Race splits: World Cup Sprint Otepää 2010

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 17 Jan 2010@14:00

The Cross Country sprint is all about saving your power throughout the heats. You have got to use just enough power to get on to the next heat. It is therefore interesting to take a look at the times for each heat and sum them up to see if it is possible to see any patterns.

Below the times of all competitors are shown for final, semifinal, quarterfinal and qualifier. In the last column the times are summed.

Short analysis

In the mens class, it is interesting to see that the overall winner Emil Jönnson actually has the best time also when summing the times for all four races – followed by Ola Vigen Hattestad and Nikita Kriukov – excactly as in the final results.

In the womens class Aino Kaisa Saarinen (finishing 3rd overall) has the best time when summing the times over all four races – ahead of the winner Hanna Falk and the second placed Petra Majdic. This is not surprising as Saarinen has her weakness in the last 100-150 meters, and thus always races maximum from the start. Note also that Saarinen was faster in her semifinal than in her final.

Results men (unofficial results from live timing)
Emil JOENSSON. SWE 03:17.74 03:21.88 03:18.73 03:22.72 (13:21)
Ola Vigen HATTESTAD. NOR 03:17.83 03:21.02 03:18.44 03:25.10 (13:22)
Nikita KRIUKOV. RUS 03:17.94 03:21.24 03:19.14 03:26.60 (13:25)
Jesse VAEAENAENEN. FIN 03:20.05 03:22.63 03:21.40 03:26.88 (13:31)
Bjoern LIND. SWE 03:21.16 03:21.34 03:20.32 03:23.04 (13:26)
Alexander PANZHINSKIY. RUS 03:21.69 03:20.14 03:22.06 03:26.55 (13:30)
Kein EINASTE. EST   03:22.12 03:20.23 03:25.48 (10:08)
Teodor PETERSON. SWE   03:22.96 03:19.09 03:26.32 (10:08)
Cyril MIRANDA. FRA   03:23.44 03:19.73 03:27.65 (10:11)
Michail DEVJATIAROV. RUS   03:23.87 03:23.56 03:26.32 (10:14)
Peeter KUMMEL. EST   03:55.05 03:21.27 03:24.24 (10:41)
Kalle LASSILA. FIN     03:19.04 03:25.91 (06:45)
Jesper MODIN. SWE     03:19.22 03:24.31 (06:44)
Mats LARSSON. SWE     03:20.04 03:24.05 (06:44)
Niklas COLLIANDER. FIN     03:20.60 03:27.56 (06:48)
Alexei PETUKHOV. RUS     03:20.73 03:29.36 (06:50)
Robin BRYNTESSON. SWE     03:21.10 03:27.78 (06:49)
Andrew NEWELL. USA     03:21.43 03:24.27 (06:46)
Kent-Ove CLAUSEN. NOR     03:21.54 03:25.86 (06:47)
Eirik BRANDSDAL. NOR     03:21.59 03:29.27 (06:51)
Anders GLOEERSEN. NOR     03:22.49 03:28.30 (06:51)
Christoph EIGENMANN. SUI     03:22.54 03:28.00 (06:51)
Yuichi ONDA. JPN     03:22.84 03:28.38 (06:51)
Qinghai SUN. CHN     03:22.90 03:26.45 (06:49)
Matias STRANDVALL. FIN     03:23.52 03:26.93 (06:50)
Hans Petter LYKKJA. NOR     03:24.14 03:25.54 (06:50)
Lasse PAAKKONEN. FIN     03:25.36 03:24.04 (06:49)
Anti SAAREPUU. EST     03:29.94 03:27.82 (06:58)
Andrey PARFENOV. RUS     03:33.01 03:27.24 (07:00)
Stefan KUHN. CAN       03:29.76 (03:30)
Aivar REHEMAA. EST       03:30.16 (03:30)
Johan KJOELSTAD. NOR       03:30.26 (03:30)
Eldar ROENNING. NOR       03:30.30 (03:30)
John Kristian DAHL. NOR       03:30.33 (03:30)
Janusz KREZELOK. POL       03:30.43 (03:30)
Nikolay MORILOV. RUS       03:30.51 (03:31)
Nikolay CHEBOTKO. KAZ       03:31.18 (03:31)
Siim SELLIS. EST       03:31.20 (03:31)
Peter VON ALLMEN. SUI       03:31.36 (03:31)
Vahur TEPPAN. EST       03:31.49 (03:31)
Maciej KRECZMER. POL       03:31.69 (03:32)
Manuel HIRNER. AUT       03:31.80 (03:32)
Valerio LECCARDI. SUI       03:31.93 (03:32)
Andrus VEERPALU. EST       03:32.12 (03:32)
Boerre NAESS. NOR       03:32.38 (03:32)
Sean CROOKS. CAN       03:32.53 (03:33)
Algo KAERP. EST       03:33.37 (03:33)
Sergey CHEREPANOV. KAZ       03:34.09 (03:34)
Oystein PETTERSEN. NOR       03:34.21 (03:34)
Timo SIMONLATSER. EST       03:35.19 (03:35)
Yevgeniy KOSCHEVOY. KAZ       03:35.62 (03:36)
Phil WIDMER. CAN       03:35.82 (03:36)
Joeri KINDSCHI. SUI       03:36.33 (03:36)
Wenlong XU. CHN       03:36.48 (03:36)
Jaak MAE. EST       03:37.00 (03:37)
Cyril GAILLARD. FRA       03:37.81 (03:38)
Andres KOLLO. EST       03:38.46 (03:38)
Erkki JALLAI. EST       03:38.73 (03:39)
Brent MCMURTRY. CAN       03:38.78 (03:39)
Aleksey IVANOV. BLR       03:39.24 (03:39)
