USA qualifies strong in Classic Sprint
Tour de Ski
Mon, Jan 3, 2011 - By US Ski Team
OBERSTDORF, Germany (Jan. 2) – All three Americans, including Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage), racing in the epic Tour de Ski, advanced to the final round of 32 Sunday in the men's and women's classic sprint. Newell led the U.S. surge advancing to the semifinals, with Sweden's Emil Joensson and Slovenia's Petra Majdic taking the stage three wins.
Newell paced the U.S. Ski Team, qualifying fourth heading into the heats. In his quarterfinal, Newell took the early lead, battling Canadian Devon Kershaw to the end but getting beat in a photo finish to place second, advancing to the semifinals. Unfortunately, he was plagued with bad luck yet again, falling just after the start. Newell showed his perseverance and competiveness, getting back up to challenge the pack despite the first fall but fell again in the finish straight just meters away from the line. He ended up 12th.
"I was feeling better today after having a hard day yesterday - a lot better fitness wise and on my skis - but had a lot of bad luck in the semifinal. I tripped right out of the gate on something and went down right out of the start," explained Newell."I had to pick myself up really fast and chase down the rest of the heat. I was maybe 20 meters behind everybody. I skied all the way up into second or third going up the last hill. We all came into the finishing lanes together and another skier caught his pole one my ski and sent me down into a faceplant. I went down really fast and crashed and at that point the race was over."
Newell's teammate, Freeman, took advantage of classic technique being his strong suit to qualify 28th – only the third time in his career he's qualified. Freeman finished fifth, missing the cut to advance to the next round.
"It was great for Bird [Freeman] to make it in there. He did a great job. He had a little bit of a slow start, but skied his way into contention," said Head Coach Chris Grover. "He made it up to second place during his round. He lost a little speed towards the end, but for a distance skier like him, it was a great performance."
Randall qualified 18th and drew one of the toughest heats, including another faceoff with with Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, the Tour de Ski leader. The two locked horns in a sprint at Davos, Switzerland, with Kowalczyk being disqualified for bumping Randall out in the finish straight.
"It's a recent rivalry. They'll definitely end up in a lot of straight finish heats together," said Grover. "It was definitely Kikkan's best classic sprint of the year."
Randall finished fourth in the quarterfinal heat behind Kowalczyk, just missing the lucky loser spot by a mere two-tenths behind Julia Ivanova of Russia.
As the men and women head into stage four of the eight-stage long Tour de Ski, Switzerland's Dario Cologna and Kowalczyk carry the lead into Monday's stage four mixed technique pursuit. Randall sits in 19th, Freeman 29th and Newell 49th.
The 2011 Tour de Ski marks the first time that the U.S. Ski Team has entered the event with the intention of racing all the way to the finish. The Tour de Ski is a series of eight races in 10 days. Athletes will compete at five different venues in two countries, Germany and Italy. The overall results are based on the combined time for all the competitions including bonus seconds that are up for grab in the sprints and mass start races.
"Everybody's healthy. I think in this field the athletes are all in the same boat and getting tired at the same rate, so at least it's an even playing field going out there every day," said Grover of the 10 day long Tour. "Our guys are holding up great."
The Tour de Ski continues Monday in Oberstdorf with the men's and women's mixed technique pursuit, before crossing the border to race stage five in Toblach, Italy.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Tour de Ski
Oberstdorf, Germany – Jan. 2, 2011
Classic Sprint
Men
1. Emil Joensson, Sweden, 2:34.1
2. Devon Kershaw, Canada, +0.0
3. Dario Cologna, Switzerland, +0.3
4. Simen Oestensen, Norway, +6.2
5. Alexei Petukhov, Russia, +6.5
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12. Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT
24. Kris Freeman, Andover, NH
Women
1. Petra Majdic, Slovenia, 2:50.8
2. Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland, +4.3
3. Astid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Norway, +4.8
4. Alena Prochazkova, Slovakia, +9.2
5. Julia Ivanova, Russia, +10.1
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17. Kikkan Randall, Anchorage
Men Overall Standings
1. Dario Cologna, Switzerland
2. Devon Kershaw, Canada
3. Alexander Legkov, Russia
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29. Kris Freeman, Andover, NH
49. Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT
Women Overall Standings
1. Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland
2. Petra Madjic, Slovenia
3. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Finland
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19. Kikkan Randall, Anchorage
For complete results: www.fis-ski.com