Marcialonga, König Ludwig Lauf, Transjurassiene

The elite ski-marathon series has some well-named events: the Marcialonga, held two weeks ago in Italy, and the König Ludwig Lauf, held last weekend in Germany. (And don't forget the Jizerská Padesátka, staged in mid-January in the Czech Republic.)


The 70km (43.5 miles) classical-technique Marcialonga was won by Anders Aukland, the Norwegian long-distance specialist. Aukland broke away from a substantial pack about halfway through the course and stayed off the front for the duration, winning in 3:09:32, 2:48 ahead of his brother Jörgen and 2:57 ahead of Swede Jerry Ahrlin. Ahrlin barely edged the World Cup racer Mathias Fredriksson, moonlighting on the marathon circuit, for the bronze. Norwegian Odd-Björn Hjelmeset, another World Cupper trying the long-distance events, managed a poor nineteenth after falling twice; his former teammate on the Norwegian national team, Frode Estil, did a bit better, taking tenth place, six minutes behind Aukland. With the win - his second of the season - Aukland maintained first place in the men's Worldloppet standings, 75 points ahead of Ahrlin. 


The women's Marcialonga was a Swedish affair: Jenny Hansson won easily over Elin Ek and Susanne Nystrom, putting Hansson into second in the Worldloppet standings. The next weekend, Ek took first in the 50km (31 miles) classical-technique König Ludwig Lauf, winning by 1:11 ahead of the Russian Tatjana Jambaeva. Hansson finished third, 2:21 behind. Her second place was enough to push Jambaeva (with two wins and two second places in the four events she's contested this season) ahead of Hansson in the overall standings.


The men's König Ludwig Lauf ended in rare fashion: a big bunch sprint. The Swede Daniel Tynell won the double-poling fest, edging rival and training-mate Ahrlin by four-tenths of a second. The Czech Stanislav Rezac finished third, barely ahead of Mathias Fredriksson in fourth and Anders Aukland in fifth. The top five finished within four seconds - a tight span rarely seen on the Worldloppet circuit. Aukland's fifth was enough to keep him atop the overall standings, ahead of Ahrlin and Italian Marco Cattaneo. 


This weekend, the long-distance racers will head to France for the Transjurassiene, a freestyle race run over 76km (47 miles). While none of the Swedish and Norwegian classical specialists are trying the race, the recently-retired French biathlon great Raphaël Poirée plans to participate, as does Ivan Babikov, the Russian racer who just won Canadian citizenship. Italian Marco Cattaneo is also on the start list, ready to assume the overall lead in the Worldloppet series. 

Forecast: Significant blowing and drifting, with the possibility of heavy accumulation in rural areas.