I am looking for some beta-testers for a new for-fun-service I am setting up: Compete against others by setting up your favourites for the next race in the Cross Country Skiing World Cup. It is still an early beta-version, but I think one can still have fun with it – and learn more about the best athletes in the Cross Country Skiing World Cup.

• Click here to start beta-testing WhoWins
• Deadline for predictions for the sprint in Kuusamo is 11:30 CET today.
• You can see my predictions for the race here
• Please leave a comment below of send an email to info@worldofxc.com if you have any comments, suggestions or bug reports. As this is early beta there might be some issues which it would be good to resolve.

The final version is planned to have pictures of all athletes (see below). The internal test version below uses pictures from FIS-ski (which I have not got rights to use). It you have non-copyrighted images of the athletes in the World Cup circus which it would be possible to use in such a service- please let me know. With pictures it is even more fun, I can tell you. If you send me an email at info@worldofxc.com, I can let you look at the internal test version.

Sweden won the mens relay in the WC opener in Gällivare today after a tough fight with Russia. Three athletes did exceptional performances today: Dario Cologna for Switzerland on the second leg (see flat black curve in the illustration above between split 4 and 8 ) and Hellner/Legkov on the last leg (close to flat red/blue curves between split 12 and finish).

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.

• Splitsbrowser from the race: Play with the results yourself
• All news from the race available at WorldofXC.com

Split 1

1.	06:10		Russia I	RUS
2.	06:10	+00:00	Finland I	FIN
3.	06:11	+00:01	Norway I	NOR
4.	06:11	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
5.	06:12	+00:02	Italy I	ITA
6.	06:12	+00:02	United States of America	USA
7.	06:13	+00:03	Japan I	JPN
8.	06:13	+00:03	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
9.	06:13	+00:03	Sweden III	SWE
10.	06:14	+00:04	France	FRA
11.	06:15	+00:05	Italy II	ITA
14.	06:16	+00:06	Germany	GER
15.	06:16	+00:06	Switzerland	SUI
16.	06:16	+00:06	Russia II	RUS

Split 2

1.	05:54		Finland II	FIN
2.	05:55	+00:00	Russia II	RUS
3.	05:55	+00:01	Switzerland	SUI
4.	05:56	+00:02	Czech Republic	CZE
5.	05:56	+00:02	Estonia	EST
6.	05:57	+00:03	Sweden IV	SWE
7.	05:57	+00:03	Japan II	JPN
8.	05:57	+00:03	Norway II	NOR
9.	05:57	+00:03	Sweden III	SWE
10.	05:57	+00:03	Sweden II	SWE
11.	05:58	+00:03	Germany	GER
18.	06:00	+00:06	Norway I	NOR
20.	06:00	+00:06	Sweden I	SWE
21.	06:01	+00:06	Russia I	RUS

Split 3

1.	06:02		Kazakhstan I	KAZ
2.	06:04	+00:01	Germany	GER
3.	06:04	+00:01	Japan I	JPN
4.	06:04	+00:02	Norway I	NOR
5.	06:04	+00:02	France	FRA
6.	06:04	+00:02	Finland I	FIN
7.	06:05	+00:02	Sweden II	SWE
8.	06:05	+00:03	Sweden I	SWE
9.	06:05	+00:03	Italy II	ITA
10.	06:05	+00:03	Japan II	JPN
11.	06:05	+00:03	Czech Republic	CZE
14.	06:07	+00:05	Russia I	RUS
15.	06:07	+00:05	Russia II	RUS
22.	06:13	+00:11	Switzerland	SUI

Split 4

1.	05:36		Finland I	FIN
2.	05:37	+00:01	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
3.	05:37	+00:01	Sweden III	SWE
4.	05:38	+00:02	Norway I	NOR
5.	05:43	+00:07	Sweden I	SWE
6.	05:43	+00:07	Sweden II	SWE
7.	05:45	+00:09	Germany	GER
8.	05:47	+00:11	Czech Republic	CZE
9.	05:47	+00:11	Italy II	ITA
10.	05:48	+00:12	Norway II	NOR
11.	05:48	+00:12	Russia II	RUS
12.	05:49	+00:13	Russia I	RUS
15.	05:57	+00:21	Switzerland	SUI

