January 03, 2013 (Toblach/Cortina, Italy) – The women attacked the 15k freestyle pursuit, stage 4 of the 2012/13 FIS Tour de Ski, after a well-deserved rest day. Ideal conditions met the skiers as three-time TdS champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) aimed to defend her lead and her closest chasers fought to gain back precious time.

Kowalczyk started 50.3s ahead of Therese Johaug (NOR), but the top Norwegian in the competition was unable to maintain her position as she was caught by 2008 TdS winner Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Johaug’s teammate Kristin Stoermer Stiera.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall who started fifth couldn’t keep pace and fell back to finish eighth on the day, also causing her to slide from fifth to eighth in the overall standings. Her teammate Liz Stephen was a strong 19th while Jessie Diggins was also in the points placing 27th with Holly Brooks just behind in 34th.

The big move today came from Sweden’s Kalla who claimed second at 18.3s behind Kowalczyk who held onto her lead while Johaug took the third spot at 18.7s. Kalla now sits second overall behind Kowalczyk who is winding up to claim her 4th Tour title… but it’s not over yet.

Results HERE.
Overall standings after Stage 4 HERE.

January 11, 2012 (Toblach, Italy) – Oh Italy….. I am finally back in connectivity after no Internet for days. There is a theory that Internet is especially sparse in Italy due to some Mafia thing but that has yet to be confirmed. Alas, my apologies for those of you that have checked back only to find my blog without recent updates. It’s been out of my control, for sure! (This also creates a huge back log in correspondence so if I haven’t written you back yet, this is why!)

This afternoon we have our second to last race of the Tour, a 10k classic mass start race at Val di Fiemme. I will make this post brief because I need to get ready but I really want to get something up to let you all know what has been going on.

As I’m sure some of you have seen or read in other publications, I took a slip on the ice Christmas day while running in Ramsau, Austria. It’s taken a while to get a proper diagnosis…. this has included lots of fitful reading on wikipedia, Web MD, and all of those other scary Internet sources where you diagnose yourself and then continue to have nightmares…. However, I was finally able to get both an x-ray and MRI, mid-tour in Oberstdorf, Germany. We were able to deal with an Orthopedic specialist but lots of the medical lingo was lost in translation and there was a fair amount of uncertainty- plus, we were literally trying to get on the road to arrive at the next stage of the Tour. It was quite a debacle of a day but more on that later.

The conclusion from the MRI is/was that I have a non-dislocated fracture of the distal radius bone. They were initially worried about the scaphoid-lunate ligament as well but that appears to be okay which is terrific news.

The second I fell on the ice I knew that something was terribly wrong. My hand was extremely swollen and my range of motion was poor. Christmas was literally 4 days before the beginning of the Tour and it was hard to know what to do. Since then, I have been racing every day, doing my best to compete. While my results have been extremely sub-par, I feel the need to complete the Tour. I’ve worked so hard to get here – and there are so many people who have helped me out along the way. I know there are a handful of other skiers from the US who would have loved to have the start opportunity and I feel the need to represent the US. I often wonder if the decision to keep racing is tough or just plain stupid. I was concerned about the potential of permanent damage to my arm but have been told since that it’s probably just pro-longing my recovery period.

Coming into the Tour my goals included fighting for a top ten stage results and finishing in the top 20 overall. While those goals are completely out of the question now, I continue to race because each time I put a bib on, I learn something valuable. With each stage of the Tour has come another World Cup start, another experience at a new venue, and some pointers and direction towards my results here (hopefully) next year, not to mention later this season.

Also, Val di Fiemme, (where we are now) is the site of the 2013 World Championships so while I’m racing today, I will literally be trying out the course for next year’s Championships. After yesterday’s “inspection ski” I was really psyched – I think the courses suit me well and it gives me a ton of direction for summer and fall training.

