February 27, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Norwegian Petter Northug set a devastating pace out of the start in the 15km individual start and created a gap large enough to hold on to his first gold of the 2013 FIS Nordic World Championships. At the 6.8km mark he was more than 23 seconds up on the silver medalist, Sweden’s Johan Olsson. While Olsson was faster than Northug over the final kilometers of the course, it wasn’t enough to take the title from the Norweigan great, and he had to settle for the second spot on the podium.

Canada’s Ivan Babikov hung on to Alexander Legkov (RUS), who skied the first half of the 15km slow enough for Babikov to catch up, but the Russian picked up the pace in the final stages of the race allowing Babikov a great slipstream.

Yet the Canadian bulldog was just pushed out of the medals by the aviator-sunglass-wearing Tord Asle Gjerdalen (NOR). Gjerdalen, who is the alternate for the Norwegian relay team, tied his best-ever individual result at the World Championships as he won bronze in the 50km in Oslo in 2011.

“It isn’t a medal, but I’m pretty happy for sure,” said Babikov, who has enjoyed the best season of his career – crediting his strong results to a new training program set out by himself and Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth last summer. His performance is the best result by a Canadian male in the 15 kilometre individual start skate-ski race at Worlds.

“I have not been feeling great last week, and was pretty down after the pursuit. To get my body and legs back is really good. Our team worked amazingly well today. My skis were awesome, and it was really important for my confidence to have this race today.”

American Noah Hoffman also had an incredible day in 15th. Hoffman went out slow, and picked his way through the ranks on each subsequent split time.

“My plan was to go out under control. I was able to do that today. I felt very under control in the 40s at 1.8k which was exactly where I wanted to be,” said Hoffman. “Late in the race I got on (Lukas) Bauer. I was struggling to stay with him but he was a good ride for me. With a lap to go I was 20th and following him I moved up to 15th.

Other North Americans included Devon Kershaw in 33rd, Tad Elliot in 34th, Graham Nishikawa in 39th, and Erik Bjornsen in 48th.

Full results HERE.

January 03, 2012 (Toblach, Italy) – Russia’s Alexander Legkov finally broke through for his first podium of the season, a victory in today’s 5th stage of the Tour de Ski, an individual start 5km classic race in Toblach, Italy. Legkov finished today’s race in 13:49.5. Norway’s Eldar Roenning came in 2nd at 1.7 seconds followed by Dario Cologna (SUI) in third at 2.0 seconds back as he takes over the race lead from Norway’s Petter Northug was a little off the pace today, finishing in 12th.

The Russians were out in force in today’s race and surely nailed the wax or made the best of their zero skis, after placing six men in the top 11. Canada’s Devon Kershaw lead the North American men placing 18th as he finished 24.6 seconds behind Legkov. His teammate Alex Harvey had a bit of an off day, placing 29th at 37.5 seconds back of the leader. Ivan Babikov, who is nursing an injured arm after crashing in the Skiathon on Jan. 1, finished in 72nd place.

It was another tough day for the US team as well, with Simi Hamilton pulling out the Tour prior to today’s race, the victim of a stomach virus, according to Head Coach Chris Grover. The sole remaining US man in the Tour, Kris Freeman, finished 52nd on the day.

Cologna moves into the overall Tour lead after today, while Northug drops to 2nd, followed by Legkov in 3rd. Legkov’s victory today, including a 15-second time bonus for the win, has closed the gap to Northug  to less than 30 seconds, so the Tour is beginning to look more like a three-man race.  Kershaw holds onto 5th place, while Harvey has dropped to 15th overall after today’s disappointing result.

5km CL results HERE.
Tour de Ski Overall HERE.

February 28, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – At breakfast on Sunday morning, the sun started peaking from behind the clouds and by the time we got to the stadium, the sun was shining warm and bright (check out the interview with Peter Graves to see the sun).

As you can see from our photos though, the clouds started rolling in again and the sky was covered by the time [Petter] Northug made his final charge for the finish line. Thank goodness the jumbotron and stadium were visible today though, what a race!

The roar of the crowd when a Norwegian edged into the lead contrasted greatly with the hush of concentration, nervousness and anticipation when the skiers were out on the course and another nation’s skiers were making moves.

Northug gave us a peek at his cards each time the lead pack came into the stadium by making a quick move to the front as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’m here”, which was followed up by a cheer from the crowd. The emotions were palpable when, for example, [Alex] Harvey (CAN) took a 16-second lead during the skate leg, [Alexander] Legkov (RUS) took a spill prior to the final climb and when [Marcus] Hellner (SWE) made a charge in the final 2km and again in the stadium but could not break away.