Christophe PERRILLAT. FRA       03:41.32 (03:41)
Yevgeniy VELICHKO. KAZ       03:41.35 (03:41)
Nobu NARUSE. JPN       03:41.94 (03:42)
Timo JUURSALU. EST       03:42.23 (03:42)
Dmitri REINMETS. EST       03:42.99 (03:43)
Kaspar KOKK. EST       03:43.82 (03:44)
Francesc SOULIE. AND       03:45.51 (03:46)
Results women (unofficial results from live timing)
Hanna FALK. SWE 03:07.80 03:07.62 03:09.06 03:16.44 (12:41)
Petra MAJDIC. SLO 03:07.99 03:07.59 03:11.55 03:15.88 (12:43)
Aino Kaisa SAARINEN. FIN 03:08.79 03:07.75 03:08.33 03:14.94 (12:40)
Kirsi PERAELAE. FIN 03:11.26 03:08.51 03:10.13 03:16.77 (12:47)
Ida INGEMARSDOTTER. SWE 03:11.76 03:11.41 03:09.70 03:19.09 (12:52)
Pirjo MURANEN. FIN 03:15.02 03:12.53 03:10.91 03:16.65 (12:55)
Anna OLSSON. SWE   03:09.53 03:11.98 03:20.51 (09:42)
Marit BJOERGEN. NOR   03:12.38 03:10.60 03:15.79 (09:39)
Justyna KOWALCZYK. POL   03:12.68 03:09.86 03:14.33 (09:37)
Magdalena PAJALA. SWE   03:12.69 03:13.13 03:16.58 (09:42)
Daria GAIAZOVA. CAN   03:13.52 03:11.72 03:16.20 (09:41)
Katja VISNAR. SLO   03:15.70 03:13.42 03:15.95 (09:45)
Evgenia SHAPOVALOVA. RUS     03:11.01 03:16.62 (06:28)
Virpi KUITUNEN. FIN     03:12.77 03:23.75 (06:37)
Lina ANDERSSON. SWE     03:13.24 03:21.48 (06:35)
Karianne BJELLAANES. NOR     03:13.86 03:22.13 (06:36)
Olga SCHUCHKINA. RUS     03:14.25 03:23.54 (06:38)
Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN. NOR     03:14.56 03:24.51 (06:39)
Katerina SMUTNA. AUT     03:14.67 03:21.03 (06:36)
Oxana JATSKAJA. KAZ     03:14.90 03:25.66 (06:41)
Doris TRACHSEL. SUI     03:15.38 03:21.02 (06:36)
Kaija UDRAS. EST     03:15.63 03:23.76 (06:39)
Madoka NATSUMI. JPN     03:15.79 03:21.21 (06:37)
Riikka SARASOJA. FIN     03:16.61 03:25.93 (06:43)
Valentina NOVIKOVA. RUS     03:17.19 03:22.28 (06:39)
Elena TURYSHEVA. RUS     03:17.74 03:19.33 (06:37)
Kari Vikhagen GJEITNES. NOR     03:18.13 03:24.59 (06:43)
Olga KUZIUKOVA. RUS     03:18.63 03:21.28 (06:40)
Ingvill Flugstad OESTBERG. NOR     03:22.53 03:25.05 (06:48)
Seraina MISCHOL. SUI     03:23.76 03:25.28 (06:49)
Ekaterina CHUIKOVA. RUS       03:19.62 (03:20)
Aurore CUINET. FRA       03:26.30 (03:26)
Anne KYLLOENEN. FIN       03:26.42 (03:26)
Manon LOCATELLI. FRA       03:26.47 (03:26)
Ingrid Aunet TYLDUM. NOR       03:26.50 (03:27)
Dandan MAN. CHN       03:27.02 (03:27)
Julia TIKHONOVA. RUS       03:27.08 (03:27)
Caroline WEIBEL. FRA       03:27.67 (03:28)
Bettina GRUBER. SUI       03:28.58 (03:29)
Sylwia JASKOWIEC. POL       03:28.59 (03:29)
Elena KOLOMINA. KAZ       03:28.68 (03:29)
Piret PORMEISTER. EST       03:28.79 (03:29)
Laurien VAN DER GRAF. SUI       03:29.64 (03:30)
Nobuko FUKUDA. JPN       03:29.79 (03:30)
Masako ISHIDA. JPN       03:31.19 (03:31)
Tatjana MANNIMA. EST       03:31.25 (03:31)
Emilie VINA. FRA       03:31.42 (03:31)
Kaili SIRGE. EST       03:31.54 (03:32)
Kornelia MAREK. POL       03:31.87 (03:32)
Svetlana MALAHOVA-SHISHKINA. KAZ       03:35.12 (03:35)
Laura ROHTLA. EST       03:36.90 (03:37)
Katarina JOHANSEN. SVK       03:39.71 (03:40)
Paulina MACIUSZEK. POL       03:42.64 (03:43)
Yingcui E. CHN       03:42.94 (03:43)
Lada NESTERENKO. UKR       03:43.69 (03:44)
Liis KALDA. EST       03:54.61 (03:55)

Split analysis: World Cup Otepää Men – 15 km Classic

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 16 Jan 2010@13:33

Lukas Bauer, Andrus Veerpalu and Jaak Mae dominated the different parts of todays 15 km classic race in Otepää. This was the third year in a row Bauer won the World Cup race here in Otepää.

The Splitsbrowser is used extensively in Orienteering to analyze the splits during a race. In the above Splitsbrowser-screenshot a flat line on a split means that an athlete is the fastest on a split. The steeper the line goes, the more an athlete looses on that split.

The splitsbrowser from this event shows that Bauer was dominant in the first part of the race – loosing some seconds to Veerpalu in the middle part and to Mae in the last part. Bauer might have put on the brake afters having such a big lead. Jaak Mae had a fantastic last split, taking out everything to secure a spot on the podium.