I promise a more complete update with tons of pictures soon. In the meantime, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED MY JOURNEY!!!! YOU ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME AND I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL! This injury has been especially difficult in that part of me feels like I’ve let some of you down but I’ve been told that I cannot think that way… and I know I can’t. Nonetheless, THANK YOU and I will continue to do my best to represent you all and get some stories and photos as soon as I possibly can!

Cheers!
Holly:)

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.

September 13, 2011 (Toblach, Italy) – One of the most interesting stages of next FIS Tour de Ski will be the one in Toblach/Dobbiaco ITA. During three days, six races will be carried out in this relatively small village in Pustertal. In my article I will use the German name Toblach (there is also Italian version Dobbiaco).

As Toblach has become a frequent organizer in the FIS Tour de Ski it may be interesting for you to know how Toblach organized their first World Cup Competition. We have to go back to season 1987/88 and (as always) the winter was warm in Middle Europe. And perhaps some of you remember that the relay race Dec. 19 in Davos was cancelled due to the fact that the Swiss TV did not want to cover the competition, as the snow situation was very poor. As you had seen before, the men and the ladies competed sometimes at different resorts the same weekend.

The weekend Jan 15-16 was scheduled for Klingenthal DDR for women and Strbske Pleso TCH for men. It was still warm and we had to make changes of the program in Ski jumping as well as in Nordic Combined. The snow situation in Klingenthal did not allow any World Cup competition taking place and no substitute resort could be found in DDR. As always FISI (the Italian Ski Federation), was interested to take it over. The secretary general of FISI Angelo Vergani informed me that Cogne or Toblach were candidates to host the competition and he recommended Toblach. I remembered that I had met a person from Toblach, Herbert Santer, at the men’s Mass-start race in Kastelruth three weeks earlier. He asked me what he should do so that Toblach could become the organizer of a World Cup race in the future. Who could know at that time that the future was within three weeks?

I called Franco Nones, the representative of Italy and asked him to check the possibilities.

The answer was positive and after having involved our decision makers Gian Franco Kasper FIS General Secretary, Odd Martinsen Cross-Country Committee and Stig Roland Bergqvist World Cup Committee, we decided that Toblach would organize its first World Cup event.

This was the paper work, now to reality – how to organize a World Cup race in Toblach?

The OC of Toblach consisted of persons with experiences from the popular cross-country race Cortina-Toblach and from a number of Alpen Cup competitions. You must also be aware of the reality at that time. The weekend January 15-16 was the last competition before the opening of the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary/Canmore 1988, which started February 14. That meant that one month was reserved for preparations before the games.

The key persons were Herbert Santer as Chief OC, Elvira Bachmann as competition secretary and Karl Walder as Chief of track. The TD was Madeleine Vion FRA. With excitement we waited for the teams but which nations would come? SOV and FIN did not come and NOR came with a B-team.

The preparations were underway and I remember that we had troubles with how to improve an uphill.

However at the end we had fantastic competitions with many engaged spectators and a new organizer was born. At last I want to mention one thing that happened during the team captains meeting that never will happen again. The technical delegate suddenly asked is it okay that we will start at 09.30? One captain said that is more convenient to start at 10.00. And that was confirmed by Madeleine Vion the Technical delegate without any control. Such things could occur as late as 1988.

Simone Greiner Petter DDR won before the Swedes Anna Lena Fritzon and Marie Helen Westin. In the relay SWE, DDR and NOR were the three best.

For me personally I got a close friendship through the years with the Family Santer with the parents Herbert and Live and the three daughters Natalie, Saskia and Stephanie.

Thank you Toblach and good luck for the future.

March 23, 2011 (Toblach, Italy) – Check out this fantastic video coverage of Devon Kershaw’s (CAN) first World Cup victory during Stage 5 of the 2011 Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy. He beat out the world’s best sprinters with the ultimate breakthrough performance that paved the way for a historic season in Canadian men’s XC skiing, including a gold medal in the Team Sprint with teammate Alex Harvey at the Nordic World Championships, at the famous Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway.

