MEN’S FINALS

2:07 MST, A Final. Birthday boy Boerre Naess (NOR) won the men’s A Final, followed by teammates Ola Vigen Hattestad, Eldar Roenning, Anders Gloersen, and Tor Arne Hetland. Russian Nikita Kruikov finished 6th. All 6 double-poled the entire course.

The Norwegian men took 5 of the top 6 spots in the classic sprint qualification. Boerre Naess led the way with a 1.56 second victory over Nikita Kriukov of Russia. Several of the Norweigans opted to double pole the entire course - an impressive display of strength. Torin Koos had his best qualification performance of the season, finishing 7th, +3.75. Andy Newell advanced with an uncharacteristically slow 16th - especially in classic. Chris Cook will ski in his first World Cup heats of the season, squeaking through in 30th, just .05 seconds ahead of Canadian Stefan Kuhn.

Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) won the women’s sprint qualification round by 1.38 seconds over Petra Majdic (SLO). Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) was third. No American women qualified.  Kikkan Randall finished 33rd, just under  a second out of the final spot. She was 14.28 seconds behind the winner.  Laura Valaas finished 41st, Lindsay Williams 45th, Kate Arduser 51st, and LIndsey Dehlin 59th in the 59 woman field. Canadians Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford qualified in 15th and 25th respectively.  The two Canadian women will be racing in the same quarterfinal - Heat 3 - scheduled for 12:40 MST. 

Sara Renner qualifying in 15th. 

Kikkan Randall qualifying in 33rd 

The men’s and women’s classic sprint qualification gets under way in 30 minutes.  Conditions are excellent - cold and clear, with rock hard tracks.  The sprint course has only one significant climb, and while it has some length, it is not particularly steep.  Read more for a full description of the course and who is racing for the North Americans (use the “more” button to the right).