November 20, 2011 (Sjusjoen, Norway) – Norway grabbed the top two spots on the podium to the delight of local fans in the men’s World Cup 4x10km relay in Sjusjoen, Norway this afternoon, matching the morning feat of the Norwegian women. Petter Northug skied the anchor for Norway I which featured a lacklustre final leg that came down to a bunch sprint with eight teams vying for the win.

The leaders strangely slowed to a training pace during the final 10km as the group of eight skiers watched each other. Then in typical style, Northug attacked in the closing meters to open a gap on compatriot Sjur Roethe of Norway III and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson. As he crossed the finish line Northug again taunted the field with a quick look back with his pole straps already undone.

The US team of Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Tad Elliot and Simi Hamilton put in a solid effort, finishing 11th. For its part, the Canadian team was plagued by equipment problems and eventually abandoned the race.

Setting the pace through most of the race were teams from Norway, Sweden, Russia, France and Italy. Norway was at the front after the first leg but Russia 1 flexed its muscles with Maxim Vylegzahanin on the second 10km. Lars Berger (NOR) and Roland Clara (ITA) mixed it up on the third leg as Clara looked strong but Berger handed off to Northug first for the last 10km.

A break of five skiers that included Northug were away on the final leg but things slowed dramatically allowing some chasers to regain contact and the race became more tactical. The USA’s Hamilton was just behind on his own but could not make contact. As the final run to the finish approached Northug surged establishing a healthy lead as Roethe held off Halfvarsson for second much to the delight of the Norwegian fans.

Newell skied the lead-off leg for the US team and stayed in contact with the leaders despite poor grip and icy conditions, until the final two kilometres when he fell a little off the pace, handing off to Freeman in 9th. Freeman took over and skied strong to bring his team back into contact with the lead group, at one point taking over 7th spot, but he faded a little towards the end and handed off to Elliot in 10th.

“I worked really hard to catch the group ahead of me but didn’t realize they were the leaders and had I been more aware I might have race differently at the end of the leg,” Freeman told SkiTrax after the race. Elliot put in a solid leg, swapping leads in a small group with Norway II’s Tarjei Boe and Switzerland’s Remo Fischer before fading slightly. Hamilton skied the final leg for the U.S., crossing the line in 11th position.

It was a rough day for the Canadian men’s relay team, made up of Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Graham Nishikawa and Lenny Valjas, as they eventually dropped out of the race following a number of equipment issues. Kershaw lead off for the Canadians and was looking strong near the front when he became entangled with Marcus Hellner (SWE) and lost a ski, which went shooting off the trail into a crowd of spectators (readers may recall a similar type of situation plagued Kershaw at the Worlds in Oslo).

After retrieving his ski from a spectator Kershaw continued racing, but by this time had fallen back to 14th. He gamely pressed on and handed off to Babikov, who subsequently had his own equipment problems, breaking a pole and losing more time on the second leg.

Nishikawa skied third for Canada, but with the team so far behind and with the up-coming Kuusamo mini-tour in mind, they decided to abandon the race and rest rising star Valjas, who was to have skied the anchor leg. “We had lots of misfortune today,” said Head Coach Justin Wadsworth in phone interview with SkiTrax after the race, “hopefully we’ve gotten all of the bad luck out of the way today.”

Final results HERE.
Final results detail HERE.