Split 5

1.	05:40		Switzerland	SUI
2.	05:41	+00:01	Russia I	RUS
3.	05:43	+00:03	Sweden I	SWE
4.	05:43	+00:03	Norway I	NOR
5.	05:45	+00:05	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
6.	05:46	+00:06	United States of America	USA
7.	05:48	+00:08	Canada	CAN
8.	05:49	+00:09	Sweden II	SWE
9.	05:49	+00:09	Norway II	NOR
10.	05:49	+00:09	Russia II	RUS
11.	05:49	+00:09	Czech Republic	CZE
12.	05:50	+00:09	Germany	GER

Split 6

1.	05:42		Switzerland	SUI
2.	05:45	+00:03	Russia I	RUS
3.	05:49	+00:07	United States of America	USA
4.	05:50	+00:08	Sweden I	SWE
5.	05:51	+00:10	Germany	GER
6.	05:51	+00:10	Sweden II	SWE
7.	05:54	+00:12	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
8.	05:55	+00:13	Norway I	NOR
9.	05:56	+00:14	Czech Republic	CZE
10.	05:59	+00:17	Estonia	EST
11.	05:59	+00:17	Italy I	ITA
18.	06:06	+00:24	Russia II	RUS

Split 7

1.	05:53		United States of America	USA
2.	05:55	+00:02	Switzerland	SUI
3.	05:59	+00:06	Sweden II	SWE
4.	06:03	+00:10	Russia I	RUS
5.	06:04	+00:11	Norway I	NOR
6.	06:05	+00:13	Sweden I	SWE
7.	06:05	+00:13	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
8.	06:06	+00:13	Japan I	JPN
9.	06:09	+00:17	Germany	GER
10.	06:12	+00:19	Canada	CAN
11.	06:14	+00:21	Estonia	EST
16.	06:17	+00:25	Russia II	RUS

Split 8

1.	05:40		Russia I	RUS
2.	05:40	+00:00	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:40	+00:00	Switzerland	SUI
4.	05:43	+00:03	Norway I	NOR
5.	05:46	+00:06	United States of America	USA
6.	05:48	+00:09	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
7.	05:55	+00:15	Czech Republic	CZE
8.	05:56	+00:17	Estonia	EST
9.	06:01	+00:22	Japan I	JPN
10.	06:01	+00:22	Canada	CAN
11.	06:03	+00:23	Norway II	NOR
14.	06:08	+00:28	Russia II	RUS
18.	06:13	+00:33	Germany	GER

Split 9

1.	05:10		Italy II	ITA
2.	05:11	+00:01	Russia II	RUS
3.	05:13	+00:03	Estonia	EST
4.	05:16	+00:06	Norway II	NOR
5.	05:22	+00:12	Sweden III	SWE
6.	05:24	+00:14	Finland I	FIN
7.	05:24	+00:14	Canada	CAN
8.	05:24	+00:14	Sweden II	SWE
9.	05:26	+00:16	Finland II	FIN
10.	05:26	+00:16	Italy I	ITA
11.	05:27	+00:17	Sweden IV	SWE
13.	05:28	+00:18	Germany	GER
16.	05:34	+00:24	Sweden I	SWE
17.	05:34	+00:24	Switzerland	SUI
18.	05:36	+00:26	Norway I	NOR
19.	05:39	+00:29	Russia I	RUS

Split 10

1.	05:07		Kazakhstan I	KAZ
2.	05:08	+00:01	Russia I	RUS
3.	05:08	+00:01	Norway I	NOR
4.	05:09	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
5.	05:09	+00:02	Switzerland	SUI
6.	05:15	+00:08	United States of America	USA
7.	05:16	+00:09	Norway II	NOR
8.	05:16	+00:09	Italy II	ITA
9.	05:20	+00:13	Finland I	FIN
10.	05:21	+00:14	Italy I	ITA
11.	05:22	+00:15	Russia II	RUS
16.	05:26	+00:19	Germany	GER

