December 31, 2011 (Obertsdorf, Germany) – Day three is underway as the Tour de Ski caravan made the transfer from Oberhof to Obertsdorf, Germany, for the sprint competitions. Poland’s Justyna Kowalcyzk continued her domination in the women’s 1.2km CL sprint in rainy conditions topping the qualifications followed by Marit Bjoergen (NOR) in second with Astrid Uhrenholdt  Jacobsen in 3rd. Kikkan Randall was the only American to qualify placing 4th – Holly Brooks was 40th and Liz Stephen finished in 58th.

Alexey Petukhov from Russia grabbed the men’s top spot followed by Petter Northug (NOR) in second with Maxim Vylegzhanin also from Russia in third in the men’s 1.2km Classic sprint qualifications. Three North Americans will advance to the heats lead by Alex Harvey (CAN) in 14th, Devon Keshaw (CAN)  in  16th and the USA’s Andy Newell in 28th. Simi Hamilton (USA) who recently placed 10th at the WCup in Rogla, Slovenia was just out of the running in 34th. His teammate Kris Freeman finished 43rd while Canada’s Ivan Babikov was 81st. TdS leader Germany’s Axel Teichmann in 50th did not advance as well.

Women’s Qualifications HERE.
Men’s Qualifications HERE.