February 01, 2012 (Sochi, Russia) – Petter Northug (NOR) dialed in another smooth victory on the 1.8km FR sprint course at the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi, the longest and toughest on the circuit, with Swiss strongman Dario Cologna in second and Italy’s David Hofer third, scoring his first world cup podium. Foggy conditions with light falling snow made for slower sprint times.

Leading the North Americans was Canada’s Devon Kershaw in 8th followed by American Andy Newell who ended up 13th after qualifying 6th. Also advancing to the heats was Simi Hamilton (USA) who qualified 11th and Canuck Len Valjas in 15th. Not on the start line today was Alex Harvey as he injured his shoulder during a fall in training this week.

The Sochi course features a tough climb soon after the start which leads to a sweeping downhill before coming through the stadium again which racers must complete twice. Kershaw, who qualified 24th, finished third in his quarter-final heat, but advanced into the semis after being one of two luck losers. But the Sudbury, Ont., native is still having trouble finding that extra gear coming 4th behind Northug, and Russians Nikita Kriukov and Ilia Chernousov.

“Today was a step in the right direction and I am happy with it, but I still can’t seem to react to that big pace change which has traditionally been my strength,” said Kershaw. “This has been a great dress rehearsal for us. It is another World Cup, but the whole vibe is at a different level. Everyone is very diligent because the next time we are here it is the big show. We have one week to dial it in and I’m thrilled to be here.”

Newell had tough heat and was never really in contention finishing 3rd with Valjas 4th as they both were sidelined finishing 13th and 20th respectively. Hamilton faired the same after looking sharp taking the initial lead in his quarter final but then dropped back to finish 4th and was also out despite being in the second fastest heat.

“I’ve been recovering from a little bit of a cold so I was actually pleasantly surprised with how good I felt today,” said Newell. “The course is for sure really tough and it has been snowing non-stop so the conditions weren’t super fast. I wasn’t able to do any hard intervals over the last 10 days so after the qualification I was hurting a little – got a good puke in. So I wasn’t feeling too great leading up to the heats but once we got started I actually felt pretty good. Looking back I should have been more aggressive on the big uphill.”

Hamilton was happy with his racing but felt he could have executed better tactics. “It is an extremely tough sprint course. There are two main climbs, each about 90 seconds long. Looking back at my quarter final, I made a tactical mistake of trying to lead too much. I pushed the pace a bit too hard (that was the second fastest heat of the day) and I paid for it on the 2nd long climb,” Hamilton shared post-race.

In the final Ustiugov took to the front with Cologna 2nd and Northug 3rd as Russia’s Kriukov and Petukhov were at the back. On the second lap Northug dropped to 6th before 2nd climb and then Italy’s Hofer attacked tried to escape. But Cologna responded and soon Northug had moved up the hill on the inside into second.

It was game on as they rounded the final corner with Northug passing Hofer for the win and Cologna taking second. Still for Hofer it was a milestone as he captured his first World Cup podium.

Full results HERE.