Split 11

1.	05:25		Russia I	RUS
2.	05:27	+00:02	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:27	+00:02	Norway I	NOR
4.	05:30	+00:05	Switzerland	SUI
5.	05:33	+00:09	Norway II	NOR
6.	05:34	+00:09	Czech Republic	CZE
7.	05:34	+00:09	Russia II	RUS
8.	05:34	+00:10	Germany	GER
9.	05:35	+00:10	Finland II	FIN
10.	05:36	+00:11	Sweden III	SWE
11.	05:37	+00:13	Italy I	ITA

Split 12

1.	05:07		Sweden III	SWE
2.	05:07	+00:00	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:08	+00:01	Norway II	NOR
4.	05:08	+00:01	Russia I	RUS
5.	05:08	+00:01	Germany	GER
6.	05:09	+00:02	Czech Republic	CZE
7.	05:13	+00:06	Russia II	RUS
8.	05:16	+00:09	Finland II	FIN
9.	05:18	+00:11	Italy I	ITA
10.	05:19	+00:12	Switzerland	SUI
11.	05:21	+00:14	Norway I	NOR

Split 13

1.	05:18		Russia I	RUS
2.	05:18	+00:00	Italy II	ITA
3.	05:18	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
4.	05:18	+00:01	Norway I	NOR
5.	05:19	+00:01	Switzerland	SUI
6.	05:19	+00:01	Germany	GER
7.	05:23	+00:06	Finland II	FIN
8.	05:25	+00:07	Finland I	FIN
9.	05:27	+00:09	Canada	CAN
10.	05:27	+00:09	Russia II	RUS
11.	05:31	+00:13	Italy I	ITA

Split 14

1.	05:11		Sweden I	SWE
2.	05:11	+00:00	Russia I	RUS
3.	05:13	+00:03	Sweden II	SWE
4.	05:16	+00:05	Sweden III	SWE
5.	05:17	+00:06	Russia II	RUS
6.	05:18	+00:08	Czech Republic	CZE
7.	05:20	+00:09	Finland I	FIN
8.	05:22	+00:11	Italy II	ITA
9.	05:23	+00:13	Norway II	NOR
10.	05:24	+00:14	Switzerland	SUI
11.	05:25	+00:14	Canada	CAN
12.	05:25	+00:15	Norway I	NOR
13.	05:29	+00:18	Germany	GER

Split 15

1.	05:32		Finland I	FIN
2.	05:34	+00:02	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:34	+00:02	Russia I	RUS
4.	05:38	+00:06	Switzerland	SUI
5.	05:39	+00:07	Norway I	NOR
6.	05:40	+00:08	Italy II	ITA
7.	05:43	+00:11	Russia II	RUS
8.	05:44	+00:12	Germany	GER
9.	05:45	+00:12	Sweden II	SWE
10.	05:46	+00:13	Sweden III	SWE
11.	05:46	+00:14	Canada	CAN

Split 16

1.	05:18		Germany	GER
2.	05:19	+00:01	Russia II	RUS
3.	05:20	+00:02	Sweden I	SWE
4.	05:21	+00:03	Russia I	RUS
5.	05:23	+00:04	Finland I	FIN
6.	05:26	+00:08	Sweden III	SWE
7.	05:26	+00:08	Italy II	ITA
8.	05:28	+00:10	Estonia	EST
9.	05:30	+00:12	Sweden II	SWE
10.	05:31	+00:12	Canada	CAN
11.	05:32	+00:14	Italy I	ITA
12.	05:32	+00:14	Norway I	NOR
17.	05:49	+00:31	Switzerland	SUI

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)

