November 28, 2011 (Kussamo, Finland) – While all eyes were watching Norway’s Petter Northug and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna duking it out for overall supremacy in the World Cup mini-tour in Kuusamo, Finland, this past weekend several other battles were unfolding behind as the top xc skiers in the world jockeyed for position and a place in the sun.

In the Canadian camp Devon Kershaw was locked in a battle of his own, trying to overcome the demons brought on by a slow start to the racing season while his teammates Alex Harvey and Lenny Valjas looked to continue their great starts to the season that began in Sjusjoen.

For the USA’s Kris Freeman a somewhat lacklustre beginning in Norway, in contrast to his great start in Munio, Finland, last year, meant facing a challenge similar to Kershaw. While the American women were turning heads the men were having a so-so welcome to the WCup.

Prior to Sunday’s final stage of the Kuusamo mini-tour, a 15k classic pursuit, Kershaw’s best result so far this season had been a 28th in a FIS race in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, and he had yet to crack the top 30 in his three previous World Cup starts. Not mention his disastrous opening leg of the men’s 4x10k relay in Sjusjoen, in which he lost a ski into a crowd of spectators. “I was pretty down and it is hard not to freak out when things aren’t going right, but I knew I had done good training and you have to maintain perspective and stay positive,” Kershaw said in a Cross Country Canada release.

Kershaw and Freeman both love classic racing, and while it was not the American’s day despite “loving the 15km classic”, Kershaw finally wrestled the demons down in Sunday’s classic pursuit, posting the 8th fastest time of the day, in the process climbed from 37th to 20th in the overall standings.

While not as impressive as his 10th overall result here last year, Sunday’s race was a much needed boost to his confidence and confirmation that perhaps things were starting to head in the right direction. “For me, I needed that race really badly. It was super important for me,” the 28-year-old Kershaw continued. “It is nice to have a decent result in the top-10 and it is good confirmation for sure.” Kershaw has moved into 23rd overall in the World Cup standings after the weekend. Freeman meanwhile day ended up 56th to finish the tour ranked 43rd overall.

Canada’s Harvey, who suffered during the first two stages also had a great race on Sunday, skiing 7th fastest on the day, good enough to place him in 11th overall for the tour and lead the North Americans. “It was nice to bounce back today after not doing so great in the last two races,” said Harvey in the release, referring to his failure to crack the top 20 in the first two stages of the Kuusamo event.  It is a measure of how Harvey’s expectations of himself have increased that anything less than a top 20 is now considered an “off ” day for the young Canadian star from Quebec. Harvey continued, “Usually with individual starts I start out very conservative, but today I chased really hard right from the beginning. I was hurting on the fourth lap but the final two laps were really good. The whole strategy is to always catch the group in front of you and pass as many guys as you can.” After Kuusamo Harvey sits in 9th in the overall World cup standings.

Farther up the trail from the Canadians, the Kuusamo mini-tour came down to a two-man duel for the overall victory between  Northug and Cologna. Northug began the 15km Classic handicap race with a 12-second advantage but Cologna soon caught him – or as many suggested that Northug let him. The two played cat and mouse, away on their own for the entire race. Northug was seemingly invincible, holding off the Swiss star for the overall win as Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) delivered the fastest time for the final stage win.

Northug’s teammate Eldar Roenning was another warrior battling from behind using his dynamic classic skills to come from 18th grab second on the day and third overall in a five-man battle for the last spot on the mini-tour podium.

“Today, I was strong enough,” Northug told FIS Cross Country after the race. “I had good work together with Dario. I knew we had to go hard so the group didn’t catch us. I like these mini-tours. This was very good training for Tour de Ski where it will be even tougher.” With his victory in Saturday’s skate race and the overall crown in Kuusamo, Northug takes over polr position in the World Cup overall standings with 355 points, 77 points ahead of Cologna.

“I’m happy with second place,” Cologna told FIS Cross Country today. “Now I’ll go home and looking for snow somewhere,” he continued, alluding to the lack of snow in his home town of Davos, which is scheduled to hold a World Cup race in two weeks. “I need a little bit of time to get in better shape before the Tour de Ski, but I am very satisfied with my first two World Cup weekends,” he added.

Canada’s Valjas, who placed 5th in Friday’s sprint race, started the day in 17th overall and did his best to minimize the anticipated damage by the circuit’s distance specialists. Valjas skied to a respectable 43rd place finish and ended the mini-tour in 29th overall. His performance in Kuusamo will certainly help establish his credentials as an all-round competitor and may earn him more starts in distance events in the future and possibly a ticket to the Tour de Ski.

Other Canadians finishing the men’s mini-tour in Kuusamo included Ivan Babikov (46th); Kevin Sandau (73rd); and Graham Nishikawa (81st). Drew Goldsack did not start the final race.

The American men buoyed by their female teammate’s results could not match the their success but still put in some solid results. Noah Hoffman was the fastest on the team, finishing 40th on the day and leapt from 83rd to 58th overall. Andy Newell skied just a few seconds slower than Freeman to finish 58th on the day and 72nd overall. Lars Flora and Tad Elliott finished the tour in 87th and 95th position overall.

Final 15km Classic results HERE.
Final Mini-Tour standings HERE.
Overall WCup standings HERE.