Martin Johansson did a good World Cup debut with a 14th place.

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)
1. 36:46 Lukas BAUER CZE
2. 37:03 +00:17 Andrus VEERPALU EST
3. 37:27 +00:42 Jaak MAE EST
4. 37:31 +00:45 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
5. 37:37 +00:52 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
6. 37:42 +00:56 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
7. 37:46 +01:01 Eldar ROENNING NOR
8. 38:03 +01:18 Odd-Bjoern HJELMESET NOR
9. 38:07 +01:21 Artem ZHMURKO RUS
10. 38:12 +01:26 Egor SORIN RUS
11. 38:14 +01:28 Ilia CHERNOUSOV RUS
12. 38:16 +01:30 Anders SOEDERGREN SWE
13. 38:17 +01:31 Martin BAJCICAK SVK
14. 38:18 +01:32 Martin JOHANSSON SWE
15. 38:18 +01:32 Nikolay CHEBOTKO KAZ
Split 1
1. 02:42 Andrus VEERPALU EST
2. 02:43 +00:01 Ville NOUSIAINEN FIN
3. 02:43 +00:01 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
4. 02:43 +00:01 Lukas BAUER CZE
5. 02:43 +00:01 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
6. 02:44 +00:02 Aivar REHEMAA EST
21. 02:49 +00:07 Jaak MAE EST
33. 02:52 +00:10 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
Split 2
1. 03:24 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
2. 03:25 +00:01 Artem ZHMURKO RUS
3. 03:27 +00:02 Lukas BAUER CZE
4. 03:30 +00:05 Andreas KATZ GER
5. 03:30 +00:05 Martin JOHANSSON SWE
6. 03:30 +00:06 Jaak MAE EST
9. 03:31 +00:07 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
14. 03:32 +00:08 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
18. 03:35 +00:10 Andrus VEERPALU EST
Split 3
1. 05:50 Lukas BAUER CZE
2. 05:54 +00:05 Andrus VEERPALU EST
3. 06:00 +00:10 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
4. 06:00 +00:10 Eldar ROENNING NOR
5. 06:00 +00:11 Odd-Bjoern HJELMESET NOR
6. 06:01 +00:11 Jaak MAE EST
7. 06:01 +00:12 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
8. 06:02 +00:12 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
Split 4
1. 02:51 Lukas BAUER CZE
2. 02:53 +00:02 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
3. 02:54 +00:03 Eldar ROENNING NOR
4. 02:56 +00:05 Andrus VEERPALU EST
5. 02:56 +00:05 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
6. 02:56 +00:05 Aivar REHEMAA EST
12. 02:59 +00:07 Jaak MAE EST
17. 03:00 +00:09 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
Split 5
1. 03:31 Lukas BAUER CZE
2. 03:31 +00:01 Nikolay CHEBOTKO KAZ
3. 03:33 +00:02 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
4. 03:34 +00:03 Nobu NARUSE JPN
5. 03:35 +00:04 Petr NOVAK CZE
6. 03:36 +00:05 Andrus VEERPALU EST
8. 03:36 +00:06 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
14. 03:39 +00:08 Jaak MAE EST
19. 03:39 +00:09 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
Split 6
1. 05:55 Andrus VEERPALU EST
2. 05:57 +00:02 Lukas BAUER CZE
3. 05:59 +00:04 Jaak MAE EST
4. 06:03 +00:08 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
5. 06:05 +00:10 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
6. 06:08 +00:13 Eldar ROENNING NOR
20. 06:17 +00:22 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
Split 7
1. 02:53 Lukas BAUER CZE
2. 02:55 +00:02 Andrus VEERPALU EST
3. 02:58 +00:04 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
4. 02:58 +00:04 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
5. 02:58 +00:05 Martin BAJCICAK SVK
6. 02:59 +00:05 Jaak MAE EST
7. 02:59 +00:05 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
Split 8
1. 03:32 Andrus VEERPALU EST
2. 03:34 +00:02 Lukas BAUER CZE
3. 03:36 +00:04 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS
4. 03:37 +00:05 Martin BAJCICAK SVK
5. 03:38 +00:06 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
6. 03:38 +00:06 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
8. 03:39 +00:07 Jaak MAE EST
Split 9
1. 05:54 Jaak MAE EST
2. 05:58 +00:04 Andrus VEERPALU EST
3. 06:00 +00:06 Lukas BAUER CZE
4. 06:01 +00:07 Anders AUKLAND NOR
5. 06:01 +00:07 Jens Arne SVARTEDAL NOR
6. 06:01 +00:07 Serguei NOVIKOV RUS
20. 06:12 +00:18 Alexander KUZNETSOV RUS

Split analysis: World Cup Otepää Women – 10 km Classic

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 16 Jan 2010@12:12

Marit Bjørgen had a fantastic finish – beating Justyna Kowalczyk at the two last splits. Aino Kaisa Saarinen had a good start, but lost some speed after the second split. See below for all the splits from todays race.

Splitsbrowser

The Splitsbrowser is used extensively in Orienteering to analyze the splits during a race. In the above Splitsbrowser-screenshot a flat line on a split means that an athlete is the fastest on a split. The steeper the line goes, the more an athlete looses on that split. Thus Kowalczyk was fastest on all splits except for the two last – for which Bjørgen was fastest.

