December 30, 2008 – Wow, I know how the athletes must be feeling….even I need a break after Stage 3 of the Tour de Ski. It’s not my body that needs to rest, it’s my throat. I almost lost my voice tonight (Monday) during Stage 3 of the TdS which was followed by a two-hour show of the opening night of the 57th 4 Hills Tournee from Oberstdorf, Germany. But I love the work.

So, tomorrow (Tuesday) is a transit and down day at the TdS – and I’ll take the day off as well. Monday’s race in Prague was compelling with lots of twists and turns and surprises. The course is pretty flat on man-made snow and was held in downtown Prague just outside one of Europe’s largest exhibition and convention centers. Here are some of my observations and a recap of the first three TdS stages.

Prologue
Great start for Claudia Nystad of Germany in the Prologue at Oberhof, and ditto that for Canada’s Sara Renner. It was a nice way for Renner to start her first Tour even though she’s had a cold. For the men, the Prologue also was exciting for German Axel Teichmann on the 3.3 km course, just 8.2 seconds ahead of the holiday’s shooting star, Davos skier Dario Cologna. Isn’t he amazing ?

Yeah, he’s for real alright – the first Swiss xc skier to wear the FIS Yellow leader’s bib – he’s been great so far this season. Many people are rooting for him, not just in his homeland either.

In the Prologue you gotta give a big hand to Canadian skiers Devon Kershaw who finished Day One in 5th place, while George Grey was 9th – a terrific way to start.

Stage 2
Stage 2, saw more racing at Oberhof; a famed (former East German) sports venue which specialize in winter sports. The pursuit event, which included a men’s 15km and a women’s 10km in CL technique, saw Finland’s Virpi Kuitunen and Cologne grab the wins. Kuitunen started in 7th place and quickly moved up through the field to take the win just ahead of Marit B. – all by just 2.2 seconds.

In the men’s race, as noted, “Super Dario” won the race outright over Teichmann by less than 4 seconds. Again, what a day for Kershaw as he was third, ahead of “HUGE” talent. Grey was 34th – both have made huge strides forward. Look out for these guys, in 2010…pssst, it’s our secret, right ?

Defending Champ, Lukas Bauer , the defending champion showed some improvement that day finishing in 15th, but will be a marked man when the Tour goes to the small town of Nove Mesto, Cze?

Stage 3
Monday’s race in Prague was a corker. It was, however, sad, to see Devon go down, as he was looking so good. But, like I said on the air…two words – “that’s sprinting”. Dev tried to make a move on Marcus Hellner and slipped on some ice taking Hellner with him. Anything can happen, especially when you try to be aggressive. The winners today were Squadra Italia’s Arianne Follis, and Norway’s Tor Arne Hetland. You’ve seen the results, but there were some surprises like Vassili Rotchev of Russia (yes, his Dad was a medalist for the Soviet Union in Lake Placid in 1980) who finished in second. French langlaufer Jean Marc Gaillard, was third.

As said, Follis was the winner today, with just ahead of Finland’s Aino Kaisa Saarinen, with third place going to Petra Majdic (Slo). I was pretty captivated by the skiing of the 19 year-old Norwegian rookie sensation Marthe Kristoffersen, a newcomer to this level of skiing, who handled herself with great poise, recently called up to the Norwegian “A” Team.

So now the rest day – with overall leaders in the Tour’s GC looking like this – Cologna still in the red leader’s jersey while Follis takes over the lead in the women’s comp. The Tour Team cup sees Norway in the lead, with Italy second and Finland third.

Great racing, great sports theater, and I’m still loving Gjerdalen’s cool aviator shades ! Oh, along with Petter Northaug’s new shaved head. For sure, he’ll have less drag. Onward……

Cheers,
PG