December 02, 2012 (Kuusamo, Finland) – Petter Northug (NOR) was a marked man but few believed he could be caught starting with a 40-second advantage in the men’s 15km CL Pursuit, the final race of the Ruka Triple. But that’s not how the posse of 13 skiers that gathered behind him saw it. At 7.5km the Norwegian stud looked safe but the Russians were looking for more glory as Dmitriy Japarov lead much of the charge behind to reel him in.

As the seconds and the kilometres ticked down the pace quickened and the gap to Norhug began to drop at a feverish pace from 52.9 seconds to 47.6 then 36.9 and soon 25.3. That’s when Northug took his first look behind as three Russians, Dario Cologna, Alexey Poltoranin and Martin Johnsrud Sundby broke clear and made their intentions plain.

By the 12.5km mark the chase group had splintered to five as Japarov crashed on his own likely from a momentary lapse of concentration. At 13.9km the sport’s most popular man was hanging on to a 12.8-second margin as Cologna, Poltoranin and Maxim Vylegzhanin (Rus) attacked on the final hill with the Russian being the strongest.

He pulled closed to Northug on the final corner as the double poling battle began to the finish. This time the Norwegian was ready – just barely – as he held off the charging Vylegzhanin clinching the Ruka Triple victory, and his pride, as he collapsed at the finish in exhaustion. Poltoranin cruised in for the final podium spot… as he surrendered the leader’s jersey to Northug.

Behind the North Americans lead by Canada’s Devon Kershaw were making steady gains as the man from Sudbury has admittedly had a lacklustre start to his season. But a strong 16th on the day moved him to 22nd overall as the top North American. His teammate Alex Harvey is faring better but not today as Harvey was 34th landing just behind Kershaw in 23rd overall. But pundits will note that this is not unlike last year and with the next two WCups in Canada we’ve not the last from the dynamic duo.

Meanwhile Ivan Babikov continued his stellar start placing 30th on the day and 25th overall. “I’m happy overall with how things went this weekend. We all want more but we can see good progression and my form is much better than last year and we’re moving in the right direction,” Babikov told Trax in a phone interview. The Russian-native now a Canadian citizen will skip the sprints in Quebec City and focus on training until Canmore where he’s hoping for more…”progress…”

In the American camp there was reason to cheer beyond the women’s team who continue their march of excellence as Noah Hoffman threw down a 35th place showing today, only 5 spots better than his 40th last year, but with his weekend efforts that put him 26th overall… a far cry from 58th last year. Add his personal best 19th in the 10km FR the day before – his first top 20 – and you start to see the bricks in the Hoff’s wall.

“Today was a brutally tough day. It was cold. We got a couple inches of snow before the race and it was snowing during the race. The snow was slow and the course is one of the hardest we race all year. I felt good, but not as good as yesterday. I was struggling just to hold on to different skiers,” explained the Hoff.

“There wasn’t much strategy. I was happy to stay in the top-30 at the finish. I believe I can ski better than I did today when there is more in the tank, but I’m happy with the way I executed today. And I am happy with my results overall this week and want to build on this success all season.

“I am excited to go home and race in North America! It will be great to have our team get so much bigger! Unfortunately I won’t be joining the team in Quebec, but I’m looking forward to the hard courses at altitude. I believe the races in Canmore are important for me because the field won’t be as strong as it was this week. It will be a great opportunity to score points towards my goals of qualifying for World Cup finals and for the Red Group.”

Excitement is brewing as the spotlight now turns across the pond as the North American skiers get the chance to strut their stuff on home turf first in Quebec City at the inagural Sprint Cup Dec. 7-9, and then in Alberta from Dec. 13-16 at the famed Canmore Nordic Centre. With lighter fields the door is open a little wider for others to shine… either way some great racing lies ahead.

Full results HERE.