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)
1. 26:53 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
2. 26:57 +00:04 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
3. 27:23 +00:30 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
4. 27:25 +00:32 Charlotte KALLA SWE
5. 27:38 +00:45 Petra MAJDIC SLO
6. 27:58 +01:05 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 1
1. 02:59 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
2. 03:01 +00:02 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
3. 03:04 +00:05 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
4. 03:06 +00:07 Charlotte KALLA SWE
5. 03:06 +00:07 Petra MAJDIC SLO
6. 03:08 +00:09 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 2
1. 03:51 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
2. 03:52 +00:01 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
3. 03:54 +00:02 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
4. 03:56 +00:04 Charlotte KALLA SWE
5. 03:58 +00:07 Petra MAJDIC SLO
6. 03:59 +00:07 Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN NOR
9. 04:04 +00:13 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 3
1. 06:28 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
2. 06:29 +00:01 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
3. 06:37 +00:09 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
4. 06:38 +00:10 Charlotte KALLA SWE
5. 06:42 +00:14 Petra MAJDIC SLO
6. 06:46 +00:18 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 4
1. 03:07 Charlotte KALLA SWE
2. 03:07 +00:00 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
3. 03:10 +00:03 Petra MAJDIC SLO
4. 03:11 +00:03 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
5. 03:12 +00:05 Anna HAAG SWE
6. 03:17 +00:10 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
7. 03:17 +00:10 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 5
1. 03:56 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
2. 03:59 +00:03 Charlotte KALLA SWE
3. 03:59 +00:04 Anna HAAG SWE
4. 04:00 +00:04 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
5. 04:02 +00:06 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
6. 04:02 +00:07 Petra MAJDIC SLO
9. 04:09 +00:13 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
Split 6
1. 06:23 Marit BJOERGEN NOR
2. 06:26 +00:03 Justyna KOWALCZYK POL
3. 06:33 +00:10 Aino Kaisa SAARINEN FIN
4. 06:34 +00:11 Virpi KUITUNEN FIN
5. 06:38 +00:15 Petra MAJDIC SLO
6. 06:39 +00:15 Charlotte KALLA SWE

Lukas Bauer and Doping after Tour de Ski victory

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 11 Jan 2010@11:40


Lukas Bauer did a fantastic race at the two last stages of this years Tour de Ski, and inevitably the doping accusations start surfacing. Especially in Norwegian discussion forums – the Norwegians are not the best losers, and didn’t like seeing their big hero Petter Northug being beaten up the Alpe Cermis. Even the biggest Norwegian newspaper VG are very close to suggesting that there is something wrong with Bauer. The opinion of WorldofXC.com is clearly that there is no evidence at all pointing towards Lukas Bauer being involved with doping – more on that below.

Search for “Lukas Bauer doping”

Here at WorldofXC.com, we noticed the doping suspicions through the term “Lukas Bauer doping” being the search term getting most hits to World of XC from Saturday until today for a news item where Bauer and ANTI-doping are the keywords (http://worldofxc.com/index.php?id=3255).

Lukas Bauer career

Lukas Bauer early on showed himself as a talent, getting a silver medal at JWOC. The first four World Cup seasons, he had no top-10 placements in the World Cup. In his fifth season, he had 6 Top-10 placements, of which 4 were Top-4. In his 6th World Cup season he was top-10 in nearly all races he competed, including his first victory where he won with more than 30 seconds over 15 km.

The next years he was in the top of the field all of the way, but no big number one. Ahead of his fantastic victory in Tour de Ski 2008, he had a total of 4 World Cup victories. The 2007/2008 season was fantastic. In addition to his Tour de Ski victory, he dominated the World Cup. Actually his overall World Cup victory in the 2007/2008 season was the second most dominating ever (see interesting discussion at Nordic Commentary Project).

The 2008/2009 season Bauer had asthma-problems, and did not manage to keep up his high level. Also, he focused on the World Championships in Liberec instead of on Tour de Ski. Bauer did not have a great season, but managed to get a silver medal at the World Championships.

At the run-up to Tour de Ski 2010, Bauer was sick in all of October, and lost one month of training. Thus he did only compete in one World Cup race, but the results were not great. Then Bauer slowly got better through Tour de Ski.

Lukas Bauer at Tour de Ski 2010

Here are his Tour de Ski results of this year:

  • 1st stage, Prologue, 3.7 km skating. 7th place, +7 seconds (Northug 1st place)
  • 2nd stage, 15 km Classic chasing start. 4th place overall, +2.5 seconds (actually beat Northug in the race)
  • 3rd stage, Sprint Prologue, classic. 43rd spot, +15 seconds, and no bonus seconds (Northug won and got 60 bonus seconds)
  • 4th stage, Sprint Prologue, skating. 60th spot, +11 seconds. (Northug in 45th spot a few seconds ahead of Bauer)
  • 5th stage, Skating chasing start. 15th spot overall after starting as number 18, +40 seconds. (Northug won)
  • 6th stage, Classic 10km normal start. 2nd spot, 2 seconds behind Daniel Rickardsson. (Northug in 4rd spot, 4 seconds behind Bauer)
  • 7th stage, Classic 20 km mass start with bonus seconds. 1st spot, 31.5 seconds ahead of Northug. Fantastic race – we have not seem many like it.
  • 8th stage, Chasing start up Alpe Cermis. 1st spot overall – and best climber of the day 2 seconds ahead of Marcus Hellner and 1.25 ahead of Northug.

