Andrew Newell (USA) © Nordic Focus

November 27, 2015 (Kuusamo, Finland) – USA’s Andy Newell charged out of the gates on a mission at today’s FIS WCup season opener in Kuusamo, Finland, Day 1 of the Ruka Triple mini-tour, to finish just off the podium in a fantastic fourth place in the men’s 1.4km CL sprint, Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli grabbed the victory. It was Newell’s best result in two years.

Men's Podium Ruka CL Sprint ©

“One of my goals for the first period of World Cups was to make the final here in Ruka so I’m happy with todays effort. It’s always one of the most competitive sprints and you really need to be ready to rock when you start the heats here so it makes for an exciting day and I was stoked to be able to mix it up,” said Newell.

It was a Norwegian podium sweep, with Erik Brandsdal (NOR) finishing second and Petter Northug (NOR) wrapping up third.

Newell qualified 12th, while Canada’s Len Valjas was the only other North American to make the top 30 in qualification with a 22nd place to advance to the heats.

“Throughout the heats I played to the simple strategy of ‘hammer the hill into the stadium’ it’s about all you can really do. In the Quarter final I didn’t have a great downhill into the last climb so I got stuck in traffic a little bit. It’s never good to be stuck behind people in the big climb. That was also a really stacked heat so I knew if I pushed hard to the line there would be a good chance for a LL and it worked out,” recounted Newell.

Valjas heat ©

In the quarter finals, the American sprinted to fourth in first heat and headed to the semi-finals as lucky loser. Valjas, who was fifth in his quarterfinal heat, did not advance.

“We nailed the grip today. I got off to a great start but was missing a little speed on the first downhill and got passed by three guys so we’ll need to look at that as a team and see if it was the glide or my ski choice,” said Valjas. “My (opening) heat was good though. I just got caught in the back of an Italian skier on an icy track that had a lot of glare so it was tough to move up.”

Len Valjas (CAN) © Nordic Focus

It has been a tough climb for Valjas, who earned five World Cup podiums before undergoing knee surgery in 2013. “I have to be happy for sure. I have had an injury to deal with every year it seems and today I felt healthy and was happy to get in the points. That was the goal – to race pain free and get into heats.”

In the semis, Newell raced to a strong third place in a photo finish with Emil Joenssen (SWE) and once again slid through to the final as lucky loser.

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“My tactic in the finial was to stay to the right on the big climb in case I had to jump out of the track like Northug. I came into the lanes in 4th and because of the head wind tucked in behind Petter, hoping we might blaze past some people. I think we were all a little tired from hammering the hill so hard,” said Newell.

While Fossli grabbed gold in the final, it felt like a win for Newell, who raced incredibly well, reaching as high as third spot at one point, before ending up in fourth for a stellar start to the season.

Devon Kershaw (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“I was happy with how my striding felt up the hill all day,” said Newell. “It’s always a struggle to keep the skis fast here and also have enough grip to  run the hill. Our wax guys did a great job making small adjustments throughout the heats. I stripped a little kick for the semi and they turned out to be too slick, then added more for the finial and they felt great.”

Graeme Killick (CAN) © Nordic Focus

In the qualifications, Alex Harvey (CAN) finished 47th, Jesse Cockney (CAN) was 65th, Simi Hamilton (USA) 67th, Erik Bjornsen (USA) 73rd, Devon Kershaw (CAN) 88th, Ivan Babikov (CAN) 96th, Michael Somppi (CAN) 97th, Kris Freeman (USA) 102nd, and Graeme Killick (CAN) 103rd.

Results

Final
1. Sondre Turvoll Fossli (NOR) 2:33.07
2. Erik Brandsdal (NOR) +1.03
3. Petter Northug (NOR) +1.65
4. Andy Newell (USA) +2.76
5. Teodor Peterson (SWE) +3.72
6. Emil Joenssen (SWE) +22.12

22. Len Valjas (CAN)
40. Alex Harvey (CAN)
65. Jesse Cockney (CAN) 
67. Simi Hamilton (USA)
73. Erik Bjornsen (USA)
88. Devon Kershaw (CAN)
96. Ivan Babikov (CAN)
97. Michael Somppi (CAN)
102. Kris Freeman (USA)
103. Graeme Killick (CAN)

Full results here.