1.	29:56		Sweden I	SWE
2.	29:57	+00:01	Russia I	RUS
3.	30:44	+00:48	Norway I	NOR
4.	31:00	+01:04	Switzerland	SUI
5.	31:32	+01:36	Russia II	RUS
6.	31:32	+01:36	Germany	GER
7.	31:42	+01:46	Sweden III	SWE
8.	31:45	+01:49	Sweden II	SWE
9.	31:52	+01:55	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
10.	31:52	+01:55	Italy II	ITA
11.	31:53	+01:56	Finland I	FIN
12.	32:11	+02:15	Czech Republic	CZE
13.	32:11	+02:15	Norway II	NOR
14.	33:00	+03:04	Estonia	EST
15.	33:01	+03:04	Italy I	ITA
16.	33:16	+03:20	Finland II	FIN
17.	33:36	+03:40	United States of America	USA
18.	33:40	+03:44	Canada	CAN
19.	35:01	+05:05	Japan I	JPN
20.	35:35	+05:38	Sweden IV	SWE
21.	36:29	+06:32	Japan II	JPN
22.	37:47	+07:50	Kazakhstan II	KAZ
23.	39:44	+09:48	Poland	POL
24.	30:00	+01:04	France	FRA

Norway won the women’s relay in Gällivare after being fastest on 4 of 8 splits on today’s relay (there are 2 splits of 2.5 km on each leg). The worst period for Norway was the first half of the first leg where Justyna Kowalczyk skied away from everybody including Vibeke Skofterud of Norway I – and the second half of the third leg where Kristin Størmer Steira lost 9 seconds to the best time.

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.

• Splitsbrowser from the race: Play with the results yourself
• All news from the race available at WorldofXC.com

Italy with Marianna Longa was fastest on the second part of the second leg – whereas France with Laure Barthelemy was fastest on the first part of the third leg. Norway II with Ingvild Flugstad Østberg was fastest on the second part of the third leg.

Weak points

Relay is often a lot about not being the one loosing time. The below diagram shows where some of the teams had their weak spots. Most notable in the diagram is Norway II who actually used a spectator (Marit Robertsen, aged 17) for their last leg – starting out in second spot and falling through the results. Slovenia (Anja Erzen) lost a lot on the first leg – loosing to much to be part of the relay. Many teams lost a lot on the first and on the last leg – mainly because the best athletes in the top teams are set on these legs.

Split 1

1.	06:32		Poland	POL
2.	06:47	+00:15	Norway II	NOR
3.	06:49	+00:17	Norway I	NOR
4.	06:50	+00:18	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
5.	06:51	+00:19	Sweden I	SWE
6.	06:53	+00:21	Finland I	FIN
7.	06:54	+00:22	Russia I	RUS
8.	06:56	+00:24	Sweden II	SWE
9.	06:57	+00:25	Germany	GER
10.	06:59	+00:27	Italy I	ITA
11.	07:00	+00:28	United States of America	USA

Split 2

1.	06:29		Norway I	NOR
2.	06:29	+00:01	Poland	POL
3.	06:35	+00:06	Norway II	NOR
4.	06:43	+00:14	Sweden I	SWE
5.	06:43	+00:14	Finland I	FIN
6.	06:45	+00:16	Germany	GER
7.	06:46	+00:17	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
8.	06:46	+00:17	Sweden II	SWE
9.	06:50	+00:21	Italy II	ITA
10.	06:52	+00:23	Finland II	FIN
11.	06:56	+00:27	France	FRA
15.	07:04	+00:35	Italy I	ITA

Split 3

1.	06:32		Norway I	NOR
2.	06:34	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
3.	06:38	+00:06	Italy I	ITA
4.	06:41	+00:09	Slovenia	SLO
5.	06:42	+00:10	United States of America	USA
6.	06:44	+00:12	Finland I	FIN
7.	06:45	+00:12	Germany	GER
8.	06:46	+00:13	Sweden II	SWE
9.	06:47	+00:15	Norway II	NOR
10.	06:49	+00:16	Japan	JPN
11.	06:50	+00:17	Sweden III	SWE

