December 13, 2014 (Davos, Switzerland) – The men’s 15km CL in Davos came down to the wire and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, the current overall World Cup leader, was up to the challenge claiming the victory by 6+ seconds. His teammate Didrik Toenseth settled for second after he pipped local hero, Dario Cologna, bumping him down into third place.

Men's podium © Nordic Focus

Canada’s Alex Harvey was the top North American in 17th marking the first top-30 finish for him in a distance race in Davos. Devon Kershaw finished just outside the points in 32nd while Graeme Killick was 41st, American Erik Bjornsen was 48th, Kevin Sandau (Can) was 70th and Reese Hanneman (USA) was 79th.

“The course was 95% exactly the same as usual, the organizers did a very good job finding/producing snow in the last week to provide us with a world class course. I’m actually very happy with 17th. It’s my first time ever in the top 30 of a distance race in Davos so it’s probably the race I’m the most proud of this season so far,” commented Harvey.

Three athletes (Cologna, Northug and Halversson) attempted the 15km CL with no wax – Cologna was hoping to claim his first ever World Cup win at home in Switzerland.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) © Nordic Focus

“It was a big dilemma to chose between classic and free technique skis. Until before the start I wanted to go on skate skis. I expected that last 5km to be really hard if I went double poling. After 10 km when I heard that Dario had a big lead I thought I made a wrong choice,” commented Sundby.

We caught up with Canada’s Kershaw who told Trax, “The course is always a tricky one here in Davos. Very old school – a lot of work at the beginning, a lot of flats, and then just a big descent into the stadium. Our skis were solid today for sure I felt like – although I didn’t ski with anyone out there, so it’s hard to compare. I will say that the fact that Dario, Northug, and Halversson went on skate skis (double poling only) was amazing. I can’t believe they were strong enough – I didn’t even consider that, but given the sucky snow conditions (it was about 6 degrees and sunny), it would have been way faster for many parts of the course.”

Dario Cologna (SUI) © Nordic Focus

Would Kershaw have done anything different in hindsight ? “I would have tested skate skis for sure. I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to use them, but I would have tested them. Also, I somehow lost over 20sec in the last 2.2km – about 1km of that is straight downhill, so I would like to be a bird flying above myself to see what the hell I was doing there. It cost me the points, and more realistically cost me the mid-20s. I am really, really disappointed with that finish to the race. Parts were going well, so to lose that kind of time in that kind of terrain is inexcusable,” he commented.

How about Sunday’s sprint? “It will be a fast one. Really fast – like under 2.5min. I think it’s a great course for both Lenny and Jess. Look for them to have real break-outs,” shared Kershaw.

“Tomorrow’s sprint course is usually pretty short here, 2:30, and now it’s even a bit shorter – not exactly my cup of tea length-wise but the terrain really suits me so I’m still optimistic about the sprint,” added Harvey.

We also heard from US rookie World Cup skier Erik Bjornsen who was hoping for a better result on today’s scoresheet. “I was really hoping for a better race effort out there today. For some reason I didn’t feel like myself. The combination of altitude and just getting done with 5 races in 9 days(Ruka and Mini Tour) left me feeling a little flat. I went out at a good pace and was able to hold it about 6 kilometers before the body tightened up.

Sundby passes Bjornsen © Nordic Focus

“Sundby went by me on the long downhill into the stadium on my first lap and I told myself I was going to try hard to stay with him even if it put me under, but he was in a completely different league. I maybe stayed with him for 1 kilometer but that was pushing it. Since I was the second to last starter after Sundby passed me I was left on the tail end of the race and I felt like I was time trialling by myself out there. It was a tough race but I think it was a good way to spark the body for tomorrow. I’m psyched to have another World Cup race in the bank though, I definitely learned some things out there today,” Bjornsen told Trax.

Full results here.