Claudia Nystad took the prologue of the Tour de Ski cross country series in her former hometown of Oberhof by 1.1 seconds over Italian Ariana Follis. Slovene Petra Majdic and Pole Justyna Kowalczyk tied for third with World Cup leader Aino Kaisa Saarinen back in eighth place.

"I am happy to win," Nystad told the DPA, "but now come the more difficult races."

The men's slightly longer prologue (3.7k vs 2.8k) also went to a German as Axel Teichmann powered over the hilly course for an 8.2 second margin over Swiss Dario Cologna. Norway's Petter Northug was third, 13 seconds back.

The Canadian men had a decent day with Devon Kershaw in fifth and George Grey ninth. The U.S. had no entries.

The Tour de Ski covers seven stages at four sites with the overall winner gaining 400 World Cup points and $119,500.

SkiRacing.com
Saturday, 27 December 2008

Cologna takes the lead from Teichmann

The Tour de Ski continued in Oberhof, Germany today with a pair of classic pursuit handicap start races. Today’s 15 km (men) and 10 km (women) races gave yesterday’s top finishers the advantage, allowing racers to start in the order they finished Saturday.

The men’s race stayed tight today with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, yesterday’s second place finisher, taking the lead from German Axel Teichmann. Coming from the middle of the pack was Finland’s Sami Jauhojaervi who finished third, a huge jump from his 29th place finish a day earlier.

The result of today’s leg puts Cologna, who overcame a 14-second head start by Teichmann, in the lead by almost five seconds.

Canadian Devon Kershaw is moving in the right direction, securing fourth today, up one spot from his fifth place finish Saturday. The U.S. did not competing in the event. For full results click here.

Finland’s Virpi Kuitunen climbed to the top of the women’s tour today after finishing the first leg in seventh place. More than two seconds back was Marti Bjoergen of Norway in second, followed by Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk in third.

Yesterday’s winner German Claudia Nystad finished 16th, landing one minute, eight seconds behind the lead. For complete results click here.

The seven-stage tour continues tomorrow in Prague with a 1k sprint for both genders.

SkiRacing.com
Sunday, 28 December 2008