Thanks to the marvels of the internet and the fact that you can't even check your email on weekend days at home, I sat down at 8 p.m. on Saturday night without knowing yet who won the two pursuit races in Falun, Sweden, that morning. All the better, WCSN.com had already put both races up online, so I was able to sit down and blog them "live" from video, not from the archived text updates provided by the International Ski Federation. It's almost like being there! Only there's no aquavit, and I can't stand along "Mördarbacken" ("Murder Hill" or "Killer Hill"), the notoriously long and steep hill that features in all of the skating laps today and which will probably decide the race.
Women's 7.5km + 7.5km
start The young Swedish racer Charlotte Kalla must be considered the favorite for this race. Not only is she the best female skate racer on the World Cup, but the home snow should give her whatever she needs to overcome her main competitors, Justyna Kowalczyk (Poland) and perhaps Virpi Kuitunen (Finland). Kuitunen leads the overall World Cup standings, but has lately faltered in the freestyle races, to the extent that she earned no points in last week's short race in Liberec, Czech Republic - opening the door for Kalla to make a run at the overall title. The Ukrainian racer Valentina Shevchenko has a good shot at winning today, as well, and there's little reason not to expect Norwegian Astrid Jacobsen to vie for the podium as well. Three North Americans are in the race: the American sprint specialist Kikkan Randall is testing her distance legs, and Canadians Sara Renner (back from maternity leave last season) and Madeleine Williams are also in the field.
1.6km At this first time check of the first classical-technique lap, Kuitunen leads a tight and big pack; all the favorites are up there. If Kalla has a task for the first, classical half of the race, it's to stay close enough to the leaders that she neither lets another good skater escape in the second half nor has too much ground to make up on the leaders. Much more than half of the field is within ten seconds of Kuitunen's lead as the field winds toward the lap's big climb. As they start that climb, Finn Aino-Kaisa Saarinen takes the lead, but Astrid Jacobsen is right alongside.
5.0km The field, led through this time check by the unheralded Katrin Zeller (Germany) has stretched out; 24 skiers are within 10 seconds of the front. No big moves have emerged yet, with the classical leg of the race already two-thirds complete. Astrid Jacobsen has taken over the lead as the racers approach the big hill. The field is falling apart now - Kalla is well off the pace being set by the leading trio: Jacobsen a second up on Petra Madjic (Slovenia) and, amazingly, Marit Bjoergen of Norway - seeking, for the nth time this season, to get back into the form that made her almost invincible during the 2004-5 and 2005-6 seasons.
7.5km/changeover Zooming into the "pit stop" area to change from classical-technique skis and poles to freestyle-technique gear, the Jacobsen, Bjoergen, Majdic group has a substantial advantage over the rest of the field. Some quick changeovers by other racers shuffle the field, though: Majdic immediately falls off the pace, while Marte Elden of Norway scoots up to join her two countrywomen at the front. And just like that, the three red suits at the front motor away from everyone else! Just a few hundred meters into the freestyle leg, they've already opened up a ten-second gap on the chasing pack, led by Kowalczyk with what one would hope would be some desperation. Each of the skate laps ascends Ascending the Mördarbacken for the first time, Charlotte Kalla is well off the pace being set by the Norges.
9.3km The three women are skiing easily and stepping well up the Mördarbacken. Jacobsen has put 2.6s into on Bjoergen, 4.4s into Elden, and a stunning 19.7s into Shevchenko in fourth. Kuitunen is almost a half-minute down, Kalla a stunning 48s. On the downhill, Jacobsen zips around the corners well in front of her teammates. With 5000 meters to go, this race should be hers to lose - and with both Kuitunen and Kalla being blown away, Jacobsen stands to gain a huge number of points toward the overall title. Not a bad prospect for the world sprint champion!
11.3km Bombing back toward the stadium, Jacobsen is extending her lead to absurd proportions. Her form doesn't look fantastic, but her sprinting prowess is a dangerous weapon to wield against anyone who bridges up. As they scoot up the climb out of the stadium area, Elden and Bjoergen both close down the gap, but then Jacobsen accelerates again. Her skate stroke has smoothed out now.
13km Going up the Mördarbacken again, Jacobsen keeps her poling motions short and sharp, working hard to maintain her lead. She has 8.5s on Bjoergen, and now Elden has been caught by Shevchenko at 11.4s; the Ukrainian is a superb skater who could eat up that 2.9s gap to Bjoergen but who also has to mind the pursuers behind. Coming through this check, Elden has dropped all the way down to ninth. This is will be an interesting last 2000 meters: Jacobsen won't lose, barring a fall on the descent, but if anyone can follow Shevchenko, we could see the other two podium spots change hands several times: places two through seven are separated by just over 10s. We could see a good bunch sprint for second and third, and a good sprinter like Justyna Kowalczyk could jump up several places on the last straightaway alone! But as they descend the hill, it's clear that Bjoergen - no mean sprinter herself - has fended off Shevchenko, and the Ukrainian is now leading a group of five, all of whom will desperately want that third-place spot.