January 07, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – We are pleased to announce the standings after Toblach-Cortina for the SkiTrax Fantasy FIS Tour de Ski 2010/11 Contest. The current contest leader is jbskiin with 597 points and a very narrow two (2) point margin over 17 teams, all tied for second place with 575 points. Team les pitchounes is now ranked third with 572 points.

Congratulations to jbskiin the winner of our second Rest Day prize of a $100 $100 Gift Certificate to High Peaks Cyclery.

SkiTrax Fantasy FIS TdS 2010/11 Contest Prizes
—————————————————–

*1st Prize – Rossignol Xium WCS2 skis/boots, Xcelerator skate bindings, One Way DS 10 poles (value $1,620)
*2nd Prize – Mont Ste-Anne – 2 nights lodging w/breakfast + 3-day XC gift certificate, tune-up (value $800)
*3rd Prize – Atomic WCup Classic boots (value $370)
*4th Prize – Swix Digital T72 Iron (value $350)
*5th Prize – Halti Blow Down two-piece race suit (value $270)
*6th Prize – Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup 2011 jacket (value $200)
*7th Prize – Sporthill Women’s Summit top (value $140)
*8th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $130)
*9th Prize – Skadi Package – BootBuddies, BootMates, BootDocks and Ski Scraper (value $90)
*10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65)

Rest Day Leader Prizes
*Jan. 4 – $100 Gift Certificate Fresh Air Experience
*Jan. 7 – $100 Gift Certificate High Peaks Cyclery

Thanks to FIS and all of our great sponsors including Rossignol, Mont Ste-Anne, Atomic, Swix, Halti, Masters World Cup 2011, Sporthill, Rottefella, Skadi, Auclair, Fresh Air Experience and High Peaks Cyclery….

SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).

January 06, 2011 (Cortina, Italy) – She may have had difficulties in yesterday’s sprint, but Poland’s Justyna Koxalczyk quickly sealed that chink in her armor by winning today’s 15km freestyle handicap start in Cortina, Italy, at stage 6 of the Tour de Ski

Kowalczyk took a page from the men’s race earlier in the day where winner Dario Cologna (SUI) got out of gate hard and never let up, staying out front from start to finish. Italy’s Arianna Follis and Marianna Longa claimed 2nd and 3rd at just over 22 seconds behind while Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla claimed 4th ahead of Petra Majdic (SLO) in 5th.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall also had a good day, moving up from 17th to 15th overall, a very solid result for the American sprinter.

“It was a really hard race and I am satisfied,” said Kowalczyk in a FIS XC post-race interview. “I hope the next race in Val di Fiemme will be OK as well, and then there is only Alpe Cermis left. Last year’s race in Val di Fiemme was not good for me, I hope this year will be better. Kalla, Follis, Longa, Majdic and Lahteenmaki are all contenders that can win the Tour de Ski, but I hope I can beat them.”

From the gun, it was clear this would be a race to catch Kowalczyk and it would not an easy task. Majdic also started hard, trailing Kowalczyk by only 39 seconds and ahead of Kalla who was 1:08 down.

By 5km Kowalczyk was still powering ahead while behind a small chase pack of four skiers had formed including Kalla, Majdic, Longa and Follis. About a minute behind them were two more chasers with Anna Haag (SWE) and the young Finn Krista Lahteenmaki hoping to bridge to the quartet.

The four chasers worked well together at first and were slowly chipping away at Kowalczyk’s lead until about 7.5km, when they started to lose ground.

By 10km Majdic couldn’t hold on, and was dropped as Kalla pushed hard at the front, trying to close the 51.8-second margin to Kowalczyk. Behind Haag shook off Lahteenmaki but the Finnish skier regained her composure and latched on to the Swede again soon after.

Kalla’s efforts paid off, as she, Follis and Longa cut Kowalczyk’s lead down to 25 seconds, leaving Majdic scrambling to recover with only 2.5km left to go.

