December 16, 2011 – The overall World Cup chases in cross-country skiing for men and women are over for 2011-12. Not officially, of course, but as far as I am concerned Petter Northug and Marit Bjoergen of Norway have already won the crystal globes and it is not even 2012 yet!

In the past we have seen that Northug has not performed as well in interval start races as he has in mass start races. Saturday he proved that he now has no weaknesses by winning by 48 seconds in the 30km over Maurice Magnificat of France. Wow! And this win on a course that he has said that he doesn’t like and has not had good results on in the past. He is almost unbeatable in sprint finishes so if he can now do the same thing in interval starts then I think that right now he has no weaknesses any more.

What is most interesting is how Northug won this race. Normally in a ski race like this the fastest person on the uphills wins. However, Northug did not win by being the fastest on the uphills, but by being the fastest on the downhills. The course in Davos essentially goes up for the first of the 7.5km loop and then comes back down to the stadium. Northug was 10-15 seconds faster than every other skier on the downhill sections of each 7.5km loop of the race.

Most would say that this was because he had faster skis than everyone else. While he did have fast skis this is not the only reason why he was so fast. The major reason was, I think, that he could ski the uphill sections below his “red line” which allowed him to be able to push hard on the downhills. The other skiers were likely skiing above their red lines and were too fatigued to push as hard on the downhills or to hold their tucks as well or to make as aggressive step turns. When you go too hard and have to slow down you have to slow down everywhere – even on downhills and flats.

Bjoergen has already shown us that she has no weaknesses, especially in distance races, and she won big again on Saturday in the 15km interval start race – by 42 seconds. It looked like a Norwegian championship race not a World Cup on the results list with Norwegians in the top 4 places and 6 out of the top 9. The Norwegian women have been the best team in the world for the past 20 years but we didn’t see it so effectively until the last five. Before that the Russian women appeared to be the best, but we now know that they were doping and we can see now where they truly stand in the world rankings.

Canada’s Ivan Babikov had a great race finishing 7th. Ivan has become a specialist, of sorts, excelling in long and hilly skating races. The 30km interval start in Davos was made for him. Races like this used to be the norm years ago, but his is the first time in the last six or seven years that there has been a race like this on the World Cup calendar. Long interval start races require strong mental toughness to be able to push yourself to your limit while you are skiing alone with no one else to share the pace. He is one of the best at this, for sure. I am sure that he would like more races like this in the future but the sport has moved to mass start races where having a great sprint at the end is important – not one of his strengths.

At the start of last year Holly Brooks was coaching and teaching skiing in Anchorage. She decided to compete in a few races and had success in the Super Tour Series, so much success that she won the series and a ticket to the World Cups before Xmas this year. She has made the most of her opportunity and finished an amazing 13th on Saturday in Davos. Her meteoric rise has made her one of the best skiers in the US and the world. She didn’t know if she would be on the US team for the Tour de Ski last week but I think after this result the USST would be crazy not to name her to this team. (Holly has since been named to the team.)

North American skiers led the way on Sunday in the sprint races at Davos. Kikkan Randall delivered another impressive victory followed by Devon Kershaw’s 4th place – there were six Canadians and three Americans in the top 30 of the men’s and women’s races.

I said last week that I thought that Randall was the best in the world and she proved it by crushing the competition, which included Bjoergen (who missed the final and finished 7th). She qualified first and won each of her heats using the same strategy – hammering on the big uphill just before the finish to pull away. Chandra Crawford was 9th in another good skating sprint for her followed by Brooks in 23rd, Perianne Jones in 29th and Dasha Gaiasova in 30th.

Both Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey skipped the 30km on Saturday to concentrate on the sprint race and it propelled them to 4th and 9th place finishes. Both of these guys are pointing towards the Tour de Ski that starts on December 29th and it looks like they are starting to round into form. Their results so far on the World Cup show the effects of the hard training that they have been doing to get ready for the Tour. As they unload they should get faster and faster.

Andy Newell continued in the same rut that he has been in for the last while by qualifying 3rd and finishing 16th. This was his best qualification of the year so far but he needs to be able to ski better and smarter in the heats. Len Valjas also had a somewhat disappointing day qualifying 14th and finishing 28th.

This coming weekend the white circus moves to Rogla, Slovenia for the last races before the break for the holidays and the start of the Tour de Ski. On Saturday there are 10km and 15km mass start skating races and another skate sprint race on Sunday. It should be chaos at the start of the Saturday races and a mass sprint finish at the end. This could be a very good weekend for Kershaw and Harvey.