The race calendar for the 2012-2013 World Cup season was finalized on Thursday by the FIS Council. Highlights of the season include World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, the seventh running of the Tour de Ski and (for North America) two weekends in Canada at the end of Period 1.

There are a few other new stops on the calendar: a TdS stage will be held in Switzerland for the first time and Sochi, Russia, will hold three pre-Olympic World Cup races from February 1 – 3.

The Junior and U23 World Championships will be held in Liberec, Czech Republic from January 20 – 27.

Check out the full FIS World Cup calendar here.

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – FasterSkier caught up with Britain’s Andrew Musgrave for a quick interview after his efforts in the penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour de Ski. Like Norway’s Eldar Roenning, Musgrave has had some help on the Tour from his brother.

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – A pair of men who had a pair of the worst days in Saturday’s Stage 8 of the Tour de Ski here had the two best days in Sunday’s Stage 9 – the Tour’s final climb up the Alpe Cermis.

Alexander Legkov (RUS) and Maurice Manificat (FRA) finished first and second in the contest for best time in the final climb, in nearly a dead heat. Legkov finished in 30:38.2 and Manificat in 30:38.3, with Marcus Hellner in third place another second back, in 30:39.9. (The reason the three men weren’t the first to the finish line is because Stage 9 was a handicap-start, with athletes placed higher in the overall standings getting a head start.)

While Hellner started in third place and used his result to climb to second in the overall Tour standings, Legkov and Manificat weren’t situated as well at the start of the day, thanks to nightmare races in Stage 8 here on Saturday.

Legkov had problems with his skis and wax, while Manificat struggled with his body.

After the race on Sunday, Manificat told FasterSkier he had “better legs, and good skis.”

“Yesterday, it was a day without, as we say in French. But it’s like that—the Tour is very long, and you need to be at 100 percent,” he said. “All works today, and so, I finish on good things, and it’s good to continue the season.”

Link to results.

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Dario Cologna (SUI) won his third Tour de Ski, title easily holding his signifcant lead on the way to the top of the Alpe Cermis.

With a lead of 1:22 entering the 9km stage, there was little doubt that Cologna would win, but the race for second was another story.

Cologna on the Final Climb.

Northug headed out 40 seconds up on Marcus Hellner (SWE) and Devon Kershaw (CAN). The two worked together on the flat, before Hellner attacked headed into the climb. Kershaw fell off the pace, and the Swede quickly closed the gap on Northug.

If Northug has one weakness, it is the final climb, and Hellner easily outdistanced him.

Kershaw held onto fourth and his teammate Alex Harvey placed 12th.

Alexander Legkov (RUS) posted the fastest time of the day, besting Maurice Manificat (FRA) by .1 seconds. The tow men were in contention for second until Saturday’s 20k mass start. The two struggled, falling back in the standings.

Hellner had the third fastest time, 1.7 seconds behind Legkov.

Italian Roland Clara was fastest on the hill itself.

Complete Results

Score one for Justyna Kowalczyk.

For the first time in three years, the Polish skier got the better of Norwegian Marit Bjoergen in the premiere event of the ski season, dropping her rival partway up the climb of the Alpe Cermis to win the 2012 Tour de Ski.

While Bjoergen had the upper hand at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and at the 2011 World Ski Championships in Oslo, Kowalczyk finally broke through this time. She was 28 seconds faster than Bjoergen up the hill, with plenty of time to celebrate at the top.

“It has been a very big fight between me and Justyna,” Bjoergen said in a press conference afterwards. “Justyna was stronger than me.”

Therese Johaug (NOR) was the third woman to the top, giving her the final place on the overall podium, and also the fastest time of the day.

Kikkan Randall (USA) dropped two places from her start position, but still managed to hold on to 10th place in the overall. Her teammate Liz Stephen notched the 8th-fastest time of the day, moving her up to 24th overall, while Holly Brooks (USA) was 31st, giving her 39th place in the overall.

