Two Sundays ago, more than 13,000 skiers stood in the massive start zone of Vasaloppet, the 90-kilometer (56-mile) ski marathon between Sälen and Mora, Sweden, that stands as the most prestigious - not to mention longest and biggest - ski race in the world.
In the very front row of that mass of humanity was the Norwegian Jørgen Aukland, who possessed perhaps the strongest record of any man in the monster race: three third-place and two second-place finishes - including a one-second loss to winner Oskar Svärd in 2003. In the year since the 2007 race - in which he finished a distant third - Jørgen joined his brother Anders on a new privately-funded ski team aimed explicitly at winning the big marathons and, of course, at winning Vasaloppet. This was novel in a sport where local teams (like the fabled ski club in Mora, the town at the end of the Vasaloppet), especially in Scandinavia. Anders himself had won Vasaloppet in 2004, in some part on the strength of Jørgen's ability to push the early pace, and the two Auklands were understood to be aiming to win the race again. At a pre-race press conference, the brothers had described obtaining advice from countryman Thor Hushovd, who has won several stages in the Tour de France, and hinted at the use of planned breakaways by allied racers to fracture the lead pack in advance of their own attacks.
The Auklands weren't even the favorites in the 2008 edition of the race, though. Recent champions Oskar Svärd (the winner in 2007, 2005, and 2003) and Daniel Tynell (winner in 2006 and 2002) had their strong records to fall back on, and a number of other accomplished long-distance racers such as Jerry Ahrlin (who finished second in 2006), Mathias Fredriksson (a noted Swedish racer who won the overall World Cup cross-country skiing title in 2003), Frode Estil (a great Norwegian racer with multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, including a gold in the 50km classical-technique race at the 2005 Worlds), and even Thomas Alsgaard (a fantastically successful Norwegian who had retired from World Cup racing a few years ago). Any of these racers - or any of a dozen other less-heralded racers - had the fitness and racing acumen to win Vasaloppet.
As it is every year, the start was a sight to behold (video): an ocean of racers tiding forward through the massive field with single-file tendrils of elite frontrunners moving rapidly away from the mass and toward the steep little climb just a k or so into the course. There is little to do here by keep moving forward, but when the course leveled out again at the top, the Auklands, Ahrlin, and Svärd are all right there. Fifteen minutes into the race, passing the 7,000 meter mark, Jørgen Aukland was right up front, taking a long pull on his drink bottle. Immediately afterward, a couple other racers jumped into the lead and energetically start to push the pace.
Swedish national TV had a correspondent not just on the course, but in the race: he jumped off the side of the track, slotted into the lead pack, and did a few kilometers with them, giving his impressions of the race to that point. He dropped back just as the race started in earnest, with Norwegian Rune Stig Kveen pushing to the front and getting a sizable gap at the first checkpoint, the 10.5km control point at Smågan (video) - 33:33 into the race. All the favorites were toward the front of the race, but only Jerry Ahrlin was close to Kveen. Ahrlin was taking a big gamble by doing the race on skate skis: without the grip wax necessary to kick and stride in the diagonal or classic technique, he would have to doublepole the entire race - possible, but only just, and perhaps risky given that doublepoling is not as fast on uphills as striding. Vasaloppet is known as a flat race, but the course does include some significant climbs near the midway point - a fact Ahrlin would well know.
Ahead even of Ahrlin, Kveen was well off the front, skiing with two racers from IFK Mora, which has had more than its share of Vasalopp winners, and every year sends a huge contingent to the race - including a few who try for the win. The trio stayed well ahead of the peloton until about 20km, when their gap shrank back down and lead group became a single file curving through the snowy Swedish woods. As the racers approached the Mångsbodarna control (video), 25.7km and 1:10:05 into the race, Kveen surged again, using a small climb to establish just enough of a lead to capture the sprint prize. All the big names were within a few seconds of Kveen, who was not getting away - yet.
Behind the elite men, the women's race - which always has fewer top-notch skiers involved - was shaping up more slowly. Three Swedes were in front: Jenny Hansson led at Mångsbodarna (video) by about 27 seconds over Elin Ek and 1:33 over Sandra Hansson - dangerously large deficits at about one third of the way into the race.
After a few pack-stretching attacks by various skiers on the track between Mångsbodarna and the checkpoint at Risberg, the Auklands finally moved to the front of the race, where they spent a few kilometers following Jerry Ahrlin - instantly identifiable by his continuous doublepoling even when everyone else was striding. Everyone took on drinks before the trail dipped just outside the control at Risberg (video), where Jørgen Aukland was first over the line, now 1:40 into the race.
Perhaps taking advantage of the slower pace through the time check, Aukland ventured off the front. Ahrlin went with him, and they quickly built up a sizable gap over a shrinking chase pack. Talking back and forth and looking back frequently, it was clear the two leaders were doing nothing more than trimming the number of racers near them - not quite blowing up the race, but controlling it in a rather brutal way. Within five minutes, only three other racers were near them: Anders Aukland, obvious in the red bib of the Marathon Cup leader, and two unknown Norwegians: Anders Myrland (like Ahrlin, an all-doublepoler), and Sjur Börsheim. This last racer soon dropped off, leaving Ahrlin up front with the three Norwegians - or, put differently, outnumbered by the Aukland brothers.
The Risberg attack had succeeded almost too well, demolishing the big group which had been together at that check and leaving only a quartet, of whom one would certainly win the race. Taking feeds every half hour or so, the quartet worked well together, visibly pushing but sharing the responsibilities of leading and privileges of following. Of the four, Myrland seemed to the racer nearest his maximum, often falling behind on uphills, while Ahrlin seemed to have the most in reserve, using his vigorous doublepole to easily gap the other three at every opportunity. He clearly wanted to break up the group into even smaller pieces - and to avoid being caught in a trap set by the Aukland brothers. Unfortunately, the Auklands could both stride up the small hills that Ahrlin had to doublepole, and it appeared that he had to work hard to limit his uphill loss and close the downhill gaps. 2:16.15 into the race, the foursome was still a unit as they swung through the horseshoe-shaped control at the almost-halfway point, Evertsberg (video), 47.1km done and 42.9km to go. The next racer - Sweden's Mathias Fredriksson - was nearly a minute behind.
