CROSS-COUNTRY:

Cologna, Kowalczyk wrap up tour titles, Kershaw 7th overall

Jan. 9, 2011

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy ― Canada's quest for Tour de Ski medals came up a bit short Sunday, but Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey gutted out the final tour stage to ski to seventh and 10th overall, respectively. Canada's Ivan Babikov had a terrific race, finishing in sixth place for the stage and 18th overall. Kershaw was 12th in Sunday's stage and Harvey 20th.

Swiss racer Dario Cologna and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk defended their leads to capture the Tour de Ski cross-country titles in Val di Fiemme. The two World Cup leaders clinched tour victories for the second time, with Kowalczyk retaining her 2010 title and Cologna regaining a trophy he won in 2009.

Kowalczyk triumphed at the end of the 9-kilometre freestyle race, the tour's eighth stage, to win the title ahead of Therese Johaug of Norway and Marianna Longa of Italy. Kowalczyk finished with a total time of 2 hours 47 minutes 31 seconds, with Johaug on 2:48:52.5 and Longa on 2:50:11.7.

Cologna finished the tough last stage climb up Alpe Cermis for a final time of 4:28:2, 27.3 seconds ahead of Petter Northug of Norway and 1:44.1 up on last year's winner, Lukas Bauer of Czech Republic who was the stage winner Sunday.

Babikov saved his best for the final and must punishing stage of the eight-race Tour de Ski, leading the Canadian charge with a sixth-place finish up Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Babikov, who became the second Canadian male to win a World Cup gold medal when he posted the top time at the eighth stage two years ago, bolted down the 9-kilometre course, which culminates with a 425-metre painful climb up an alpine ski run. Babikov clocked a time of 31:15.4.

“It was not the best tour for me this year. I had a lot of tough luck, but I didn’t stop fighting,” said Babikov, a two-time Olympian. “I knew this race was my strength. I never seem to mind the pain. That is the way I train and it prepares me for these types of races. It was nice to end with a good result.”It was a coming-out party of sorts for the talented Canadian trio on the epic Tour de Ski, which had athletes completing 102-kilometres in eight races at five venues over 10 days. Kershaw led the way with four medals, more than doubling his career medal total, which is now at seven. The two-time Olympian became the third Canadian male to win a World Cup race, and also twice skied into the silver-medal position in addition to one final trip to the bronze step of the podium on Saturday.

When the world’s best nordic skiers completed the final climb to the finish line of Alpe Cermis, Kershaw finished in seventh spot overall with a total time of 4:30:33.7. Harvey was 10th at 4:31:11.2, while Babikov fought for 21st spot at 4:35:51.3.

“It has been quite the journey. I still can’t believe I hit the podium four times in one week. It is unbelievable,” said Kershaw. “The fact I was able to take my carcass up the hill today is unreal. I’m pretty tired and I just can’t wait to get home and see my friends and train at the Canmore Nordic Centre. It will be the perfect place to get ready for World Championships.”

“It was a fantastic week. Our goal as a team was to have all three in the top 10, but Ivan had some bad luck this week,” said Justin Wadsworth, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team. “The final hill climb is Ivan’s race and it was nice to see him have a good result today. The confidence level is really high on the team right now.”

Canada’s elite cross-country skiers will split time over the next month racing on the World Cup and domestically in Canada in preparation for the World Championships at the mecca of nordic skiing in Oslo, Norway, Feb. 23 to March 6. S-Magazine

— Cross-Country Canada and The Canadian Press contributed to this report

Tour de Ski final stage results

Top-5 Men and Canadian Results:
1.Lukas Bauer, CZE, 30:28.3; 2. Roland Clara, ITA, 31:00.7; 3. Curdin Perl, SUI, 31:02.1; 4. Vincent Vittoz, FRA, 31:03.3; 5. Petter Northug Jr., NOR, 31:07.3.
Canadian Results:
6. Ivan Babikov, Canmore, Alta., 31:15.4; 12. Devon Kershaw, Sudbury, Ont., 31:37.8; 20. Alex Harvey,St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., CAN, 32:10.0