Link to full results from the day.

Link to overall results.

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – The battle between Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) is coming down to the wire.

Kowalczyk won Stage 8 of the Tour de Ski on Saturday to take an 11-second lead in the overall standings over her Norwegian rival heading the Tour’s last stage here on Sunday: a nine-kilometer hill climb up the Alpe Cermis, a local alpine ski area.

Kowalczyk went out of the start hot, took a small lead on the second of two 4.5-kilometer laps, then fought off a late charge by Bjoergen to take her first win since Stage 3 of the Tour in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Charlotte Kalla (SWE) was third, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) fourth, and Julia Ivanova (RUS) fifth.

Kikkan Randall (USA) was 12^th after skiing with the lead pack early, while her teammates Liz Stephen and Holly Brooks were 34^th and 45^th, respectively.

Link to full results.

TESERO, Italy – Eldar Roenning (NOR) used a hard attack on the last small climb into the stadium to open a five meter gap on the field, before holding on in the homestretch to win the penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour de Ski.

Alex Harvey (CAN) bested overall Tour leader Dario Cologna (SUI) in the double pole to take second and claim his first World Cup distance podium since 2009 in Trondheim, Norway.

Cologna hung on to third, just a fraction of a second ahead of Northug.

With the intermediate bonus sprint moved to the top of the largest climb, the race broke apart in a fashion usually only seen on the women’s side.

The pack was already stringing out the first time to the top at 1.8k. While the pace dropped somewhat coming through the stadium, the numbers at the front dwindled consistently.

Some of the big names in contention for the overall podium could not hold on—namely Maurice Manificat (FRA) and Alexander Legkov (RUS), and to a lesser degree, Ilia Chernousov (RUS).

Devon Kershaw (CAN) was sixth, and right in the mix at the end. Both he and Harvey captured bonus seconds on every lap except for one.

Cologna took a number of seconds as well, and pretty much iced his overall win.

The battle is now for second and it is very close.

Complete Results

TOBLACH, Italy – Norwegian Eldar Roenning, who is not a strong skater, was disappointed with his performance in the 35k Cortina to Toblach pursuit.

Starting in 10th, he started hard, hoping to get in a group with Marcus Hellner (SWE) and Lukas Bauer (CZE).

“But after five minutes I was so tired I had to just let it go,” he told FasterSkier.

He backed off and after reaching the high point, his race began to turn around. He ended up in a group with Curdin Perl (SUI), and Italians Thomas Moriggl and Roland Clara.

He fell from all the way to 24th place, and described the first 15k of the race as “terrible.”

It was a different story for 26-year-old Lars Nelson of Sweden.  Hardly a household name on the World Cup, Nelson said he has been having an excellent Tour.

He placed 31st in the pursuit, holding position, and is looking to crack the top-30 at the top of the Alpe Cermis.

He told FasterSkier that he trained on an alpine hill at home in Sweden in preparation.

“I came here with no anticipation,” Nelson said. “For me it is a great tour so far.”

The big names on the Swedish men’s team have not had such a good time of it, with both Emil Joensson and Marcus Hellner suffering some major disappointments.

Nelson said that spirits are still high and that “of course some people are not satisfied immediately after the race, but a couple hours later they are ready to go again.”

The Swedish press officer confirmed this, saying that the team was in good shape after a pep talk, and that Hellner’s spectacular performance in the pursuit would be a major lift.

On the topic of lesser-known skiers from major ski powerhouses, Niklas Dryhaug (NOR), skied a strong pursuit, moving up to 16th from 20th.

He finished at the front of a pack of five skiers, and said the men joined forces to maximize speed.

“We worked very well together and talked about it before the race,” Dryhaug said. “I am really satisfied with the team work and 16th place is good for me.”

In Saturday’s 20k, he will be working for Petter Northug (NOR), trying to get the star bonus seconds.