Shortly after Evertsberg, Ahrlin made another attack, and temporarily fractured the group. Jørgen Aukland stayed with him and then took the lead as Anders Myrland bridged up. Behind, Anders Aukland doubelpoled freantically, trying to ride every bit of downhill and get back on to the group. With his brother up front, the pace slowed enough that Anders got back on - at which point Ahrlin pressed once more. Zipping through a feed station, the elder Aukland dropped back again, then worked back to the group again.
This back-and-forthing continued almost the whole way to the next control, at Oxberg. There, on the penultimate big climb of the race, the two Auklands surged to the front and began striding hard, hoping to shake the two doublepolers Ahrlin and Myrland. The latter was dropped immediately. Ahrlin let a gap develop, but didn't panic. His metronomic doublepoling slowly cut the brothers' lead down from tens of meters to a few ski lengths, and then he was with them again. The attack had partially succeeded, though: Myrland was gone, drifting back down the course to ultimately finish eighth, more than ten minutes behind the winner.
Having made one successful attack, the Auklands did it again on the next uphill. Jørgen led, gasping for air as he strode fluidly up the slope to Oxberg. Ahrlin, exhausted after having covered the last attack, couldn't respond again, and became an ever-smaller black figure behind the brothers. Anders initially stayed with Jørgen, riding the draft, but then slowly slipped back. Suddenly Jørgen was alone in front, negotiating the tricky uphill hairpin turn at Oxberg (video). With 61.7km down and 28.3km to go, he crossed first at 2:52.34, four seconds ahead of his brother and 12 seconds ahead of Ahrlin.
With nearly a third of the race left to run, a big surge by either Anders Aukland or Jerry Ahrlin could still, possibly, catch the leader - if he had some sort of disaster up front. Riding the downhill from Oxberg, Ahrlin caught back up to Anders Aukland, and the two began working together to try to maintain the gap to Jørgen, whom they could see on the long, flat straightaways through the woods. It was to no avail: the gap steadily grew, and soon the leader was out of sight on a long solo breakaway to Mora, 28,000 meters away. Behind, Anders shook off Ahrlin with a surprisingly powerful diagonal stride on the rolling terrain before the Hökberg checkpoint (video), which he reached 1:14 behind his younger brother (and 19 seconds ahead of Ahrlin, whose double-pole looked less and less snappy).
As these attacks decided the men's race, the women's race was shaping up much differently. Jenny Hansson maintained big leads through the next checkpoints: 1:51 over Elin Ek and 2:32 over Sandra Hansson at Risberg, 2:25 over Sandra Hansson and 2:57 over Ek at Evertsberg, 1:48 over Sandra Hansson at Oxberg. But at the point in the race where Jorgen Aukland made his decisive move, Jenny Hansson began to collapse. Ascending the rise to the control at Hokberg, her skis were visibly working against her, and suddenly Sandra Hansson was just 10 seconds down, her women's-race yellow bib bobbing just a few meters behind Jenny Hansson's. Sandra had taken 1:38 out of Jenny in just 9200 meters.
As the women's race tightened up and appeared to head toward a sprint finish, Jørgen Aukland passed through the last control at Eldris. His bother came through at +2:25, Ahrlin at +4:07. Jørgen was now taking on feeds almost every ten minutes or so, clearly warding off the possibility of a catastrophic bonk - or else just ridiculously thirsty after nearly four hours of skiing. He was now just grinding away, just keeping up a good tempo but no longer hammering the uphills or trying to eke out every bit of speed on the downhills. As the kilometers disappeared down the trail behind him and the finish at Mora approached, he sped up again and finally crossed the line at 4:13:45, slowing his finishing sprint to receive the customary wreath from the kranskrulla, a traditionally-dressed Swedish woman (video). His brother slid over the line 3:29 later, visibly more tired than the winner, and Ahrlin rounded out the podium at +4:17. The first Swedish finisher grinned as he removed his skis, then showed off two bloody gloves: all that doublepoling had created and then burst blood blisters on his palms.
While the postrace interviews where conducted over the finishing straightaway (and as Canadian Dan Roycroft finished in a great 24th), the women's race came to a head. Having seen her massive lead erode to nothing in the last 10km, Jenny Hansson was caught by Sandra Hansson just before the left-hand turn onto the finishing straightaway. (video) Energized by her come-from-behind attack, Sandra increased the pace of her doublepoling, rocketing toward the line amidst dozens of male finishers. Behind, Jenny could only get as deep into her own doublepoles as possible, hoping for a miracle. It was clear that she had no power left to close the four-second gap. With the victory, Sandra Hansson culminated a return to elite form: having ranked as one of Sweden's best junior skiers, she incurred some training-related injuries that kept her from racing until 2006. After finishing fourth in last year's Vasaloppet, she was on the verge of of joining the upper ranks of female marathon skiers - a group she now definitely can call her own.
For his part, Jørgen Aukland was justifiably happy with the long-awaited victory, which he said had been a goal since he was six years old. His win cemented his status as one of the greatest Vasaloppet racers in the event's history. With the Auklands finishing 1-2, Norway put two men into the top three for the first time ever. And the brothers' joint accomplishment came exactly 20 years after another pair of brothers, Anders and Örjan Blomquist, jointly won the race - and carried the wreath girl over the finish line, for good measure.