CROSS-COUNTRY:

Kershaw 7th in pursuit, stands 2nd overal halfway through tour

Jan. 3, 2011 — Cross Country Canada  

OBERSTDORF, Germany ― Canada’s Devon Kershaw maintained his second-place position in the Tour de Ski standings with a solid seventh-place finish in a 20-kilometre pursuit race in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Monday, which marked the midway point of the grueling eight-stage event.

The 28-year-old Kershaw, who won back-to-back silver medals over the weekend in a classic-ski 15-kilometre race Saturday followed by Sunday’s sprint event, posted his third straight season-best finish – this time in a chaotic mass-start race on the narrow Oberstdorf course, which has athletes skiing 10 kilometres in the classic-ski technique, followed by 10 additional kilometres of skate-skiing. Athletes enter a transition zone to change equipment with the clock still running similar to a triathlon.

Bodies were crashing all around Kershaw as the world’s best skiers fought for bonus points with hopes of making their move on the field in the fourth stage of the tour. The Sudbury, Ont., native stayed on his feet to clock a time of 49 minutes, 28.3 seconds.



“It was straight up madness out there with the course being so narrow and guys crashing everywhere. I was just lucky to keep the black side (of the ski) down,” said Kershaw while on the team’s bus for the journey to Cortina, Italy. “It is great to be seventh. That is a solid result. I’ve had my three best races of the year back-to-back-to-back so I’m feeling really good.”

Heading into the week, Kershaw and the Canadian squad pegged the Oberstdorf pursuit as the unofficial start of the tour  where fireworks will happen with athletes jockeying for position before the epic 10-day journey heads to Italy.

“There was 90 seconds in bonus points up for grabs today, so you can see where people can make their move. Yesterday there was just only 50 I think for the sprint race,” said Kershaw, who claimed third-place bonus points in one of the seven group of points up for grabs on the day. “The bonus points concerned me because I didn’t want some guys to get them, but I also didn’t want to burn all my energy on going for them today. I just focused on the individual race.”

“The course was so narrow that I don’t feel I was able to take advantage of my shape today, but that may have been an advantage as well because maybe I was able to save some energy.”

Finland’s Matti Heikkinen broke away from the field in the final kilometre of the race to win the fourth stage after crossing the finish line with a time of 49:20.1. Tour leader Dario Cologna of Switzerland grabbed the silver medal at 49:21.1, while Martin Jaks of Czech Republic locked up third spot after stopping the clock at 49:25.0.

Cologna grabbed 40 bonus seconds to increase his lead to 44.9 seconds over Kershaw in the overall race to be crowned the king of cross-country skiing.

Alex Harvey dropped one spot into fifth in the overall standings after a strong 15th-place finish in Monday’s pursuit. Harvey clocked in at 49:33.0. Ivan Babikov finished 37th (50:25.2) after losing a ski when he got tangled up with a group of athletes in the classic-ski portion of the race.

Athletes will have a well-deserved one-day break as the tour now travels to Italy for the final four races, which culminates on Jan. 9 with a grueling climb up Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

“It will be great to do some laundry tomorrow and I’m sure eat some good food because we are in Italy, but I can’t take a day off,” said Kershaw while recovering on the team bus. “I still have to get out and train so I’m ready. I hope my shape continues.”

S-Magazine

Tour de Ski Day 3 results
 


Top-5 Men and Canadian Results:

1. Matti Heikkinen, FIN, 49:20.1; 2. Dario Cologna, SUI, 49:21.1; 3. Martin Jaks, CZE, 49:25.0; 4. Jean Marc Gaillard, FRA, 49:25.1; 5. Lukas Bauer, CZE, 49:26.0.

Canadian Results:

7. Devon Kershaw, Sudbury, Ont., 49:28.3; 15. Alex Harvey, St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., 49:33.0; 37. Ivan Babikov, Canmore, Alta., 50:25.2.