“We will fight together, all the Norwegians, and hopefully get Petter on top in Alpe Cermis,” Dryhaug said.

When asked if Northug still had a shot at the overall title, he said ”

It is possible, but it is a very big challenge for the moment. Petter took very many seconds in Val di Fiemme last year [in the 20k]. If Petter is in good shape in the weekend anything can happen.”

Maurice Manificat (FRA) thinks otherwise. Sitting in 6th place, just seconds out of second, he sees the only race is for number two.

“To catch Dario? No it is impossible. The second place, the podium, but not Dario,” Manificat said.

Devon Kershaw (CAN) had what he termed as “probably the best skate race of my career.” He worked in conjunction with Manificat and Hellner.

He had nothing but praise for the Swede.

“You talk about mental toughness, Hellner is so storng mentally…and today was a really good indication. He is a classy athlete, super classy,” Kershaw said.

He also added that when Hellner went to front to pull the chase pack, “I was slobbering like a Saint Bernard in the summer.”

TOBLACH, Italy – Kris Freeman (USA) has been struggling all season to find his top form, a level that has put him in contention for the World Cup podium in the past. He has repeatedly commented that he has been missing his top-gear, and that has been apparent on the result sheet.

The Tour de Ski has been more of the same—some solid results, mixed into poor ones, but nothing spectacular.

While the sample size is small, the 35km pursuit from Cortina to Toblach marked a significant improvement for the veteran, and could mark a turning point.

Freeman skied his strongest race of the season, posting the tenth fastest time on the day while moving up from 42nd to 29th.

“I started racing and finished racing, and I raced in the middle, too,” Freeman told FasterSkier.

After inexplicable subpar performances, Freeman did not enter the pursuit with much confidence, especially coming off a sprint on Wednesday that he described as “pathetic.”

He caught a ride with Robin Duvillard (FRA) in the pursuit, who started just behind at bib 44, and said he was “pretty much being a leech out there.”

He finished in the middle of a large pack, losing out in a photo finish to Sergei Dolidovich (BLR), leaving him under three seconds out of 25th, and within striking distance of 21st.

Last year he skied an excellent final climb, but struggled in the 20k mass start. If he can put together a strong performance tomorrow, he could be in good position for the grind up the Alpe Cermis on Sunday.

Freeman, however, is not taking anything for granted, despite clearly being pleased with his performance.

“At this point, I have no idea what to expect out of my body at any time,” he said.

He is now looking to complete the Tour and get some rest, which he thinks will help.

His coach, Zach Caldwell, told FasterSkier, “I was just about ready to send him home yesterday [Wednesday],” but with the top-10 performance in the pursuit, that is off the table.

TOBLACH, Italy – In Stage 7 of the 2011/2012 Tour de Ski, a 35 kilometer point to point from Cortina to Toblach, Italy, Dario Cologna (SUI) left the start by himself and arrived across the finish line without anyone in sight.

Cologna (1st).

The drama – what little there was – happened early. Petter Northug (NOR) left the start a mere 13 seconds behind Cologna, and quickly caught him…for a short bit. Then he dramatically faded and disappeared, seeming to drop almost half a minute in half a kilometer.

Alexander Legkov (RUS) who started in 3rd, 1:28 behind, the leader, caught Northug and the two skied together for the better part of the race, until being caught by a strong chase group composed of Marcus Hellner (SWE), Maurice Magnificat (FRA) and Devon Kershaw (CAN).

The new pack of five skied together  – switching the lead between all but Northug, until the very end when Northug put forth a predictable sprint to take 2nd. Then all 5 collapsed on the ground.

5 Collapsed At Finish

Alex Harvey (CAN) both started and finished in 9th, 2:52 out, losing 6 seconds to the leader.

Kris Freeman (USA) started in 42nd, 6:33 behind Cologna, and finished in 29th, with time back unchanged: 6:33.

Complete results.

A full report to come.