For the following discussion, it is also good to have the times up the Alpe Cermis handy:

1 2 1217350 BAUER Lukas CZE 33:43.4
2 6 3500139 HELLNER Marcus SWE 33:45.8
3 7 1345875 GAILLARD Jean Marc FRA 33:45.9
4 13 3100190 BABIKOV Ivan CAN 33:48.7
5 4 3510023 COLOGNA Dario SUI 33:52.4
6 21 1100077 VITTOZ Vincent FRA 34:10.7
7 8 1101047 SOMMERFELDT Rene GER 34:15.4
8 10 1067291 DI CENTA Giorgio ITA 34:22.6
9 35 1175155 MAGAL Jiri CZE 34:26.8
10 26 3290016 CLARA Roland ITA 34:28.9
11 37 1297957 MORIGGL Thomas ITA 34:35.0
12 12 3180053 HEIKKINEN Matti FIN 34:39.9
13 16 1362947 PERL Curdin SUI 35:00.8
14 32 1175058 KOUKAL Martin CZE 35:01.6
15 18 3190111 MANIFICAT Maurice FRA 35:02.5
16 1 3420239 NORTHUG Petter jr. NOR 35:08.1
17 14 1223849 CHECCHI Valerio ITA 35:15.7
18 39 3190029 DUVILLARD Robin FRA 35:18.6
19 9 1221036 FILBRICH Jens GER 35:22.8
20 11 3420023 GJERDALEN Tord Asle NOR 35:24.2
21 5 3500015 RICKARDSSON Daniel SWE 35:25.1

What are people saying

Going through the discussion forum at VG.no, a lot of people come with accusations (see for example here and the VG article here). There are also a lot of comments about Lukas Bauer and doping on this NRK article. Some of them are listed below:

  • He suddenly improved a lot ahead of the 2007/2008 sesons. He has to be doped.
  • If Bauer had been smart, he had done as if he was tired when coming to the finish. Sad that not all the dopers can be taken
  • 50 seconds faster than Cologna, and not even tired!!! Now people must wake up!!!!

When looking a Bauer’s career, there is nothing there that indicated doping in our opinion. He has improved step by step over many seasons. Regarding the final climb, Hellner was only two seconds behind. Bauer stopped to pick up a flag on the last bit, taking him 15-20 seconds extra – and that’s why he was not tired. He could probably have had 20-30 seconds more in if going maximum all the way, and then he would have been tired. 30 seconds ahead of Hellner would have been good, but still no reason to cry for doping. The mass start the day before was more impressive. Being 50 seconds faster than Cologna up the hill does not indicate doping – Hellner was 48 seconds ahead of Cologna…

Here is an article (Norwegian text) from sportsanalyse.no where the doping accusations against Bauer from two years ago are discussed.

Conclusion

The conclusion: There is nothing more indicating that Lukas Bauer is doped than that e.g. Petter Northug is doped.

Update: According to this article on skidsport.com pointing towards an article in the Swedish newspaper Expressen in 2003, Lukas Bauer was an the “Black list” in 2003, consisting of athletes for which the hemoglobin level either increased or decreased more than naturally. This doesn’t prove anything in the direction of doping, and my investigations have not been able to find Bauer on the Black list at any other point in time. However, I’ll have to withdraw my conclusion saying that there is nothing more indicating that Lukas Bauer is doped than that e.g. Petter Northug. Now there is a little indication about it from 2003 if the Expressen-article is correct, but still there is absolutely no proof.

Photo: WorldofXC.com

Alpe Cermis/Tour de Ski: Results previous editions

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 09 Jan 2010@16:29

How was the speed of Lukas Bauer compared to Petter Northug up Alpe Cermis in the last editions of Tour de Ski? And how has Petra Majdic’s speed been compared to Justyna Kowalczyk? Below you find the results from the last Tour de Ski leg the three last years.

Lukas Bauer was 41 seconds ahead of Petter Norhug last year and 51 seconds ahead two years ago. Northug now has a lead of less than 10 seconds, but has improved a lot this season compared to last year. It is going to be exciting!

In the womens class, Kowalczyk was 1.18 ahead of Majdic last year, and 36 seconds ahead two years ago. Majdic’s lead is 31 seconds. Looks to be just as exciting as the mens edition!

Men 2008/2009

1 43 3100190 BABIKOV Ivan 1980 CAN 33:51.2 0.00
2 36 3200015 REICHELT Tom 1982 GER 33:52.7 1.03
3 14 1067291 DI CENTA Giorgio 1972 ITA 33:54.4 2.21
4 34 3180053 HEIKKINEN Matti 1983 FIN 34:03.2 8.27
5 19 1217350 BAUER Lukas 1977 CZE 34:06.4 10.48
6 13 1345875 GAILLARD Jean Marc 1980 FRA 34:12.9 14.96
7 23 1100077 VITTOZ Vincent 1975 FRA 34:20.3 20.06
8 32 3290016 CLARA Roland 1982 ITA 34:22.6 21.64
9 21 3480013 VYLEGZHANIN Maxim 1982 RUS 34:23.8 22.47
10 20 1362656 LIVERS Toni 1983 SUI 34:24.1 22.68
11 42 1175155 MAGAL Jiri 1977 CZE 34:39.3 33.15
12 10 1139459 PILLER COTTRER Pietro 1974 ITA 34:39.9 33.57
13 5 3420239 NORTHUG Petter jr. 1986 NOR 34:47.6 38.87
14 27 1177580 JONNIER Emmanuel 1975 FRA 34:50.0 40.53
15 11 3480004 DEMENTIEV Eugeniy 1983 RUS 34:59.7 47.21
16 31 1285153 ROUSSELET Alexandre 1977 FRA 35:01.1 48.18
17 33 3480016 LEGKOV Alexander 1983 RUS 35:03.9 50.11
18 41 3480023 KUZNETSOV Alexander 1982 RUS 35:08.0 52.93
19 8 1344711 JAUHOJAERVI Sami 1981 FIN 35:08.2 53.07
20 37 1298054 PASINI Fabio 1980 ITA 35:08.8 53.49
21 9 1098137 MAE Jaak 1972 EST 35:10.5 54.66
22 22 3100006 KERSHAW Devon 1982 CAN 35:11.8 55.55
23 1 3510023 COLOGNA Dario 1986 SUI 35:12.0 55.69
24 49 1067485 ZORZI Cristian 1972 ITA 35:13.2 56.52
25 24 3420023 GJERDALEN Tord Asle 1983 NOR 35:14.8 57.62
26 25 3290007 HOFER David 1983 ITA 35:16.5 58.79
27 12 1221036 FILBRICH Jens 1979 GER 35:18.8 60.38
28 6 3420228 JOHNSRUD SUNDBY Martin 1984 NOR 35:20.7 61.69
29 4 1374975 ROTCHEV Vassili 1980 RUS 35:23.9 63.89
30 40 3670022 VELICHKO Yevgeniy 1987 KAZ 35:24.4 64.24

