey, on the podium yesterday on the penultimate stage, yielded some ground today settling for 12th overall. Meanwhile Ivan Babikov, who won his first WCup on Alpe Cermis at the Tour in 2009, earned the 11th fastest time to land in the points at 27th overall.

“I’m exhausted,” said Kershaw. “Today was a little bit disappointing. It’s been a really good tour – a little bit of bad luck here and there – but it is the best finish ever at the Tour.  Fourth place is not something to be super disappointed about but, I’m not going to lie I really wanted the podium today.

“But 500 metres into the hill it was just too much. It was a real battle. Today was a real struggle. I’m better this year but I do believe I can be on the podium here and win this thing one day if everything comes together.”

For Harvey today was a let down as well but now he’s looking ahead as he told us, “This only makes me hungrier as I didn’t realize my goals at the Tour. I’m disappointed but now I look forward to the rest of the season.”

The USA’s Kris Freeman completed his second Tour – and remains the only US male to ever complete it – but he couldn’t match his stellar results from last year on the final stage where he placed 7th. Today the American veteran was just out of the points in 32nd to finish 43rd overall (last year Freeman finished 28th).

The winner of today’s grueling 9km FR stage was Russia’s Alexander Legkov who suffered with the wrong wax yesterday and clawed back some ground to end up 5th overall. France’s Maurice Manificat, who also had a rough day on Saturday, was second on the day and finished just behind former Tour winner, Lukas Bauer (CZE) who has won the Cermis climb as well but was 8th today and 6th overall.

Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth was excited about the team’s efforts and chances but conceded there was some disappointment as they wanted a podium. “We were looking good and it was exciting to see our chances but we’re all a bit disappointed as we hoped for a podium. It’s a great result and our best result, a real testimony to the quality of our team, so for sure we’ll be looking at ways to improve next year.”

For now the Canadian team will head to the warmth of the Canary Islands for some well deserved R&R as they will soon begin preparing for the upcoming WCups.

The crowds were out lining the course in Val di Fiemme giving skiers a taste of what’s to come next season when the 2013 Nordic World Championships will be held here. As another Tour de Ski comes to an end there’s no question that the skiers and the fans have embraced it with passion.

Men’s Final 9km FR Stage results HERE.
Men’s Final 9km FR Stage results detail HERE.
Men’s Final TdS Overall HERE.