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.”