Men 2007/2008

1 9 1101047 SOMMERFELDT Rene GER 32:59.0 0.0 0.00
2 26 1094839 HOFFMANN Christian AUT 33:18.3 +19.3 13.65
3 32 1106867 BAJCICAK Martin SVK 33:18.8 +19.8 14.01
4 6 1067291 DI CENTA Giorgio ITA 33:34.4 +35.4 25.04
5 12 3200001 GOERING Franz GER 33:38.5 +39.5 27.94
6 22 1248293 SOEDERGREN Anders SWE 33:39.3 +40.3 28.51
7 1 1217350 BAUER Lukas CZE 33:45.1 +46.1 32.61
8 23 3480007 PANKRATOV Nikolai RUS 33:49.4 +50.4 35.65
9 5 1092511 HETLAND Tor Arne NOR 34:01.0 +1:02.0 43.86
10 15 1178162 ANGERER Tobias GER 34:03.1 +1:04.1 45.35
11 18 1223849 CHECCHI Valerio ITA 34:05.7 +1:06.7 47.19
12 13 3150069 JAKS Martin CZE 34:08.6 +1:09.6 49.24
13 25 1224140 SANTUS Fabio ITA 34:13.0 +1:14.0 52.35
14 41 3500139 HELLNER Marcus SWE 34:15.3 +1:16.3 53.98
15 29 1177580 JONNIER Emmanuel FRA 34:15.4 +1:16.4 54.05
16 8 3480004 DEMENTIEV Eugeni RUS 34:18.4 +1:19.4 56.17
16 48 3670002 ODNODVORTSEV Maxim KAZ 34:18.4 +1:19.4 56.17
18 20 3480016 LEGKOV Alexander RUS 34:19.2 +1:20.2 56.74
19 11 1175058 KOUKAL Martin CZE 34:25.5 +1:26.5 61.19
20 33 1277393 LEYBYUK Roman UKR 34:26.0 +1:27.0 61.55
21 30 3510023 COLOGNA Dario SUI 34:27.2 +1:28.2 62.40
22 36 1098137 MAE Jaak EST 34:29.7 +1:30.7 64.16
22 52 1347039 SEIFERT Benjamin GER 34:29.7 +1:30.7 64.16
24 24 1221036 FILBRICH Jens GER 34:35.0 +1:36.0 67.91
25 7 3420239 NORTHUG Petter NOR 34:36.2 +1:37.2 68.76
26 21 1059822 HJELMESET Odd-Bjoern NOR 34:40.7 +1:41.7 71.95
27 10 1221327 TEICHMANN Axel GER 34:40.9 +1:41.9 72.09
28 2 3420023 GJERDALEN Tord Asle NOR 34:49.2 +1:50.2 77.96
29 38 1285153 ROUSSELET Alexandre FRA 34:50.0 +1:51.0 78.52
30 19 3480013 VYLEGZHANIN Maxim RUS 34:51.6 +1:52.6 79.66

Men 2006/2007

1 19 3480081 SHIRIAEV Sergej 1983 RUS 32:07.8 0.00
2 10 3480016 LEGKOV Alexander 1983 RUS 32:12.7 2.03
3 26 1067291 DI CENTA Giorgio 1972 ITA 32:49.2 17.18
4 30 1177580 JONNIER Emmanuel 1975 FRA 32:51.2 18.01
5 20 1101047 SOMMERFELDT Rene 1974 GER 32:53.3 18.88
6 39 1106867 BAJCICAK Martin 1976 SVK 32:54.9 19.55
7 11 3480004 DEMENTIEV Eugeni 1983 RUS 32:55.5 19.79
8 35 1094839 HOFFMANN Christian 1974 AUT 32:56.1 20.04
9 12 3480007 PANKRATOV Nikolai 1982 RUS 33:07.4 24.73
10 38 1345875 GAILLARD Jean Marc 1980 FRA 33:12.1 26.68
11 22 1100077 VITTOZ Vincent 1975 FRA 33:23.2 31.29
12 16 1248293 SOEDERGREN Anders 1977 SWE 33:27.6 33.12
13 45 1285153 ROUSSELET Alexandre 1977 FRA 33:29.3 33.82
14 15 1066224 FREDRIKSSON Mathias 1973 SWE 33:30.2 34.19
15 28 1139459 PILLER COTTRER Pietro 1974 ITA 33:33.0 35.36
16 8 1221036 FILBRICH Jens 1979 GER 33:35.9 36.56
17 51 1067485 ZORZI Cristian 1972 ITA 33:37.9 37.39
18 1 1178162 ANGERER Tobias 1977 GER 33:39.5 38.05
19 5 3200001 GOERING Franz 1984 GER 33:41.6 38.93
20 4 1092511 HETLAND Tor Arne 1974 NOR 33:43.3 39.63
21 13 1175155 MAGAL Jiri 1977 CZE 33:45.4 40.50
22 6 1344711 JAUHOJAERVI Sami 1981 FIN 33:47.0 41.17
23 37 1125588 DOLIDOVICH Sergei 1973 BLR 33:48.7 41.87
24 29 1141690 BUNDI Gion Andrea 1976 SUI 33:53.6 43.90
25 25 1108225 BURGERMEISTER Reto 1975 SUI 33:55.4 44.65
26 17 3480314 CHERNOUSOV Ilia 1986 RUS 33:56.1 44.94
27 34 1098137 MAE Jaak 1972 EST 33:57.3 45.44
28 40 1286608 PERRILLAT Christophe 1979 FRA 34:01.3 47.10
29 49 1362656 LIVERS Toni 1983 SUI 34:01.9 47.35
30 3 3420239 NORTHUG Petter jr. 1986 NOR 34:07.7 49.76