15km Jacobsen skates easily around the final corner and up the straightaway, trailed distantly by Bjoergen. Behind them, a five-way sprint erupts! Aino-Kaisa Saarinen uses her sprinting skills to surge up the last little bump for third; a photo finish puts Sabina Valbusa (Italy) just ahead of Anna Hansson (Sweden) for fourth. Kuitunen winds up twelfth, and Kalla finishes twentieth, more than a minute down. Jacobsen now leads the World Cup distance standings with a comfortable lead over Justyna Kowalczyk and stands just 31 points behind Kuitunen in the overall standings, 69 points ahead of Kalla.
men's 15km + 15km pursuit
start 68 men are toeing the start line for today's double pursuit, which will take the racers over "Mördarbacken" three times. Five North Americans are racing today: Kris Freeman, Leif Zimmerman, and Garrott Kuzzy for the U.S. and Devon Kershaw and George Gray for Canada. Though none are likely to place in the top ten, Freeman and Kershaw should do well in this long two-technique race. The podium will almost certainly be occupied by men from the front of the field, with Czech Lukas Bauer being the easy favorite for the win. Axel Teichmann and Rene Sommerfeldt (starting second and fourth) are likely podium contenders, and home-snow racers like Anders Soedergren and Mathias Fredriksson will work hard to place well here in Sweden.
1.6km The start was fast and clean, and the entire pack is together, if strung out, at the first time check. Showing off his impeccable classic-style technique, Mathias Fredriksson leads here, as they wind through sparse woods on the way toward the the big climbs to come. The snow here in Falun is bad everywhere but on the tracks, which are covered with more than enough of the white stuff: there are four lanes of classic-style tracks, often next to a wide skating lane. All this space allows the field to spread out impressively as they make their way up and down the jagged course.
5.0km Only 19.7 seconds separated the entire field at the first time check, but the uphills have taken their tolls now. 37 racers are still within 10 seconds of the lead nominally held by Rene Sommerfeldt, but about a dozen have been spat off the back of the field even as the pace up front remains steady.
6.6km Now coming through on the second lap, Fredriksson leads again. As the racers swoop around the long, open corners that are a highlight of the course, the field is spread out enough that the head of the pack is well out of sight before the tail comes through. The climbs here are big and long, but much of the uphill distance is gentle enough that the racers can double-pole for long stretches - saving their legs for the more brutal climbs on the three skate legs that follow the changeover in 8.4km. Freeman and Kershaw are within a few seconds of the lead, right where they should be.
10.0km The descent from the lap's high point has strung the field out incredibly. As the racers zoomed through the feed zone just before hitting the stadium, the field must have stretched out for a full kilometer. All the favorites are up front, including Bauer and Sommerfeldt. Interestingly, the video which WCSN is webacasting includes Bauer's heart rates, which vary widely from the high 180s (about 95% of his maximum, according to the graphic) when he's working hard on the uphills to the low 150s when he's recovering on downhills and flats. The second lap was a bit slower than the first, but now the pace should increase quite a bit as the classical specialists try to get away and/or break up the field in advance of the three skating laps.
11.6km True to expectation, the pace is getting pushed quite a bit, and there's an obvious difference between the snap and power of the racers up front and those even halfway down the field. Bauer's up front at this check, but more than 30 racers are within ten seconds of him, including both Freeman and Kershaw.
15.0km/changeover Approaching the halfway point of the race and the "pit stop" to change from classical technique gear to skating gear, the field has well and truly blown up. As the racers follow the ridgeline above the stadium, Fredriksson leads from Bauer, whose heart rate is an astounding 98% of his max. In the stadium, everyone swaps their skis and poles and gets back out for three laps of the horrendous freestyle course, with its three ascents of Mördarbacken. Almost immediately, Rene Sommerfeldt - a consummate skater - moves into the lead, his red racing cap prominent. The side-by-side racing of the classical laps has disappeared: it's now just single file until you get down into the twentieth-placed racers. Bauer, surprisingly, has disappeared, falling well down the field.
16.8km You don't often see racers using the V1 technique for extended periods of time any longer, but it's in full effect now as the field works its way up Mördarbacken. Fredriksson is leading here, and Bauer's nearby, as are a number of other good skaters. The hill is terrifying, as steep as anything on the World Cup. Even great technicians like Fredriksson are visibly laboring, and the field is stretched almost to the breaking point. In eighth place, Bauer is more than five seconds back - not far with lots of race left to go, but just enough space that a breakaway on this climb on the last lap could open a decisive lead.