Split 4

1.	06:30		Italy I	ITA
2.	06:33	+00:04	Norway I	NOR
3.	06:34	+00:05	Norway II	NOR
4.	06:36	+00:06	Sweden I	SWE
5.	06:36	+00:06	United States of America	USA
6.	06:37	+00:08	Ukraine	UKR
7.	06:39	+00:10	Slovenia	SLO
8.	06:45	+00:15	Germany	GER
9.	06:45	+00:16	Finland I	FIN
10.	06:48	+00:18	Sweden III	SWE
11.	06:50	+00:20	Japan	JPN
14.	06:56	+00:27	Sweden II	SWE

Split 5

1.	06:04		France	FRA
2.	06:08	+00:04	Germany	GER
3.	06:09	+00:05	Slovenia	SLO
4.	06:09	+00:05	Russia I	RUS
5.	06:10	+00:05	Norway I	NOR
6.	06:11	+00:07	Finland I	FIN
7.	06:12	+00:07	Italy I	ITA
8.	06:17	+00:12	Sweden II	SWE
9.	06:17	+00:13	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
10.	06:17	+00:13	Sweden I	SWE
11.	06:17	+00:13	Ukraine	UKR

Split 6

1.	05:50		Norway II	NOR
2.	05:51	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:54	+00:05	Italy I	ITA
4.	05:55	+00:05	Germany	GER
5.	05:57	+00:07	Slovenia	SLO
6.	05:57	+00:07	Finland I	FIN
7.	05:59	+00:09	France	FRA
8.	06:00	+00:10	Norway I	NOR
9.	06:01	+00:12	Russia I	RUS
10.	06:08	+00:18	Italy II	ITA
11.	06:09	+00:20	Ukraine	UKR
13.	06:12	+00:22	Sweden II	SWE

Split 7

1.	05:48		Norway I	NOR
2.	05:55	+00:07	Sweden I	SWE
3.	06:00	+00:12	Italy I	ITA
4.	06:02	+00:15	Germany	GER
5.	06:08	+00:20	Finland I	FIN
6.	06:10	+00:22	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
7.	06:13	+00:26	United States of America	USA
8.	06:17	+00:29	Finland II	FIN
9.	06:20	+00:32	Slovenia	SLO
10.	06:20	+00:33	Sweden II	SWE
11.	06:24	+00:36	France	FRA

Split 8

1.	05:56		Norway I	NOR
2.	05:56	+00:01	Sweden I	SWE
3.	05:57	+00:01	Italy I	ITA
4.	05:58	+00:02	Germany	GER
5.	06:03	+00:07	Finland I	FIN
6.	06:03	+00:07	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
7.	06:08	+00:12	Ukraine	UKR
8.	06:11	+00:16	United States of America	USA
9.	06:13	+00:17	France	FRA
10.	06:14	+00:18	Russia II	RUS
11.	06:15	+00:19	Slovenia	SLO
12.	06:20	+00:24	Sweden II	SWE

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)

1.	50:16		Norway I	NOR
2.	50:43	+00:27	Sweden I	SWE
3.	51:12	+00:56	Italy I	ITA
4.	51:14	+00:58	Germany	GER
5.	51:24	+01:08	Finland I	FIN
6.	52:32	+02:16	Sweden II	SWE
7.	52:45	+02:29	Kazakhstan I	KAZ
8.	52:53	+02:37	France	FRA
9.	53:03	+02:47	Sweden III	SWE
10.	53:04	+02:48	Slovenia	SLO
11.	53:08	+02:52	Ukraine	UKR
12.	53:09	+02:53	Japan	JPN
13.	53:09	+02:53	United States of America	USA
14.	53:19	+03:03	Russia I	RUS
15.	53:28	+03:12	Norway II	NOR
16.	53:28	+03:12	Finland II	FIN
17.	53:37	+03:21	Poland	POL
18.	53:45	+03:29	Sweden IV	SWE
19.	55:17	+05:01	Kazakhstan II	KAZ
20.	55:24	+05:08	Russia II	RUS
21.	40:36	+51:21	Italy II	ITA

Marcus Hellner wins the season opening in Gällivare after a strong race from start to finish. Petr Sedov has the best finish of all – starting as number 59 after 1.8 km and finishing in a 5th spot in the end with a Teichman-type race development (more about that below).