Women 2008/2009

1 11 3425301 JOHAUG Therese 1988 NOR 35:07.7 0.00
2 13 3425003 STEIRA Kristin Stoermer 1981 NOR 35:16.4 5.78
3 19 1142563 SHEVCHENKO Valentina 1975 UKR 35:52.0 29.43
4 6 3435001 KOWALCZYK Justyna 1983 POL 35:54.8 31.29
5 23 1207165 MEDVEDEVA Evgenia 1976 RUS 36:02.3 36.27
6 9 3505183 HAAG Anna 1986 SWE 36:06.1 38.79
7 10 1255374 ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa 1978 FIN 36:15.6 45.10
8 15 1293107 BOEHLER Stefanie 1981 GER 36:18.5 47.03
9 5 1222200 LONGA Marianna 1979 ITA 36:21.4 48.95
10 31 1092996 TCHEPALOVA Julija 1976 RUS 36:36.6 59.05
11 26 3485039 KURKINA Larisa 1973 RUS 36:43.0 63.30
12 18 1220648 NYSTAD Claudia 1978 GER 36:56.4 72.20
13 33 1182042 MALAHOVA-SHISHKINA Svetlana 1977 KAZ 36:57.4 72.87
14 7 1138877 FOLLIS Arianna 1977 ITA 36:57.9 73.20
15 2 1255665 SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa 1979 FIN 37:02.4 76.19
16 3 1276714 MAJDIC Petra 1979 SLO 37:12.3 82.76
17 32 3485169 TIAGAY Olga 1985 RUS 37:14.3 84.09
18 27 1174670 RAJDLOVA Kamila 1978 CZE 37:19.1 87.28
19 36 1101920 CONFORTOLA Antonella 1975 ITA 37:19.7 87.68
20 25 1088922 SAVIALOVA Olga 1972 RUS 37:24.1 90.60
21 1 1166037 KUITUNEN Virpi 1976 FIN 37:26.9 92.46
22 12 1128886 RENNER Sara 1976 CAN 37:37.6 99.57
23 8 1255471 MURANEN Pirjo 1981 FIN 37:39.5 100.83
24 37 3485170 ILJINA Natalja 1985 RUS 37:40.4 101.43
25 14 1247226 ZELLER Katrin 1979 GER 37:40.5 101.49
26 30 3505069 LINDBORG Sara 1983 SWE 37:58.6 113.52
27 16 1322110 ROTCHEVA Olga 1978 RUS 38:42.6 142.74
28 40 1181848 JATSKAJA Oxana 1978 KAZ 39:01.5 155.30
29 4 1303777 BJOERGEN Marit 1980 NOR 39:03.1 156.36
30 20 3055066 SMUTNA Katerina 1983 AUT 39:26.5 171.90

Women 2007/2008

1 12 1142563 SHEVCHENKO Valentina UKR 34:06.2 0.0 0.00
2 18 3425003 STEIRA Kristin Stoermer NOR 35:01.5 +55.3 37.84
3 8 1220648 NYSTAD Claudia GER 35:17.0 +1:10.8 48.44
4 19 3425301 JOHAUG Therese NOR 35:22.7 +1:16.5 52.34
5 24 1293107 BOEHLER Stefanie GER 35:23.5 +1:17.3 52.89
6 10 1247226 ZELLER Katrin GER 35:31.2 +1:25.0 58.16
7 4 1138877 FOLLIS Arianna ITA 35:33.5 +1:27.3 59.73
8 9 1255374 ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa FIN 35:35.3 +1:29.1 60.96
9 2 3505217 KALLA Charlotte SWE 35:36.9 +1:30.7 62.06
10 7 1256732 SACHENBACHER STEHLE Evi GER 35:39.0 +1:32.8 63.49
11 16 3505183 HANSSON Anna SWE 35:45.9 +1:39.7 68.21
12 22 1101920 CONFORTOLA Antonella ITA 35:54.8 +1:48.6 74.30
13 11 1312701 MISCHOL Seraina SUI 35:58.5 +1:52.3 76.84
14 28 1207165 MEDVEDEVA Evgenia RUS 35:59.9 +1:53.7 77.79
15 21 1005017 VALBUSA Sabina ITA 36:03.7 +1:57.5 80.39
16 3 1322110 ROTCHEVA Olga RUS 36:05.2 +1:59.0 81.42
17 20 3485039 KURKINA Larisa RUS 36:09.5 +2:03.3 84.36
18 5 3435001 KOWALCZYK Justyna POL 36:18.3 +2:12.1 90.38
19 35 1194555 NESTERENKO Lada UKR 36:29.1 +2:22.9 97.77
20 15 1255471 MURANEN Pirjo FIN 36:43.0 +2:36.8 107.28
21 1 1166037 KUITUNEN Virpi FIN 36:53.0 +2:46.8 114.12
22 17 1276714 MAJDIC Petra SLO 36:54.8 +2:48.6 115.36
23 14 3425183 JACOBSEN Astrid NOR 36:55.7 +2:49.5 115.97
24 32 1099204 LAURENT PHILIPPOT Karine FRA 37:00.9 +2:54.7 119.53
25 13 1255665 SAARINEN Aino Kaisa FIN 37:02.9 +2:56.7 120.90
26 29 3485195 TCHEKALEVA Ioulia RUS 37:04.1 +2:57.9 121.72
27 31 3485170 ILJINA Natalja RUS 37:05.9 +2:59.7 122.95
28 36 1217156 ERBENOVA Helena CZE 37:13.1 +3:06.9 127.88
29 33 3485282 SAPRONOVA Diana RUS 37:18.9 +3:12.7 131.84
30 27 1355769 MUERER STEMLAND Kristin NOR 37:23.7 +3:17.5 135.13

