December 31, 2013 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland) – The USA’s Simeon Hamilton made history with his victory today in the men’s 1.5 FR sprint at the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide. It was the first men’s World Cup sprint win by a US skier as he joined the likes of Kikkan Randall setting another milestone since Bill Koch won the USA’s first World Cup back in the 1980s. Hamilton’s victory marked the second men’s stage World Cup win this season for the USA as Noah Hoffman had the fastest pursuit time at the Kuusamo World Cup in November.

Simi Hamilton takes the biggest win of his career ©

Hamilton, who is originally from Aspen, CO and earned his xc ski spurs at Middlebury College in Vermont, shared the final podium with Canada’s Alex Harvey (CAN), who is also on fire. Harvey, the race leader, landed on the podium again grabbing second place as he holds onto the TdS Leader’s bib for another day also capturing the Sprint Leader’s bib. Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby claimed third.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” an ebullient Hamilton told Trax in a post-race interview. “I felt good this morning and knew my energy was there after the qualifications. I remembered a chat that I had with US coach Matt Whitcomb last week that if you really want it you have to have the edge. Today I had the edge. It’s really cool to ski your heart out and match that with a win.”

Meanwhile this is Harvey’s best Tour de Ski yet and the boost the Canadian team needed.

“Our team has had slow starts, but outside the World Championships and Olympics, the Tour de Ski is the next biggest thing for us,” said Harvey.“It is awesome to have the leader’s bib. Every day that I start with it on my shoulders is extra special. Lots of people are fighting to grab the bib from me and who knows – maybe that even makes me go faster.

“I have three sprint podiums in my career and I have qualified in the 20’s every time so I know when you get into the heats, and the gun goes off, it is a fresh start,” added Harvey. “My tactics were perfect all day. I wanted to leave a little gap at the top of the last hill, but still be close enough to carry the draft. I was able to do that and generated a huge amount of speed around the final corner into the finish stretch.”

Harvey now has the Leader and Sprint bibs ©

It was an amazing start to the day for the Americans who went 1-2 in the qualifications as Hamilton was fastest, followed closely by teammate Andy Newell sounding the alarm that something was in the air in Switzerland. Harvey qualified 24th as Devon Kershaw placed 56th, Noah Hoffman was 83rd and Ivan Babikov was 97th.

Then it was time to get to work. Hamilton started off strong the heats strong, winning the first quarterfinal heat to advance, while Harvey and Newell also advanced with a pair of second-place efforts in their heats.

“I wanted to push the pace in the heats and force things. I felt good and knew I needed to be near the front and well positioned if I wanted to advance,” he explained. “The long downhill to the finishing lanes was an opportunity to slingshot but this could also work against you if you’re were leading.”

In Hamilton’s semi he was up against Harvey and Italian fastman Federico Pellegrino. Things were going his way as he charged to the front on the final climb and then slid downhill to the finishing lanes. But the chasers were hot on his tail and he got pipped at the line with Harvey taking the win and Pellegrino second. Hamilton settled for 3rd and Sundby in 4th but both squeaked through as Lucky Losers setting up the historic final. “I bobbled a bit when I started my final sprint,” admitted Hamilton. “That and the slingshot effect cost me the win.”

Newell also skied well in his semi, hovering in second and third place until the final straightaway, where he got pushed back into fourth as everyone charged to the line from behind and he did not advance finishing 8th on the day.

“It was an exciting day for us and we are all pumped up for the team right now. I felt good in the quali but didn’t think the times would hold up like they did. I think it goes to show you how our wax techs really did an amazing job today, we definitely had the fastest boards out there,” commented Newell.

Final sprint (l) Harvey, Hamilton, Pellegrino © Nordic Focus

The men’s sprint final was thrilling, with Pellegrino leading it out. Then it was Sundby who took control, as Hamilton and Harvey held third and fourth, respectively, until the final climb, when Hamilton made his move on the inside lane. He attacked and took the lead into the final straightaway and never looked back. Harvey was still charging too, trying to get Hamilton on the outside, but the American was untouchable this time as he flew to victory.

“I knew I had to change my tactic a bit in the final after what happened in the semi so I decided to ski around 2nd or 3rd and conserve my energy for the final push. At the top of the climb on the second lap, the Norwegian in front of me [Sundby] completely blew up and both of us lost a lot of time to the leader Pellegrino starting onto the downhill.

“But the draft that we got off of him allowed us to get a good slingshot at the bottom of the downhill and when I saw a small space open up between the Italian and the Norwegian I took it with about 150 meters to go before the finish. After I made it thru the space unscathed, I just focused on skiing fast but relaxed all the way across the line.

“I told myself to just ski smooth and trust my speed. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year and I’m really happy to share the podium with Alex,” added Hamilton.

Simi Hamilton rings in the new year in style... © Nordic Focus

US Head Coach Chris Grover was more than pleased. “It was a fantastic day for Simi and the team and we’re really excited to see him show his stuff. He and Andy really lit up the place this morning in the qualifications. Simi’s sprint win today and Noah’s distance win in Kuusamo are examples of the momentum on the men’s team,” commented Grover.

We caught up with Marty Hall, US XC Ski Head Coach when Bill Koch was making headlines in 80s for his take on the day. “Congratulations to Simi on making history with the USA’s 1st all-time sprint win, as he joins Bill Koch with multiple WC 1st-place finishes during the 1982 and 83 seasons, and this year’s 1st place distance finish by Noah Hoffman in the pursuit at the World Cup in Kuusamo. This is a stand-alone race win for Simi as the WC back in Kochi’s day did not classify any races as sprints,” commented Hall.

Final podium (l-r) Sundby 3rd, Hamilton 1st, Harvey 2nd © Nordic Focus

US XC Ski Team leader Kikkan Randall was on the edge of her seat watching in Davos, “Really cool to see my teammates ski so well today. I think I had more butterflies in my stomach watching both those finals today than I do for my own events. So great to see both Sophie and Simi ski so confident and strong in the rounds. Simi looked especially strong all day and I’m so happy to see him have a breakthrough result. The power of belief is amazing and this team believes now,” said Randall.

Results

1. Simeon Hamilton (USA)
2. Alex Harvey (CAN)
3. Martin Sundby (NOR)
4. Federico Pellegrino (ITA)
5. Finn Haagen Krogh (NOR)

8. Andy Newell (USA)
56. Devon Kershaw (USA)
83. Noah Hoffman (USA)
97. Ivan Babikov (CAN)

Qualifications here.
Results here.
TdS Overall here.
TdS Sprint Overall here.