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. Split 1 is at 1.8 km, split 2 at 2.2 km, split 3 at 5.0 km, split 4 at 6.8 km (same position as split 1), split 5 at 7.2 km (same position as split 2), split 6 at 10 km (same position as split 3), split 7 at 11.8 km (same position as split 1), split 8 at 12.2 km (same position as split 2), and finish at 15.0 km.

• Splitsbrowser from the race: Play with the results yourself
• All news from the race available at WorldofXC.com

Race development

Loop 1: Marcus Hellner has the best opening speed up to 1.8 and 2.2 km, opening 2 seconds ahead of Dario Cologna up to 1.8 km with 4:24 and taking another 2 seconds up to 2.2 km with 1:06 on those 400 meters. From 2.2 km to 5.0 km the young Norwegian Sjur Røthe is fastest with 5:14, 1 second ahead of Hellner.

Loop 2: The Russian Petr Sedov is fastest on the first part of the second round from 5.0 km til 6.8 km with 4:16 – 2 seconds ahead of Hellner. The next 400 meters from 6.8 to 7.2 km the Norwegian  Martin Johnrud Sundby is fastest with 1:08 – 2 seconds slower than the fastest time on the first loop. Hellner looses one second at 1:09. From 7.2 km to 10.0 km the Swiss Curdin Perl is fastest with 5:19 – 5 seconds slower than the best time on the first loop. Hellner has his worst part of the race here, losing 5 seconds and being barely within the top 10 on this split.

Loop 3: Marcus Hellner has again the best split time at the first split of the loop from 10.0 km to 11.8 km – this time with 4:19 – 1 second slower than he was on the second loop (but several seconds slower than Sedov on the second loop).  From 11.8 km to 12.2 km Sedov and Hellner both have 1:08 – just as the fastest time on the second loop. In the final split from 12.2 km to 15.0 km, Sedov is fastest with 5:21 – Hellner is in 3rd spot with 5:24 (but he already know that he has won the race).
http://welfaretechregion.dk/
Slow openers

As discussed above, Sedov had a very slow opening – and finishing best of all. The illustration below shows other runners with this race development (race position shown as a function of time). At the bottom you see Axel Teichmann who is famous for these race developments. In addition, you find a few Norwegians (Chris Andre Jespersen and Ole Einar Bjørndalen) and a few Swiss runners (Toni Livers, Curdin Perl and Remo Fischer).

Split 1

1.	04:24		Marcus HELLNER	SWE
2.	04:26	+00:02	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
3.	04:26	+00:02	Johan OLSSON	SWE
4.	04:27	+00:02	Emil JOENSSON	SWE
5.	04:28	+00:03	Lukas BAUER	CZE
6.	04:28	+00:04	Tim TSCHARNKE	GER
7.	04:28	+00:04	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
8.	04:29	+00:05	Lari LEHTONEN	FIN
9.	04:29	+00:05	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
10.	04:30	+00:06	Roland CLARA	ITA
11.	04:30	+00:06	Vincent VITTOZ	FRA
18.	04:34	+00:10	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
62.	04:41	+00:17	Petr SEDOV	RUS

Split 2

1.	01:06		Marcus HELLNER	SWE
2.	01:07	+00:01	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
3.	01:08	+00:02	Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR
4.	01:08	+00:03	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
5.	01:09	+00:03	Lukas BAUER	CZE
6.	01:09	+00:03	Tim TSCHARNKE	GER
7.	01:09	+00:03	Tobias ANGERER	GER
8.	01:09	+00:03	Vincent VITTOZ	FRA
9.	01:09	+00:03	Ilia CHERNOUSOV	RUS
10.	01:09	+00:03	Sergey TURYCHEV	RUS
11.	01:10	+00:04	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
18.	01:10	+00:04	Petr SEDOV	RUS
19.	01:11	+00:05	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR

