January 21, 2010 (Barrie, ON) – Out of nowhere on the second last race of the Tour de Ski Lukas Bauer (CZE) started to roll. He won the 20km mass start on the second last day by over 30 seconds, skiing away from the field and then won the final hill climb on the last day pulling away. At the Otepaa, Estonia World Cup he continued to roll winning the 15km classic by 17 seconds. It looks like Bauer has finally regained the form that won him the overall World Cup in 2008.

Two other skiers that seem to be coming into form are Andrus Veerpalu and Jaak Mae from Estonia who finished 2nd and 3rd in the same race. Veerpalu is a two-time Olympic champion and he has openly said that he is training for the 50km classic mass start race in Vancouver. He’s a classic specialist who has a habit of being at his best for big races. He won a gold in the 15km in Salt Lake in 2002 as well as a silver in the 50km. In Torino in 2006 he also won gold in the 15km and he was also the World Champion in 2009 in the 15km in Liberec.

Mae is also better in classic and has been on the podium before in the World Championships. They now join the ranks of the favourites for the 50km. The only question is whether or not they have the ability to sprint at the end of this mass start race. I believe that because the course at Callaghan Valley is so flat at the end that there will be sprint finishes in every mass start race.

Poland’s Justina Kowaczyk also continued to roll well winning again in Otepaa by 4 seconds in the 10km classic. A rested Marit Bjoergen (NOR) was 2nd and a tired Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) was 3rd. With Charlotte Kalla (SWE) 4th, Petra Majdic (SLO) 5th and Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) placing 6th in the results we can now see the cream at the top of the women’s standings. These are the women who are going to be in the hunt for medals at Vancouver in every race. The order will change, but they are the favorites. There are a few others, including Sara Renner (CAN) and Kikkan Randall (USA), who have an outside chance, but it’s going to be hard to get into this club.

The cream also rose to the top in the men’s sprint. Emil Joennson (SWE) and Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) battled right to the wire in the final with Joennson just finishing in front. This was the same result as the classic sprint at Callaghan Valley last January in the World Cup and could very likely be the same result in February. However, anything can happen in a sprint race so a prediction is far from certain. Overall they are the two best sprinters in the world in either classic or sprint but there are at least 10 others who could win on any given day.

The USA’s Andy Newell continues to qualify better than he finishes in sprint races. This week he qualified 6th and finished 13th. I still believe that he just needs one race where he breaks through to be on the podium to have the confidence that he can beat these guys. Like the hockey goal scorer in a drought, once he gets one I believe that he will get many more.

There was a whole new group of Canadian skiers in Otepaa looking for international experience and World Cup points. The only man to score World Cup points was Stefan Kuhn who finished 29th in the sprints.

The one Canadian standout was Dasha Gaiazova who was 12th in the sprint and 20th in the 10km classic. These are her best results ever and there is no doubt now that she will be on the Canadian Olympic team. In fact, I’ve had a number of people tell me that they think she’s the best female skier in Canada right now. One weekend does not a skier make but there was a good field in Otepaa and her results are good. Renner finishd 17th overall at the Tour de Ski so I would still give the nod to Sara, but Gaiazova is close. She has matched the best that Chandra Crawford has done this year in a sprint and can do much better in distance races that Crawford. This is good news for a Canadian team looking for women who can ski fast.

So far it has been a far different lead-up to the Olympics than it was in 2005-06 when Beckie Scott, Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford were winning races and on the podium regularly. In order for the Canadians to win the two medals that Own the Podium would like them to win these women are going to have to ski faster than they are up to now.

There are less that 25 days left to the start of the Olympics and it’s now time to start to ski fast. The wait is almost over and it’s time to shine. With final tune-ups in Rybinsk and Canmore the time for training is done – it is time to get rolling.