Blowing & Drifting

Wednesday's races at Cogne, Italy, confirmed that this World Cup cross-country season is going to be an odd one. Both races, run in the classical technique from an interval start, saw a repeat winner: sprinter Eldar Rønning (Norway) in the men's 15km and Finland's Virpi Kuitunen in the women's 10km. Rønning and Kuitunen had won at the same distances and in the same technique at Kuusamo, Finland, at the end of November. Ronning is a genuine revelation, having now established himself as a threat in both distance and sprint events. He's well clear of the second-place skiers in both the World Cup distance and overall rankings. Kuitunen has long been one of the better female racers, but this is the first time she has topped the women's World Cup overall rankings - a position she holds partly on the strength of her superb racing, especially in the classical technique, and partly because defending champion Marit Bjørgen of Norway is having a terrible season, finishing third in the 10km freestyle-technique race at Gällivare, Sweden, in early November, worrying about her fitness after finishing second in the 10km at Kuusamo and fading badly to 17th at Cogne. Bjørgen has even had bad results in the sprint races she had dominated in recent years, finishing third in the Kuusamo sprint behind Petra Madjic of Slovenia, an up-and-coming racer who stands third in the overall, and Kuitunen. (Norwegians took all three podium spots in the men's sprint at Kuusamo.) Bjørgen's bad form opens the gate to her perennial rivals, such as Kuitunen, Czech Katerina Neumannova (winner at Gällivare), and Estonian Kristina Smigun, who is perhaps the best distance racer in classical and freestyle techniques.

The weekend's races at La Clusaz, France, will be the last competitions before the intense Tour de Ski starts, two weeks from today. The men's 30km race is the first mass-start event of the year, and biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen, having won five straight biathlon races after a surprising and crushing victory in the 15km freestyle race at Gällivare, is readying himself for it. Bjørndalen hopes for a strong result - perhaps even a victory - to stake a claim for a spot on the Norwegian cross-country World Championships team. The women's 15km race is likely to reenact many of the results from Gällivare; Neumannova won at La Clusaz in 2004 and must be considered the favorite this year, while Smigun has had good results all season and Kuitunen needs to break through with a solid freestyle result. The relays at La Clusaz will probably feature the same teams that won the relays at Gällivare, although without Bjorgen - who anchored Norway to the win at Gällivare but is skipping La Clusaz - the Norwegian women will be lucky to finish in the top five.  The dark cloud of doping will hang over the La Clusaz races: two Austrians were detained at Cogne for possible doping violations.  

Women's 15km Freestyle (Mass Start)

1. Katerina Neumannova (CZE)

2. Kristina Smigun (EST)

3. Valentina Shevchenko (UKR)

Men's 30km Freestyle (Mass Start)

1. Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)

2. Axel Teichmann (GER)

3. Vincent Vittoz (FRA)