Video from the 15km Freestyle World Cup Race - includes winner Valerio Checchi (Italy) and Kris Freeman (USA)

Valerio Checchi of Italy won his first World Cup event, besting Rene Sommerfeldt of Germany by 8.3 seconds. Fellow Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer was third, 13.2 seconds back.

Kris Freeman gained World Cup points with a 29th place finish. Freeman was 14th after 5km and 24th after 10km. He finished 1:28 out of the win.

Valentina Schevchenko of Ukraine won the women’s 10km freestyle individual start. Evgenia Medvedeva was second with Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) third. Schevchecnko, an excellent skater who won the Tour de Ski Final Climb by over a minute, clearly took to the hilly 5km loop in Canmore. This was her second victory of the season, following the Tour de Ski stage win.

Another beautiful morning in Canmore. Tempertures are a bit warmer, and it looks to be a great day for skating.

The women’s 10km individual start freestyle race begins at 11:00AM MST. The course is similar to the classic loop used for the pursuit with several additions to bring the length to 5km. The racers will again be challenged by the long steep climb that broke up the pack in the classic leg of the pursuit. Starting roughly 1.25km into the loop, the hill meanders up for nearly a kilometer, with several sort plateaus.