The energy bursting from Holmenkollen when a Norwegian wins is unbelievable!

Northug’s win today was big for both him, and the crowd. He commented after the race that he had met his goal for this World Championships and that the rest of the medals he might win are just icing on the cake. No word yet on weather he will race all of the rest of the events or if he will sit out the individual start on Tuesday to “save” himself for the relay and the 50km.

World Champs and Waxing
Waxing and weather have been a challenge so far during these World Championships for skiers and wax techs alike. Saturday’s women’s pursuit race was, as some said, “Won by wax techs”. As you may have seen in yesterday’s interview with Krista Lähteenmäki, or as might be written about the Swedes in today’s race, you can’t hit it on the nose every time… even with a knowledgeable staff that has tested “everything”.

Waxing at this level takes time, effort, experience, and judgment skills. Each team is testing skis and different wax combinations throughout the day. Wax techs, coaches and skiers compare notes and work together to find their magic combination for the day, while wax companies also have technicians and testers that are reading weather reports, testing and conferring with teams. It is exhausting work, but at the end of the day, can make a difference between going home with gold or not.

The wax techs here have told us that stonegrinding immediately before a race is not a problem. While the average skier can spend hours waxing one pair of skis for an event, the wax techs here can prep a whole teams’ worth of skis in one day (or less, if they have to).

We’ve been told, for example, that some teams have all of their wet-snow skis stoneground before each use and if necessary a ski can be prepped quickly with just some base wax, fluoride graphite molybdenum mix and a little more base wax, prior to race waxing (powders/gels).

As you know, snow conditions can change in an instant, which might spell nightmare for the average skier, but wax techs are able to switch gears and change race wax in a matter of minutes, if necessary. Despite hours of testing and years of experience, tested wax doesn’t always work after the gun goes off, and there is no mathematical formula for the perfect skis.

We can let you in on a little secret about waxing at large events like this one. Each wax company has newly developed products that are not yet on the market but are in tubes and containers with hand-written codes on them that are passed discretely to team wax techs sometimes accompanied by whispers and a wink (“007” like moves).

That’s it for the secrets today because either a) one of our sources might read this and refuse to tell us/show us more, b) this website is open for the world to see – we wouldn’t want the information to fall into the wrong hands (just kidding?).
What Swedish Fans Predict

Interview with Emil Joensson’s Parents

Interview with Peter Graves

Interview with Sochi’s FIS study group

Interview with FIS CC Jury member

Interview with former Swiss President

January 06, 2011 (Cortina, Italy) – Dario Cologna (SUI) hammered out a lonely 35km from Cortina to Toblach, Italy to maintain his dominant overall lead in today’s 6th stage at the FIS Tour de Ski. As leader of the Tour, Cologna started first in today’s handicap start, and no one could catch him. Swede Marcus Hellner came the closest, finishing second at 1:11.4 behind. Norway’s Petter Northug was the strongest in the chase group to finish third at 1:50.3 behind.

Canada’s Alex Harvey skied a very strong race today, finishing 5th. He helped control a chase pack of about 10 skiers that formed behind Hellner who broke away on his own attempting to bridge to Cologna to no avail. The group was intent on hunting down the leaders and by km 16, Harvey was pulling for Kershaw.

“It feels pretty good sitting in 5th! I’m kind of surprised, I was always coming to the Tour with the ambition of having 2-3 good days, not going for the overall,” said Harvey by email.

With Cologna skiing off the front at 5km, Canada’s Devon Kershaw had initially gained about 5 seconds on the leader and  was followed closely by Hellner but couldn’t maintain the pace.

“Today’s race was frustrating. I felt good again but when Hellner went by me he was on another level,” Kershaw told SkiTrax.  “I was going for it – but alone in the wind with a chase group of 10 breathing down hard on me – I was quickly swallowed up. I know I will celebrate my two 2nd place finishes and my career-first win when I get home, and I know I’ll be thrilled about them, but today I was left frustrated.”

Harvey said Kershaw’s three recent medals were on his mind as he raced. “I was motivated by watching Devon yesterday,” he said in a CCC press release.  “We saw Devon win a race and have three podiums – we know it’s possible. Today I was right there myself and I know I can get on the podium too.”

