January 20, 2013 (La Clusaz, France) – Norway emerged as the men’s 4×7.5km winner in what became a 4-horse race as Sweden, the Czech Republic and Russia I were in a see-saw battle with Norwegians from about the 16km mark as they separated themselves from the chasers. With less than a second separating the top three teams during the final charge to the line, Sjur Roethe (NOR) bested Sweden’s Marcus Hellner for the gold while Czech anchor, Martin Jaks, delivered the bronze for his team.

Norway's Roethe at the finish winning over Hellner

US fans were ecstatic during the first two classic legs as Andy Newell skied a super strong and smooth lead-off leg handing off to Noah Hoffman in 4th. The Hoff went to work dancing between second and third until the 12.5km mark when suddenly he dropped from 4th to 9th and was trailing the leaders by 23s. We found out later that a double dose of bad luck him as first he was involved in an unfortunate crash and then he broke a pole setting him further back.

“I was stoked with how today’s race went for me. Conditions were beautiful and sunny, because the sun was so strong and beating down on the track waxing conditions weren’t super easy but it looked like most people got it done well,” Newell told Trax post-race. “It was hard wax conditions but sticky hard wax. we had excellent skis again today. I felt like I recovered well from yesterday and was able to push hard again today. I really enjoy scrambling the first leg and skiing in the pack.

Andy Newell © Pam Doyle file photo

“I never tried to go to the front and push the pace but felt extremely comfortable again today skiing with the leaders. Going into the last few hills I was still feeling fresh enough to come to the front and tag Hoff in 4th so I’m excited with the way my distance skiing is going,” he continued. “I’m not sure what has gotten into me but this past weekend my fitness has been feeling great. It feels like I have absorbed all the hard efforts of the Tour well and have come out in better shape. That was kind of the goal of the season so I am excited with the way things are progressing.”

We spoke with US Women’s coach Matt Whitcomb who was really pleased with Newell’s performance and filled us in on Hoffman’s dilemma. “This was probably Andy’s best performance in a distance or relay race – he just couldn’t be dropped. Noah was looking great as well but ended up getting into a bit of a crash. His shoulder was ok but he couldn’t catch back on and then broke a pole at the top of one of the climbs – two strokes of bad luck on one lap. Overall we’re happy with the way everyone has performed, the team’s spirit and we’re up one spot over last year .”

Following Hoffman’s tag Tad Elliott was at 50s behind the leaders and skied mostly on his own as Italy and France made up ground. They caught him and he was bumped to 10th and then 11th by the time he handed off to Simi Hamilton who kept pace with Italy and France just ahead of him. When Finland in 8th ran into problems soon after the final exchange all chasing teams moved up a spot and Hamilton carried the US squad in for a 1oth-place finish – one spot better than last year in Sjusjoen, Norway (4x10km).

“First off a big up to Andy Newell and Noah Hoffman. Newell skied like a boss today. So did Noah. He was leading the pack on his leg and when the Russian, who attacked the group, came into Noah the only place for him to go was down. My Salomon skis were really fast. I’m still a bit off form but it’s fine as I want to be fast in one month at Worlds,” said Elliott.

Hamilton who is just getting over the flu was happy with his effort and echoed Elliott’s praise of the team’s efforts. “Today went well. Our guys skied well. Unfortunately, we were set back a bit with Hoff’s crash, but I think that each one of us skied a race today that we can hang our hats on, especially Newell. It was a tough for me coming off the flu but it felt good to go hard again and I’m excited for the races ahead.”

Russia I was in front as the leaders began the final leg but when they surge began to the finish line it was Norway’s Roethe that seemed to have the upper hand, yet Hellner, Jaks and Russia I’s Ilia Chernousov were all in contention. In the final kick to the line it was Chernousov that faltered slightly while Roethe claimed the win for Norway with Hellner a mere 0.5s back and Jak at 0.8s with Russia 9.3s behind.

Missing in action today were the Canadians as Devon Kershaw is still rebounding from food poisoning. They also had a tough day yesterday in the men’s 15km CL as they were one of the unlucky teams to choose hard wax in the end instead of hairies. But Harvey told us that the relay was not in the cards regardless of Kersh’s illness.

“It’s too bad Devon is not well but we weren’t planning to compete in the relay here since the beginning of the year as we build up to the Worlds,” commented Harvey [last year the Canucks didn’t finish the relay in Norway due to a lost ski and a broken pole and didn’t field a team at Nova Mesto].

“We’re putting in some volume as we prepare for the Worlds and it seems others are doing the same like we saw Poltoranen this morning during our training ski. As for yesterday we felt good with our hard wax decision but it turned out that we had no kick. Ivan [Babikov] said he was doing ok for 2-3 laps and for me it was hard almost from the start and things just got worse and worse for both of us.”

Both teams will now prepare for the Olympic preview WCup next weekend in Sochi but as Harvey pointed out the course won’t be exactly the same as at the Games… “We’ve only seen the course via a GoPro video but we heard that next weekend’s circuit is missing a section, perhaps a ploy by the Russians for a bit of home snow advantage.”

Full results HERE.