December 29, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – Followin the stage one 3km/4km Prologue  at the 7th annual Tour de Ski that kicked off today in Oberhof, Germany we caught up with women’s winner American Kikkan Randall and the top Canuck in the men’s race Alex Harvey via a conference call with Ivan Babikov (32nd-PB), Len Valjas (52nd) and Head Coach Justin Wadsworth. We also talked with Andy Newell (21st), Holly Brooks (11th) and Liz Stephen (21st) along with US Women’s coach Matt Whitcomb as the North American contingent has a strong presence at this year’s Tour de Ski…

Kikkan Randall

Conference Call

Matt Whitcomb

Justin Wadsworth

 

Andy Newell (USA)
Today’s race was super tough as always. Prologues can be an extremely painful experience, not so much when you’re out there racing but more after you cross the finish line it all catches up with you.

I have been feeling great during my preparation for the Tour so my expectations were high going into today. As someone who is not planning on doing the whole Tour, I just want to take each race as an individual day and just do my best. I think I paced things pretty well and probably could have pushed a little harder at the finish.

There’s always a tough headwind and a long finishing stretch which makes this course pretty brutal. But I was satisfied with 21st and I’m looking forward to trying to hang top 30 tomorrow.

It feels pretty amazing to be part of a Tour team with seven people. Of course, our ladies are one of the top teams in the world right now and the men have also started to come on strong since Canada – we have a lot of pride in having such a powerful presence here on Tour.

Cheers,
Andy

Holly Brooks (USA)
I was really surprised with my result today – elated and relieved actually. It’s the best late  Christmas present I could ask for! I’ve been feeling crummy for awhile – tired in Canmore and then dealing with heavy legs since arriving in Oberhof on Christmas Eve. Yesterday I had a horrible race-prep workout in my least favourite conditions – hard ice. This morning I was pleased to wake up to pea-soup fog. This meant slower snow which generally plays to my strengths!

When I actually got to the track for testing it was 180 degrees different than the day before. The snow was sloppy and dirty – not quite Quebec top-of-the-boot slush but slow.

As for my tactics, I got some really good advice this morning via email from Erik Flora. He said, “the Prologue is a lot like running the mile – for the first 1/4 find your pace, during the second 1/4 be patient and fast, in third 1/4 make the race, and on the last 1/4 hold on and kick to the finish. It’s good to break up the race into sections and then ski each section well.”

Today I was able to “ski into the race” rather than go out hard and messy and then die towards the end. I was tired at the finish but it wasn’t quite “puke-worthy”… (there were a couple of comments from other racers about that). Maybe I’m saving those efforts for later stages!

As for overall goals, I hope to collect as many distance points as possible through the seven stages of the Tour (six distance races) because my goal is to land in the distance red group which would subsidize my World Cup racing. As for the overall Tour, I’d be ecstatic with a top-20 finish. Last but not least, all my bones are intact this year so it’s already a step above last year!

Thanks/Cheers,
Holly

Liz Stephen (USA)
My holiday was good, I hope yours was as well. The race was solid today, but I definitely got tired with about 600 metres to go, and that was really tough. Into the finishing stretch there was a strong wind making the final 400 metres pretty tough and the deep snow on the climbs also added to the challenge! But it is great to be back on my feet again after having had to sit out in Canmore due to illness, which made for almost a month away from racing.

It is always a good reminder that after being sick or tired – or not yourself – how good it feels to have energy back again and be able to be a positive part of the team. Being healthy is so dang fun. Man oh man. And the Tour de Ski is my favourite event as well so I’m pretty fired up.

My goal for the Tour is to be in the top 10, so I feel like today was a solid start to make that goal. I’m psyched for tomorrow and to hopefully build on today’s result and of course I am so excited for Kikkan. Wow. This is so much fun.

Best,
Liz