Along with the Canucks, the 10-skier chase pack included top skiers like Petter Northug (NOR), Lucas Bauer (CZE), Martin Jaks (CZE) and Daniel Rickardsson (SWE). The group skied well together at first, but by km 21 they seemed disorganized. When it became apparent that they weren’t likely to close in on Cologna or Hellner, they began to lose time as they each worried about the approaching finish line.

In the final few kms the pack began to splinter and it was every man for himself.

“The pack was very disorganized out there coming down the hill,” said Kershaw.  “Northug and Alex’s skis were definitely a notch above the rest, but with an opportunity for 3rd place in that pack – no one was willing to sacrifice to get back on Hellner.”

“I was pushing hard on the downhill part with Northug,” said Harvey.   “It seamed like people gave up on chasing Hellner and started racing for 3rd place, which is kind of stupid in a handicap start.  Who cares about the 3rd place really? I’d rather be 9th 30sec down on Hellner than 3rd 55sec down.  I was surprised that Northug was pushing the pace… he’s not known for doing that, but was 3rd in the end.”

Harvey said he felt that Kershaw’s pack could have done more to catch Hellner early on instead of resigning themselves to third, but as for catching Cologna, “No way in hell. He’s just better than anyone else right now, calm, strong and always putting himself in the right spot.”

As the skiers closed in on the finish line, Northug was able to best the few survivors of the chase pack, with Harvey taking a photo-finish over Rickardsson and Curdin Purl (SUI) to finish 5th. Kershaw finished 10th behind Matti Heikkinen (FIN) and Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA).

“It was OK for the guys today,” said Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth. “Alex was in good company to move up well. I would say it was a good day for him. Devon was OK too – he maintained his spot for the whole way up the hill, but succumbed to the group on the gradual down. It would have cost a lot of energy today for him to really go for it, and it might have been too much of a risk, especially with the 20km classic coming up. Ivan had a good day and moved up which puts him in a spot to improve more in the following days.”

Wadsworth said the team’s “rock-star” bus proved yet again to be a great tool for the athletes. “The bus is really serving it’s purpose with great recovery between stages, and a sanctum for the guys to prepare for battle. It came in really handy this morning in Cortina where there was no good place for the athletes to be.”

Canada’s Ivan Banikov finished 25th and the USA’s Kris Freeman placed 28th after starting in 20th and is 28th overall. Freeman’s teammate Andy Newell decided to call it quits and didn’t start today’s race. He joins 34 others who have abandoned the grueling Tour including Tobias Angerer (GER), Axel Teichmann (GER), Alexander Legkov (RUS) and Emil Joensson (SWE).

“Kris wanted more for sure and was hoping to move forward instead of falling back,” said US coach Chris Grover. “However, I was proud of his effort, especially for his first time seeing and skiing such a specialized course. I think this course requires some experience.”

As for Newell’s decision to withdraw, Grover said, “Andy and I decided it was best for him to stop the Tour. His distance skiing has not been close to his ability or potential this week, so we feel we need to take some days off and re-evaluate his preparation for the second half of the season.”

December 20, 2010 (Barrie, ON) – I don’t know about you, but I like dynasties in sport. I like it when teams and individuals dominate a sport for a number of seasons. I was a big fan of the Boston Celtics of the NBA in the 1960s, of UCLA and John Wooden in college basketball at the same time, and of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s and the Edmonton Oilers in the1980s for hockey (sorry I cannot be a fan of the Yankees, though).

There have been dynasties in cross-country skiing as well. In the 1980s it was the Swedish men led by Gunde Swan and Thomas Wassberg and Torgny Mogren. In the 1990s it was the Russian women led by Elena Valbe and the Norwegian men led by Vegard Ulvang and Bjorn Daehlie. This dynasty continued throughout the first decade of the 21st century.

The Norwegian women are the new dynasty for women’s skiing. Led by Marit Bjoergen they are beginning to dominate. On Sunday they showed this domination by annihilating the field in the relay. Bjoergen won her 9th World Cup in a row on Saturday and she has likely locked up the World Cup for 2011 already and it’s not even 2011 yet.

I thought that the Swedish women would give them a run for their money this year, but they have not delivered yet. They started well at home in Gallivare but faded throughout the rest of November and December due to illness. The Italian women have been strong in sprinting, and finished 2nd on Sunday in the women’s relay but they are a long way behind the Norwegians. The German, Slovakian, Slovenian, French and surprisingly the Russian women have been silent during this time.

Justyna Kowalczyk has been consistently 2nd to Bjoergen throughout this first racing period but she is getting closer and closer. On Saturday she lost in a sprint finish and I expect her to win the Tour de Ski after Xmas as Bjoergen will be at home in Norway.