18.8km Sommerfeldt is still out front at this time check, and looks to have both good legs and good skis as they reenter the stadium. He's trailed closely by Tobias Angerer (Germany), Ivan Alypov and Alexander Legkov (Russia), and Sergei Dolidovich (Belarus), and a good crowd is right there behind him, including Bauer.
20.6km Coming up to the Mördarbacken again, Jiri Magal (Czech Republic) is up front, a very surprising leader. Sommerfedlt happns to hit the timecheck first, but Valerio Checchi (Italy) is also there, and Sweden's Anders Soedergren - who's always good for an attack on an uphill - in now in the mix. Bauer looks to be working a bit too hard amidst the Norwegians, Italians, and Russians. This downhill is going to be tough on the increasingly shaky legs, and the racers ski conservatively around the twisting downhill corners.
22.5km Coming back down the course, the doublepoling is more labored and nobody is getting as deep into their tucks as they had been earlier in the race. A good lead group numbers about fifteen serious contenders as they plummet back down toward the stadium. The Norwegian Morten Eilifsen is holding the nominal lead here in the stadium; almost thirty racers are inside 10 seconds of him - including Devon Kershaw, less than 2 seconds back.
24.3km With just over five k to go, we should see some action now. Lukas Bauer has made his way back to the head of the race now, and Sommerfeldt has started slipping backwards. Nowegian Tord Asle Gjerdalen appears to have very fast skis, and takes a small gap to the foot of the Mördarbacken. There, Bauer surges past him into the lead. The Czech racer's form looks good and almost impossibly easy, as if he's not even working even as they ascend the steeps. Eilifsen makes a small move along the right edge of the track to go ever so slightly ahead of Bauer. Martin Bajcicak of Slovakia is up there now, as are both Soedergren and Frediksson for Sweden. It's all on the line now!
26.3km Eilifsen, Bauer, Soedergren, Bajcicak lead a long file through the last feed zone. The Russians has slid down the field a bit, and Eilifsen looks to have surprisingly fast skis, pulling quite a ways ahead of Bauer on the descent to the stadium. But the Czech responds, and the field gathers again here as they head out on the last lap. In fact, Soeergren assumes the lead in the stadium and then accelerates, leading out Mathias Fredriksson. The two immediately put a small gap on the field - no more than two seconds at most, but enough to notice! Bauer tries to bridge up, and does, finally, along with Sommerfeldt and Eilifsen - but then it's a long gap back to sixth! Though another trip up Mördarbacken awaits, it seems likely that the winner will come from this sall group. Its members are in the best position to use an attack on the hill to escape and make a run for the line. And yes, it's Soedergren who attacks once and then again, just as more skiers join the back of this group! The Swedish crowd, hearing the play-byplay over the satidum public-address system, is going wild! Eilifsen is there, and Bauer, and now Giorgio di Centa (Italy) is moving up too. But Soedergren has a critical ten meters on Bauer now, and the Swede is hammering up Mördarbacken! Only Bauer is close, though Fredriksson and Sommerfedlt are trying to respond, too.
28.1km Soedergren summits first, 5.3 seconds ahead of Bauer and more ahead of the shattered pack! Only five other racers are inside ten seconds of Soedergren now, and none are good sprinters, which is exactly what the notoriously slow-legged Swede wants. Zipping down the hilll toward the stadium, Soedergren's skis are holding up well. He corners easily ahead of Bauer, but then the Czech effortlessly closes in and zooms past on an uphill, V2'ing a slope that Soedergren can only climb in V1. Now it's Bauer with a big gap and great snap in his legs and arms. Soedergern is holding onto second, ahead of Tord Asle Gjerdalen, a creditable sprinter, who has come up from nowhere.
30km/finish On the flats running to the stadium, Gjerdalen passes Soedergren, but Bauer stays in his tuck and keeps off the front. No! As they hit the finishing stretch with its appalling uphill to the line, Gjerdalen comes up alongside Bauer, but Bauer responds and stays ahead, powering up to the line with enough of a gap to raise his arms in victory. Behind, Soedergren takes a hard-luck third and Sergei Dolidovich (Belarus) takes fourth. Then a frenzy of photo finishes decides places five through nine. What a great run by Bauer! He looked to be out of the race at about 20km, but hauled himself back into contention and then capitalized on Soedergren's destruction of the field to pull away. Great tactical racing, and great use of the big climbs. American Kris Freeman wound up 23rd, just ahead of Canadian Devon Kershaw. Canadian George Gray finished 46th, Americans Leif Zimmerman and Garrott Kuzzy 58th and 60th, respectively - at the back of the field, but still ahead of some notable dropouts like Axel Teichmann.