Ultimately Kowalczyk proved too strong, and preserved her lead to take the win. On the finishing straight teammates Follis and Longa overtook Kalla, who had done most of the work, putting the Italians 2-3 behind the Kowalczyk. With that effort, Follis now moves into 2nd, at 27 seconds down on the leader. Longa holds onto third, 33 seconds down with Kalla and Majdic rounding out the top 5.

“It was a fun race today,” said Randall now in 15th overall. “I ended up in a big pack of 10 or so, so I tucked in with them for most of the race. In the last few kms I put on a few surges, which strung things out a bit.”

Over the last part of the race Randall found herself skiing close to Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren who just barely nipped her at the line. Ironically it was Johansson Norgren who crashed in yesterday’s skate sprint women’s final and took down Randall as well.

The women’s races have been relatively short and incredibly high-paced, making for some grueling racing. That’s something that Randall said didn’t change despite today’s longer course. “The way the course skied with the climbs there were lots of surges followed by little recoveries, so it was still tough,” she continued in a phone interview with SkiTrax.

With a rest day tomorrow, the athletes will be preparing for Saturday’s classic race and Sunday’s final hill climb up Alpe Cermis.

“We’re planning on previewing the courses tomorrow,” said Randall. “We’ll check out the final climb by skiing it downhill and sort of see what’s in store for us.”

“We are very excited with Kikkan’s race,” said US coach Chris Grover in an email to SkiTrax. “She looked great. Fighting hard with lots of energy for so late in the Tour.”

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.”

January 05, 2011 (Toblach, Italy) – In dramatic style that’s been building since his two silver medals at the Tour de Ski, Canada’s Devon Kershaw went for broke and claimed the gold medal win he’s been craving as he brought the nation to it’s feet.

His coach predicted it and Kershaw delivered winning today’s 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy, the fifth leg of the FIS World Cup Tour de Ski.

Kershaw is only the third Canadian man to win a World Cup. Ivan Babikov won the final 10km freestyle uphill stage at the 2009 Tour de Ski while the great Pierre Harvey (father to Kershaw’s teammate Alex Harvey) won three World Cups, one in 1987 and two in 1988.

Kershaw’s been on fire lately laying down incredible results in the Tour this year. He racked up back-to-back silver medals first in the classic sprint, and then in the 15km classic. After his classic sprint performance, coach Justin Wadsworth predicted that “Devon’s first win was imminent.”

“I’m thrilled. I’m more than thrilled. I absolutely cannot believe it,” said Kershaw describing his win in a CCC press release. “Justin [Wadsworth – Canadian Ski Team head coach] kept telling me all year to be patient and the win would come. I wanted to believe him and I just kept staying with the plan. This is just unreal.”

Kershaw only narrowly sneaked into the final, taking the second lucky loser spot. Clearly, he took that near miss to heart, skiing an absolutely perfect final for the gold. He held back early on, staying in 4th and 5th position.

On the first climb he made a move to take over the lead, but it wasn’t until the final climb that he really blew the doors off, dropping the field and making for the finish like a man possessed. He opened a large gap heading into the final stretch and it proved enough to stave off the hard-charging Dario Cologna (SUI) and Petter Northug (NOR).

His break-away, which he called a “suicide move” wasn’t something he’d planned, said Kershaw.  “It kind of just materialized. I was tucked in the pack while some other guys were working for the first lap. When I saw [Marcus] Hellner making a bit of a move, I just went with it,” said Kershaw in a phone interview.

Waiting to hear about the lucky loser spot while the second semifinal raced must have been nerve wracking, but Kershaw said he was pretty relaxed.   “The reality is the goal was just to get through the quarters today,” he said. “I knew that worst case scenario I’d end up 7th…and the pace had seemed pretty high, so I was nice and relaxed.”

Kershaw had stellar skis under him today, and has throughout the Tour.

“Our hats go off to Yves (Bilodeau) and all our wax guys,” said Wadsworth. According to the NST head coach, their skis are turning heads in a big way. Even Cologna commented to Wadsworth that the Canadians have consistently had “the best skis in the field.”

