January 01, 2016 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland) – The USA’s Simi Hamilton crashed out while the Canadians were shut out as Italy’s Federico Pellegrino won the 1.5k Sprint FR as the 10th Tour de Ski got underway in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov claimed second while Norway’s Finn Krogh was third. Pellegrino’s victory makes him the most successful Italian sprinter of all time.

Men's final podium © Nordic Focus

Hamilton qualified 13th with teammate Andy Newell 17th as Canada’s Len Valjas was just out of the running in 31st missing the cut by 4/100ths of a second. Just behind in 33rd was Alex Harvey with the other North Americans further back and also out of the running.

Hamilton, who made history in Lenzenheide at the Tour de Ski back on Dec. 31, 2013 becoming the first American to win a stage World Cup since Bill Koch won the USA’s first WCup in 1983, suffered a fall in his quarter final and did not advance.

“I’m definitely bummed about how my day ended but that’s sprint racing. There are always exciting moments in the heats, and most of them occur when the pack is skiing inches apart from each other at full gas. In my quarter, we were coming into the finish straight and as we rounded the left hand corner towards the lanes (they made that corner much sharper this year…

Simeon Hamilton (USA) © Nordic Focus

“I didn’t think it skied as well as the last time we raced here) I just got caught in a bottleneck on the inside. I don’t think any of it was intentional by anyone, it was just the result of 3 or 4 fully grown guys trying to jockey for finishing position within a few feet of each other. I think I was just kind of the unlucky one today, but sometimes that’s how it goes and you have to learn how to deal with it,” said Hamilton.

Andy Newell © Nordic Focus

Newell, who looked strong in his heat found himself in fourth place over the final hill and did not make the semis. “I felt a little flat in qualification but a lot better in the heats. Also feeling a lot better than I was in Toblach so I think that’s a good sign. Still just couldn’t quite put it together in the finish. [Federico] Pellegrino and [Petter] Northug are two of the best finishers so looking back I needed to be a lot more aggressive on the last climbs and not try to beat them at their own game kind of thing. the last few skate sprints haven’t been the best for me so I’m looking forward to getting to the classic sprint in Tobalch,” commented Newell.

Len Valjas (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Valjas was frustrated to find himself in 31st for the second time in recent outings. “I’m a little bummed. I’m skiing well. I’m happy with how I’m skiing and everything went great, but this is the second time this year I’ve been 31st,” said Valjas, who is finally healthy after dealing with injuries over the last two seasons. “I’m skiing fine. I’m so close to that qualifying, but I’m just a tiny bit off. Once I get in there – that is where I ski better with the group – being more technical and drafting. I just have to get in there.”

Hamilton was inspired by the US women and knows he has to be patient. “It’s always awesome seeing our girls come through with strong results, and I know Sophie [Caldwell] is really happy about how she skied today. Obviously I’m disappointed that today didn’t end as well as it did last time we were here for the World Cup, but this is cross country ski racing and anything can happen out there. I think when then things don’t go great, you just have to look ahead to the races to come and stay positive. We have a lot more great sprint opportunities this Tour and during the rest of the season, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there and hopefully laying down some more top 10 results,” he concluded.

Qualifications here.
Final results here.