Kikkan Randall has led the American women with two podium finishes in the last couple of weeks in skating sprints. She has solidified her place near the top in this discipline and is getting better in distance racing and classic. Morgan Arritola and Liz Stephen both finished in the top 20 on Saturday in La Clusaz for their best results of the campaign.

Dasha Gaiazova and Chandra Crawford were on the podium in Dusseldorf for the best result for the Canadian women. Canada’s women have been very strong for almost a decade and it looks like Chandra and Dasha are carrying the torch to the future. Chandra also had an 8th in Dusseldorf and Dasha scored points in a number of races. The downside is that there is not much depth in women’s ranks in Canada right now.

I believe that there is a dynasty brewing on the men’s side but it’s not where I thought it would come from at the start of the season. At that time I thought that the Swedish men would begin to dominate the podiums, which they did at the start of the season, but like the women they faded badly in December. The Norwegian men continue to struggle and they seem to be getting worse. The sprinters do not dominate like they used to and with Northug recovering from overtraining for most of the start of the season the distance men are also doing very poorly. Northug did come on strong on Saturday in La Clusaz for a 2nd place in the 30km free mass start race – so watch out for him after Xmas.

No, the new dominant men’s team are the Russians. Alexander Legkov is leading the World Cup standings but he is not alone at the top. Maxim Vylegzhanin won the 30km on Saturday doing something that few people have been able to do before this year – beat Petter Northug in a sprint finish. Lekgov was 3rd in this race and there were also two other Russian men in the top 11 on Saturday – and they finished 2nd on Sunday in the team relay to the suprising Swiss team.

They also have a very strong sprint group – remember that they were 1st and 2nd last year in Vancouver in the men’s individual sprint final. Alexei Pehtoukov and Nicolai Morilov are the best right now, but they have four or five skiers who can be on the podium. They have started again with new coaches and a new system and they are going to be a force in Sochi in four years.

The Swiss men surprised everyone by easily winning the Men’s Relay on Sunday. Dario Cologna has been one of the best skiers in the world for the past couple of years, but this result came out of the blue. The other three skiers – Toni Livers, Remo Fischer and Curdin Perl skied fantastic legs for the victory. Cross-country skiing is the poor second cousin to Alpine in Switzerland and in order to get press they need to win. This was a resounding win.

Emil Joensson of Sweden has shown that he is the best sprinter in the world. He has broken the Norwegian men’s domination – for now – but things can change quickly in sprinting. The Norwegians have a very strong sprinting program so look for them to be strong later on in the year.

Kris Freeman put together some great top 10 results in this period, but he was the only American male to do consistently well.  Simi Hamilton who debuted on the European World Cup scene had a superb sprint race in Davos qualifying 11th and finished 16th which is a good sign of things to come. Veteran Andy Newell continues to disappoint by following the same pattern of qualifying well in the sprints but hasn’t put his game plan together well in the heats. And Euro World Cup newbie, Noah Hoffman, also showed signs of talent starting well for a rookie with a 31st placing in the 15km freestyle at the World Cup opener in Gallivare, Sweden, but struggled as the trip went on.

The Canadian men were all over the map with their results in November and December. Devon Kershaw showed flashes of brilliance, but in other races he was ordinary. The same is true for Alex Harvey. Ivan Babikov and George Grey were nowhere near where they finished in Vancouver. In total they were not as good as I thought that they would be based on their results in Vancouver last year and all of the positive statements coming from them this summer and fall about how good they were training and how things were going. I think that everyone was expecting them to take a step forward as a group and it looks like they have taken a step backward. Is it the post-Olympic blues or something else? We will know better at the Tour de Ski and the World Championships in March in Oslo.

One bright spot were the sprint results from Len Valjas and Phil Widmer in Davos where they both finished in the top 20 and qualified for the World Championships. Len is a rookie on the World Cup as well and this was a great result for him and it was a breakthrough for Phil who in the past had the speed to qualify well but like  Newell he could not finish well in the heats.

Now it’s time to take a deep breath and get ready for the Tour de Ski that starts on December 31. Most skiers are at home while some of the Canadians and Americans have stayed in Europe. Not all of the top skiers will be in the Tour de Ski because it is very hard and difficult to recover from. Lukas Bauer (CZE) and Justina Kowalczyk (POL) were the winners last year and I believe that they will challenge for the top again this year.

Have a great holiday season everyone – ski as much as you can.