American fast man Andy Newell qualified strongly in 6th this morning, and skied well taking the win in his quarterfinal. In his semifinal, he had some difficulties, getting boxed in on the last corner and finished third, but the pace in his heat was not fast enough to snag a lucky loser spot, both of which went to the 3rd and 4th skiers of the first heat – including Kershaw.

Newell’s teammate Kris Freeman qualified in a World Cup sprint for the second time in his career but was paired with Newell in the quarter finals and did not advance.

Canada’s Alex Harvey, 8th in the qualifications was also out early placing third in his quarterfinal heat – but gets more time rest is not a bad thing at the Tour de Ski.

Now with a win – and the 60-second time bonus that accompanies it – under his belt, Kershaw is closing in on Tour de Ski leader Cologna, but he said taking the over all win isn’t a priority for him.

“No, it’s definitely not a goal right now.” He said his goal for the Tour was never the overall, but to have solid races. He’s had four impressive results, including two silvers a now a gold medal, and he said he’s happy with that and is already thinking about preserving his form for World Championships.

Kershaw sounded a little nervous about Thursday’s 35km handicap start freestyle race, saying “I’ll be out there on my own for a lot of it, which isn’t the best. I just hope I can hang on.”  Even so, coach Wadsworth thinks Saturday’s 20km classic will be perfect for Kershaw. “That’s a race he could potentially win by 20 seconds or more,” said Wadsworth.

Tomorrow’s 35km handicapped freestyle race will be a challenge for Kershaw, but look for him to continue his medal streak in the 20km classic on Saturday. Finally there will be the infamous 9km hill climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy for the racers to contend with.

Video of Kershaw’s win HERE.
Press Conference HERE.

Sprint results HERE.
Overall HERE.

January 05, 2011 Toblach, Italy – The women’s 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy this morning was shaping up to be a showdown between the Tour de Ski’s biggest names but after the first round of quarter final heats two of those names were out. Tour leader Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden were eliminated quickly leaving the door open for classic sprint winner Petra Majdic (SLO) and US skate specialist Kikkan Randall among others vying for the podium.

As well as Kowalczyk and Kalla there were some other surprises. Sweden’s other speed queen, Anna Haag, who was part of the heat that pushed Kowalczyk out of the quarters, was herself eliminated in the semis by the French youngster Laure Barthelemy.

Majdic wasted no time in demonstrating her intentions charging to the front and dominating every heat she raced all day. Randall, who was looking for another podium, had also been strong all day as well, winning her quarterfinal heat handily, and skiing very well in the semifinals, placing second in a photo-finish with Italy’s Arianna Follis.

In the final Majdic took the pole position again early as the partisan crowd cheered on the two Italians, Follis and Magda Genuin, who had made cut as one of the lucky losers, but neither was a match for the neon yellow Slovenian.

Behind Randall was keeping pace and setting up to advance but her luck went south when she got tangled with Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgen, the second lucky loser, who crashed when another skier stepped on her pole.

At the front it was Majdic’s day again as the two Italians put up strong fight in the final meters but the Slovenian star took her second sprint win and was jubilant once again at the finish as Follis took 2nd ahead of Genuin while Barthelemy was 4th, Randall was 5th and Johansson Norgren finished 6th.

“I figured out how the race would go in the quarter final, and realized I can win although I was in the front all the time,” Majdic said in a FIS XC interview after her race. “I was scared for a moment though, because I heard the speaker said Arianna was attacking. When we went body to body, I knew that I was in front as I was prepared to put my foot on the finish line.”

For Randall there was no chance to recover and get back in the mix with such a fast pace. “It was going so well, I was feeling like I had a shot at the podium,” she said in a phone interview. “I’m really kicking myself.  Coming out of the draft and into the climb I tried to go right, but someone stepped on Norgren’s pole and we got really tangled.”

Randall has now moved up to 17th overall.

