January 24, 2015 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Italy’s Federico Pellegrino took home his third consecutive victory winning the men’s 13km sprint on Saturday at Rybinsk. Russians Sergey Ustiugov and Andrey Parfenov were second and third respectively. Pellegrino now leads the overall World Cup sprint standings and according to FIS is the first athlete to win three consecutive World Cup sprint competitions in a row.

Final podium © Nordic Focus

“This is just amazing for me. I can’t believe I have won again. Before Davos I had never won a World Cup and now to have won 3 in a row is just unbelievable. I feel so strong right now. Hopefully with this success I can now find a sponsor for the front of my racing hat! Thank you to Russia for the great hospitality, the friendly people and for cheering for me today. I could hear it,” commented the winner.

The USA’s Simi Hamilton, Andy Newell and Erik Bjornsen all qualified but did not advance past the quarterfinals. Canada’s Alex Harvey was the lone Canadian to qualify for the heats but his day ended early as well.

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“It was not a good sprint for me today,” said Harvey. “I wasn’t in the greatest spot before the climb and got stuck behind a fall. I am now focusing on tomorrow’s 30 kilometre.”

In his heat Hamilton, tripped slightly on the soft uphill and lost contact. He closed to teammate Newell, in the same heat, but neither were able to find the speed in the final stretch to advance finishing 17th and 22nd respectively.

Simeon Hamilton (USA) © Nordic Focus

“Amazing day for Jessie and the ladies – any time we have four in the top 15 it’s a great day. It was also cool to see Erik [Bjornsen] score his first sprint points which is always a thrill and also helps us out when it comes to start spots for the next season.

“For me it was a tough day both with results and my body. Energy is ok and still improving each week but unfortunately I’ve been struggling with a neck injury since Otepaa which is really nagging. Quite painful and makes turning my head really difficult which can make sprinting hard also pretty difficult. If it’s not one thing it’s another for me these past few weeks, but at least I’ll get some time now to re-group and hopefully get healthy and injury-free before World championships.

Len Valjas (CAN) © Nordic Focus

We asked Newell what his favourite Russian food is…”I’ve been to Russia a few times and I think the best thing to eat is the rice porridge they make, really creamy and thick, good for keeping warm on those sup zero days,” he told Trax.

For Bjornsen who finished 24th – earning his first sprint points – it’s boiled potatoes… read on.

“I’ve been feeling better and better the last couple weeks. I was pretty happy with yesterdays race, only 25 seconds out of the top 30 in a skate race shows the fitness is good. Today I decided to go hard from the start since the fitness is there. The track was soft so I didn’t feel like I was superman but I kept the tempo up and tried to keep it light; It seemed to really work! I posted my best qualifier result ever and was pretty close to some guys I’m usually several seconds behind.

Jesse Cockney (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“Once moving onto the heats I was a bit of a spectator from the back of the pack. I see that you have to be on it and aggressive in the World Cup heats, not a surprise but something that I will learn from experience. Next time I will be a little less shocked to be there and a little more hungry for a semi final spot! I’m starting to really dial in my Rossignol fleet so I think my skis should just get faster and faster from here on out.

“Tomorrow was the race I was looking forward to the most coming into this weekend. I really enjoy distance mass start races. I’m definitely a little tired from the last two races and intervals in the cold on Thursday, but I have nothing to loose out there! Tomorrow is just another opportunity to ski with the fastest guys in the world..

“My favorite Russian food is probably the boiled potatoes. They put some sort of seasoning on it that really makes the pallet water,” shared Bjornsen.

Canada’s Len Valjas finished 42nd, teammate Jesse Cockney was 47th, while Patrick Stewart-Jones placed 52nd.

Full results here.