January 01, 2014 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland) – Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) surged in the final push to the line taking no prisoners on his way to victory on Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski, the men’s 15km CL mass start competition. In second was  Hannes Dotlzer (GER) followed by Stanislav Volzhentsev (RUS) in third just ahead of Germany’s Thomas Bing.

Poltoranin (KAZ) in charge © Nordic Focus

Canada’s Ivan Babikov had a strong day moving up from 75th to claim 19th as the sprinters took a backseat to the distance skiers just prior to the second rest day at the Tour. Babikov’s teammate Alex Harvey, the race leader, looked like he might contend but but just after the first bonus points at around 6km Harvey fell back into the 30s and never recovered finishing 40th. He now sits 3rd overall while Devon Kershaw was 47th.

Babikov (CAN), Petter Northug (NOR) © Nordic Focus

“It aas a good day for me, eventhough I spent a lot of energy coming from starting position of 75th. I was able to get into the leading group but didn’t have enough for a finish. My skis were OK, I wasn’t getting dropped on the downhills by much and could stay in the draft of other skiers.

“Every day at the Tour is a new story, today I felt good but no one knows how will it be tomorrow. I’m just trying to race day by day and do my best, at this point I’m just very happy that all those sprints are done, ” Babikov told Trax post-race.

Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby collected enough sprint bonus seconds to move himself into the overall Tour lead while Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson is +31.7s behind in second with Harvey 3rd.

Start... (l-r) Newell, Northug, Halverson, Harvey, Sundby © Nordic Focus

“I am very happy about my performance today. It’s my first victory of the season. I left some power for the final sprint. I felt strong and today’s result gives me good confidence for next training for the Olympic Winter Games,” said Poltoranin.

For Sundby it’s a matter now of hanging on. “The most important goal today was to keep Legkov and Halfvarsson behind me. The Norwegian team had great team tactics. We spoke about it also during the competition. Petter (Northug) helped me a lot today. I am looking forward to the next stages, especially for Cortina-Toblach stage. I feel strong for the 35km free,” he told FIS XC.

Men's final podium © Nordic Focus

Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) led the U.S. men in 55th with a strong race going until he crashed and broke both poles. While the Swiss team got him replacements, it was another half lap before he got poles that were the proper length. Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton will drop out of the Tour, as planned, to rest and train for the final pre-Olympic World Cups.

Thursday will be the second rest day of the Tour before the men’s point-to-point 35km free technique competition from Cortina-Toblach, Italy.

Full results here.