“Kikkan was disappointed because she was felt like she was feeling pretty good and had great skis,” said UST coach Chris Grover. “She’s had three podiums in a row in skate sprint on the World Cup and this was the first time she’s been off the podium in a little bit. She knows she can reach it [the podium] most days if things are going OK”

Tomorrow’s TdS race is a 15km freestyle handicapped start for the women, followed on Saturday by a 10km classic race and the final 9km hill climb on Sunday.

Sprint Results HERE.
Women’s Overall HERE.

January 05, 2011 (Toblach, Italy) – His coach predicted it and Devon Kershaw delivered winning today’s 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy, the fifth leg of the FIS World Cup Tour de Ski. Kershaw is only the third Canadian man to win a World Cup. Ivan Babikov won the final 10km freestyle uphill stage at the 2009 Tour de Ski while the great Pierre Harvey (father to Kershaw’s teammate Alex Harvey) won three World Cups in 1987 and 1988.

Kershaw has been laying down incredible results at the Tour this year, racking up two silver medals in the classic sprint and the 15km classic, slotting him in second position overall behind Dario Cologna (SUI) heading into today’s skate sprint race. Following his classic sprint performance, Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth said that Devon’s first win was “imminent.”

Kershaw won his quarter final heat but narrowly sneaked into the final taking the second lucky loser spot. Clearly he took that near miss to heart, skiing an absolutely perfect final. He held back early on, staying in 4th and 5th position, and it wasn’t until the final climb where he really blew the doors off, dropping the field and making for the finish like a man possessed.

He opened a large gap heading into the final stretch that proved enough to stave off the hard-charging Cologna and Petter Northug (NOR).

With the win – and the 60-second time bonus that accompanies it – under his belt, Kershaw enters the history books and is now in perfect position to challenge Cologna for the overall Tour de Ski title as they head into the final three races of this grueling tour.

December 26, 2010 – Eurosport and the International Ski Federation (FIS) have reached an agreement for the upcoming FIS Tour de Ski. Eurosport will be an official partner of the FIS Tour de Ski, and will host the official team presentation held on 30th December in Oberhof. Eurosport will broadcast all stages of the Tour LIVE, reaching 240 million viewers in 20 different languages across 59 countries.

The fifth edition of the Tour de Ski takes place from 31st December to 9th January and leads from Oberhof via Oberstdorf (GER) and Toblach (ITA) to Val di Fiemme (ITA). The ten-day tour covers eight competitions in both techniques and in all Cross-Country events across almost all distances.

Exciting races, the spectacular 3,7 km climb to “Alpe Cermis” at the final stage in Val di Fiemme and over 800,000 Euro prize money make the FIS Tour de Ski one of the first highlight of this year’s Cross-Country season both for athletes and viewers.

The tour starts on New Year’s Eve with the prolog (ladies 2,5km and men 3,7km). Eurosport will feature live broadcasts of all races.

Eurosport will promote the event across its multimedia platform and is organizing viewer competitions in Germany, Poland and Italy. Cross-Country fans can win a weekend trip for two to the final of this years’ Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme (ITA), including VIP access to the competition venue and a private behind-the-scenes tour with Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country.

Furthermore, Eurosport offers ambitious amateur cross-country skiers the chance, to make a start on the “Rampa con i Campioni”. This race for everyone to experience the final climb is offered for the first time.

Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country, explains: “We are delighted that Eurosport is once again one of our partners for the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear. Our international partnership for mutual promotional activities, which involves Poland and Italy besides Germany for the first time, clearly shows the high value the FIS Tour de Ski has reached. This unique event will not only be experienced by viewers on site but also by millions of viewers across Europe through Eurosport’s high-quality broadcasting.”

“Nordic skiing has always been very popular among Eurosport viewers and we will broadcast 120 hours from this year’s FIS Cross-Country World Cup on Eurosport and Eurosport 2. The Tour de Ski has established itself as an important sport highlight along with the International Four-Hills-Tournament, and we are very happy to present this event to our viewers”, says Werner Starz, Director Marketing and Communication at Eurosport Media GmbH in Munich.

For all Eurosport Tour de Ski transmission times click HE