Women 2006/2007

1 8 1054778 NEUMANNOVA Katerina 1973 CZE 34:24.5 0.00
2 11 3425003 STEIRA Kristin Stoermer 1981 NOR 34:25.9 0.54
3 7 1142563 SHEVCHENKO Valentina 1975 UKR 34:29.9 2.09
4 39 1207165 MEDVEDEVA Evgenia 1976 RUS 34:45.1 7.98
5 24 1005017 VALBUSA Sabina 1972 ITA 34:50.7 10.15
6 16 1099204 PHILIPPOT Karine 1974 FRA 34:56.3 12.32
7 34 1181848 JATSKAJA Oxana 1978 KAZ 34:56.5 12.40
8 21 1138877 FOLLIS Arianna 1977 ITA 35:04.8 15.62
9 10 1133445 BAUER Viola 1976 GER 35:19.4 21.27
10 6 1256732 SACHENBACHER STEHLE Evi 1980 GER 35:25.9 23.79
11 14 1088922 SAVIALOVA Olga 1972 RUS 35:27.3 24.34
12 36 1182042 MALAHOVA-SHISHKINA Svetlana 1977 KAZ 35:28.7 24.88
13 12 3435001 KOWALCZYK Justyna 1983 POL 35:33.0 26.54
14 13 1255374 ROPONEN Riitta Liisa 1978 FIN 35:39.7 29.14
15 23 1293107 BOEHLER Stefanie 1981 GER 35:40.9 29.61
16 3 1303777 BJOERGEN Marit 1980 NOR 35:44.6 31.04
17 4 1276714 MAJDIC Petra 1979 SLO 35:48.1 32.40
18 26 3485193 ARTEMOVA Irina 1984 RUS 35:51.9 33.87
19 25 3425163 NILSEN Betty-Ann Bjerkreim 1986 NOR 35:53.6 34.53
20 5 1305426 SKOFTERUD Vibeke W 1980 NOR 36:00.0 37.01
21 19 1220648 KUENZEL- NYSTAD Claudia 1978 GER 36:02.4 37.94
22 28 3485195 TCHEKALEVA Ioulia 1984 RUS 36:11.8 41.58
23 33 1319976 KOLOMINA Elena 1981 KAZ 36:12.9 42.01
24 2 1255665 SAARINEN Aino Kaisa 1979 FIN 36:19.5 44.56
25 35 1217156 ERBENOVA Helena 1979 CZE 36:22.5 45.73
26 30 1367021 SIDKO Alena 1979 RUS 36:25.3 46.81
27 27 1355769 STEMLAND Kristin Muerer 1981 NOR 36:25.7 46.97
28 32 1372259 VEDENEEVA Elena 1971 RUS 36:26.1 47.12
29 9 1222200 LONGA Marianna 1979 ITA 36:32.6 49.64
30 20 1255471 MANNINEN Pirjo 1981 FIN 36:33.9 50.14

Finally: Interesting mass-start in Cross Country Skiing!

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 09 Jan 2010@16:08

After watching a lot of boring mass-starts the last year, we finally got a really interesting one in todays Tour de Ski! With 6 x 15 bonus-seconds to fight for in the mens class, there was a lot of tactics today!

Norwegian Team Tactics

In the first two of the six rounds, the Norwegians raced as a team, trying to help Petter Northug to secure his overall lead in the Tour de Ski. Simen Østensen won the first sprint, Martin Jonsrud Sundby helped Petter Northug to win the second sprint.

Bauer to the top

Towards the third sprint, Lukas Bauer increased the speed, and only the Canadian/Russian Ivan Babikov and Northug managed to follow. Northug managed to keep the speed, and took the third and fourth sprints as well. Now it looked like Northug would get a lead of around a minute ahead of the final leg of Tour de Ski. Bauer wanted it differently, though…

The sprints might have cost Northug too much, because Bauer managed to get away into the fifth round – increasing his lead to Northug to as much as 40 seconds at the maximum. In the end Northug finished 31.5 seconds behind Bauer. Bauer now has a lead of

Overall Results ahead of last leg

1. Petter jr. NORTHUG 3:39:18.9
2. Lukas BAUER 3:39:27.2
3. Axel TEICHMANN 3:40:49.2
4. Dario COLOGNA 3:40:50.4
5. Daniel RICKARDSSON 3:41:01.8
6. Marcus HELLNER 3:41:06.2
7. Jean Marc GAILLARD 3:41:17.3
8. Rene SOMMERFELDT 3:41:56.6
9. Jens FILBRICH 3:41:58.0
10. Giorgio DI CENTA 03:42:26.4

Results 20 km Mass-start

1 7 1217350 BAUER Lukas 1977 CZE 59:03.5
2 1 3420239 NORTHUG Petter jr. 1986 NOR 59:35.0
3 3 1221327 TEICHMANN Axel 1979 GER 59:35.8
4 4 3510023 COLOGNA Dario 1986 SUI 59:36.8
5 5 3500015 RICKARDSSON Daniel 1982 SWE 59:40.6
6 8 1345875 GAILLARD Jean Marc 1980 FRA 59:45.5
7 11 1101047 SOMMERFELDT Rene 1974 GER 59:48.1
8 43 3670006 CHEREPANOV Sergey 1986 KAZ 59:48.9
9 25 3420228 JOHNSRUD SUNDBY Martin 1984 NOR 59:50.0
10 10 1221036 FILBRICH Jens 1979 GER 59:51.5