January 24, 2016 (Nove Mesto, Cze) – While the day belonged to Norway in the men’s World Cup 4×7.5km Relay, the USA and Canada delivered solid results in 8th and 9th respectively battling to the line on Sunday in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.

Russia claimed second at 6s behind the winners but the real battle was for the bronze with seven teams including the USA and Canada vying for the final podium spot. As the finish line approached Italy’s Federico Pellegrino put the hammer down to deliver the goods with Germany, Norway 2, Switzerland and France left wanting as the USA’s Simi Hamilton bested Canadian rookie Knute Johnsgaard at the line.

Team Norway © Nordic Focus

For Team U.S.A. it was an impressive comeback as Erik Bjornsen was able to move the team up from 12th to sixth in the second leg. The Canadian men were also pleased to match the nation’s second best cross-country ski World Cup relay result of 9th in La Clusaz, France in 2010.

“It was a super solid day for our team. To be ninth and only 75 seconds off the winning pace is really impressive,” said Canadian veteran Devon Kershaw. “It was just a lot of fun today. When you have four guys all skiing strong and you are mixing it up in the race, that is a blast.” Canada’s best WCup relay result was 5th in Gallivare, Sweden in 2012.

We caught up with several team members for their take on the day.

Hamilton and Johnsgaard at the finish

“Today was another fun relay for me. It was tricky conditions and a hard decision to run with skate or classic skis. Since it was a relay and risky to go the dp route I went with wax. It wasn’t a bad decision but I think I could have double polled faster. It was a super fun race and I felt stronger than yesterday, so I charged hard. Besides Sundby I think my split was pretty close to the the guys in front of me. It was just super cool to feel like our team was somewhat in the mix.  I think we can continue to improve and someday have a team that can be in contention for a medal.”

– Erik Bjornsen (USA)

Erik Bjornsen © Nordic Focus

“It was an amazing day for the women. It’s always so motivating to see them put together awesome races, especially in the relay when it takes four consistent, strong legs to get the job done. The men were definitely fired up for our race because of what they were able to put together. Scott Patterson, at his first ever World Cup relay (during his first ever World Cup races), skied incredibly well with an amazing amount of composure. He fought hard from the back of the pack and skied a really smart race. Both Erik and Noah skied amazing legs, keeping us as podium contenders by countering some really aggressive skiing of Norway, Russia and France during the 2nd and 3rd legs. It’s always awesome watching those guys ski a relay, they both (especially Erik today) just eat up people in front of them. They have a game plan in mind but know exactly how to react when something happens in the group they are skiing with or with the group ahead of them. And they always ski as hard as they possibly can to give me the biggest edge when it’s my turn.

Simeon Hamilton (USA) © Nordic Focus

I’m satisfied with the day, but I know there’s more there. I haven’t felt great all weekend but I wanted to put together a solid anchor leg today because I know that on the right day I can ski a great race and fight for the podium, and I always know that my three relay teammates are counting on me to have a good one. I was lucky that our pack kept if fairly casual during the first lap. A broken pole at 2km left me scrambling a bit to keep contact, but thanks to the French team and a few other handoffs from our coaches out there, I was able to get a new pole relatively quickly (within 2 km) and get back to the real racing. My legs definitely didn’t feel great heading into the last lap, and I really wanted to surge ahead to regain contact with the podium group ahead of us, but based on how I felt out there I focused on just getting to the top of the big climb without completely blowing up because I knew I would get some decent recovery before the long uphill into the stadium finish. I’m for sure happy with 8th today, but it’s a little bittersweet knowing that I was so close to that podium group during the entire leg. All of us men are psyched because we know that on the right day we can be in there fighting for a podium spot. We are patient and we are determined and we are going to continue to work incredibly hard to keep climbing up until we land ourselves on one of those three podium spots.

We’re off to Sjusjoen tomorrow for a nice little mental break from racing, and a solid training block, before the Drammen sprint next Wednesday. Looking forward to it.”

– Simeon Hamilton (USA)

Graeme Killick (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“I was definitely nervous to lead out a relay but it’s an order we have been talking about and it was good to give it a trial run today. I was really happy with how I felt today, the pace felt casual for the first two laps but I lost a basket through the last section of the 2nd lap and wasn’t able to get a pole till the beginning of the last lap. I had lost contact by that point but was able to ski well on my own and catch the chase group before tagging Devon. Our team is really happy with how today went and we are really excited to build on this for future relays.”

Graeme Killick (Can)

Len Valjas (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“It was a really fun race. I flew in the day before the relay because it wasn’t always in my plan to race. With the snowstorms in parts of Europe my long travel day got much longer. it took me 14 hours to get from Lienz Austria to Nove Mesto. I arrived after midnight.

“My race went really well. I felt no pressure after the crazy day before, I just went out and skied my best. Noah was really strong today and pulled me right up to the 3rd place group. I did my best to stay in contact on the steep climbs and made sure to close any gaps that formed on the long gradual downhills. Everyone on our team skied amazing today and I was proud to race with these guys today.
Looking forward to the next relay!

“My plan now is to train in Italy for a week and a bit and head up to Drammen  to race followed by the Sweden races. Then the plan is to skip Lahti and head home for Tour prep.”

Lenny Valjas (Can)

Devon Kershaw (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“It was a great leg for me today – I felt quite good and much, much better than yesterday which was a nice turn around. For the team – I am really happy with how the guys skied. It was awesome. Graeme had never skied leg 1 and did a great job (he lost a basket on his pole at one point, which was a bit of a bummer – but he skied like a champ), and Lenny was a beast in leg #3 (his first time skiing that leg as well). Knute held his own as well and for his first relay to be thrown into that situation (skiing for 3rd with a big group) he skied really well too. Fun day on the race tracks.

Knute Johnsgaard © Nordic Focus

“My leg was good, I got the tag in 13th I think but right with Norway #2 and the USA. I stuck to my race plan perfectly (be really relaxed and chill for the first 2 laps), and let Norway #2 do the pace – he was moving well at the beginning of the lap, and I was having no trouble staying behind him – and then on the last lap I pushed the pace a little more, dropping Norway #2 a bit, and Erik (Bjornsen) and I skied well to the tag to Len (and Noah for Erik). I was double poling a lot of the course – it was an easy track – and conditions were tricky for classic (with the fresh snow yesterday and then the temperatures warming up so much today (it was +1 or 0). I guess the only regret I have now looking back is that I should have at least tried to double pole. It would have been a gamble – but seeing the race again after it was all over and seeing how much faster Sundby was without any klister under his feet was great (he double poled and was almost 30sec faster  time-wise on our leg than Legkov (who was 2nd fastest on leg #2)… Other than that – I felt snappy, good energy, double poled most of it and felt good about how my race went.

“I am flying back to Oslo tomorrow morning and then preparing for the 50km classic which will be my next race in 13 days. I won’t do the Drammen classic sprint this time around, choosing instead to really try and be 100% ready for the 50km in Oslo. I love that course, and the venue/atmosphere and the fact that it’s classic – even better.”

Devon Kershaw (Can)

Full results here.