Split 3

1.	05:14		Sjur ROETHE	NOR
2.	05:15	+00:00	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
3.	05:15	+00:01	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
4.	05:15	+00:01	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
5.	05:18	+00:04	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
6.	05:18	+00:04	Lukas BAUER	CZE
7.	05:19	+00:05	Tim TSCHARNKE	GER
8.	05:19	+00:05	Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR
9.	05:20	+00:05	Johan OLSSON	SWE
10.	05:20	+00:06	Juha LALLUKKA	FIN
11.	05:20	+00:06	Petr SEDOV	RUS
13.	05:21	+00:07	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS

Split 4

1.	04:16		Petr SEDOV	RUS
2.	04:18	+00:02	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
3.	04:18	+00:02	Toni LIVERS	SUI
4.	04:18	+00:02	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
5.	04:19	+00:04	Remo FISCHER	SUI
6.	04:19	+00:04	Maurice MANIFICAT	FRA
7.	04:19	+00:04	Noah HOFFMAN	USA
8.	04:20	+00:04	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
9.	04:21	+00:05	Kris FREEMAN	USA
10.	04:21	+00:05	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
11.	04:21	+00:06	Juha LALLUKKA	FIN
12.	04:22	+00:06	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE

Split 5

1.	01:08		Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR
2.	01:09	+00:01	Toni LIVERS	SUI
3.	01:09	+00:01	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
4.	01:09	+00:01	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
5.	01:10	+00:01	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
6.	01:10	+00:02	Kris FREEMAN	USA
7.	01:10	+00:02	Nikolay CHEBOTKO	KAZ
8.	01:10	+00:02	Tim TSCHARNKE	GER
9.	01:10	+00:02	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
10.	01:10	+00:02	Keishin YOSHIDA	JPN
11.	01:10	+00:02	Ilia CHERNOUSOV	RUS
12.	01:11	+00:02	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
18.	01:11	+00:03	Petr SEDOV	RUS

Split 6

1.	05:19		Curdin PERL	SUI
2.	05:19	+00:00	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
3.	05:19	+00:00	Petr SEDOV	RUS
4.	05:20	+00:01	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
5.	05:21	+00:02	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
6.	05:21	+00:02	Geir Ludvig AASEN	NOR
7.	05:22	+00:03	David HOFER	ITA
8.	05:23	+00:04	Robin DUVILLARD	FRA
9.	05:23	+00:04	Toni LIVERS	SUI
10.	05:24	+00:05	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
11.	05:24	+00:05	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS

Split 7

1.	04:19		Marcus HELLNER	SWE
2.	04:20	+00:00	Maxim VYLEGZHANIN	RUS
3.	04:22	+00:03	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
4.	04:23	+00:04	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
5.	04:25	+00:05	Petr SEDOV	RUS
6.	04:25	+00:05	Kris FREEMAN	USA
7.	04:25	+00:06	Alex HARVEY	CAN
8.	04:25	+00:06	Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR
9.	04:25	+00:06	Sjur ROETHE	NOR
10.	04:25	+00:06	Ole Einar BJOERNDALEN	NOR
11.	04:25	+00:06	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
13.	04:27	+00:07	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE

Split 8

1.	01:08		Petr SEDOV	RUS
2.	01:08	+00:00	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
3.	01:09	+00:02	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
4.	01:09	+00:02	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
5.	01:10	+00:02	Curdin PERL	SUI
6.	01:10	+00:02	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
7.	01:10	+00:02	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
8.	01:11	+00:03	Philipp MARSCHALL	GER
9.	01:11	+00:03	Maxim VYLEGZHANIN	RUS
10.	01:11	+00:04	Yevgeniy KOSCHEVOY	KAZ
11.	01:11	+00:04	Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR

Split 9

1.	05:21		Petr SEDOV	RUS
2.	05:22	+00:01	Alexey POLTARANIN	KAZ
3.	05:24	+00:02	Marcus HELLNER	SWE
4.	05:25	+00:04	Curdin PERL	SUI
5.	05:26	+00:04	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
6.	05:26	+00:04	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
7.	05:26	+00:05	Sjur ROETHE	NOR
8.	05:27	+00:06	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
9.	05:29	+00:07	Kris FREEMAN	USA
10.	05:29	+00:07	Martin JAKS	CZE
11.	05:29	+00:08	Axel TEICHMANN	GER
13.	05:30	+00:08	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)

1.	32:26		Marcus HELLNER	SWE
2.	32:37	+00:11	Dario COLOGNA	SUI
3.	32:46	+00:20	Daniel RICKARDSSON	SWE
4.	32:48	+00:22	Chris Andre JESPERSEN	NOR
5.	32:51	+00:25	Petr SEDOV	RUS
6.	32:56	+00:30	Alexander LEGKOV	RUS
7.	33:05	+00:39	Sjur ROETHE	NOR
8.	33:09	+00:43	Lukas BAUER	CZE
9.	33:09	+00:43	Kris FREEMAN	USA
10.	33:12	+00:46	Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY	NOR
11.	33:14	+00:48	Tim TSCHARNKE	GER
12.	33:15	+00:49	Toni LIVERS	SUI
13.	33:16	+00:50	Juha LALLUKKA	FIN
14.	33:17	+00:51	Curdin PERL	SUI
15.	33:21	+00:55	Maxim VYLEGZHANIN	RUS
16.	33:21	+00:55	Martin JAKS	CZE
17.	33:24	+00:58	Maurice MANIFICAT	FRA
18.	33:24	+00:58	Remo FISCHER	SUI
19.	33:25	+00:59	Nikolay CHEBOTKO	KAZ
20.	33:27	+01:01	Roland CLARA	ITA
21.	33:28	+01:02	Robin DUVILLARD	FRA
22.	33:31	+01:05	Alexey POLTARANIN	KAZ
23.	33:33	+01:07	Mats LARSSON	SWE
24.	33:34	+01:08	Ilia CHERNOUSOV	RUS
25.	33:34	+01:08	Ole Einar BJOERNDALEN	NOR
26.	33:39	+01:13	Jens FILBRICH	GER
27.	33:40	+01:14	David HOFER	ITA
28.	33:40	+01:14	Vincent VITTOZ	FRA
29.	33:41	+01:15	Mathias FREDRIKSSON	SWE
30.	33:45	+01:19	Evgeniy BELOV	RUS
31.	33:45	+01:19	Noah HOFFMAN	USA
32.	33:47	+01:21	Johan OLSSON	SWE
33.	33:47	+01:21	Sergey TURYCHEV	RUS
34.	33:48	+01:22	Alex HARVEY	CAN
35.	33:49	+01:23	Joergen BRINK	SWE

Marit Bjørgen was fastest at all splits in the season opener in Gällivare today! A very impressive race by Bjørgen, who seems to be in great shape this early in the season. Above you see a screenshot from Splitsbrowser which gives you a graphical overview of how the race developed.

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. Split 1 is at 1.8 km, split 2 at 2.2 km, split 3 at 5.0 km, split 4 at 6.8 km (same position as split 1), split 5 at 7.2 km (same position as split 2) and finish at 10.0 km.

• Splitsbrowser from the race: Play with the results yourself
• All news from the race available at WorldofXC.com

As you can see from the illustration above – and also from the splitsbrowser if you play with it yourself –  nobody was even close to keeping up the speed of Marit Bjørgen. The only one trying was Kristin Størmer Steira who kept the speed of Bjørgen between split 3 and split 4 after being caught by Bjørgen by 30 seconds out in the course. As you can see from the illustration, that period got tough for Steira - resulting in a fall through the results list from a 3rd spot down to a 5th spot.

The following illustration shows how many percent each runner lost to the best split time on each split. Bjørgen of course has a flat curve at the top – being best at all splits. Bjørgen is strongest at the short splits between 1.8 and 2.2 km and between 6.8 and 7.2 km (they seem to be partly downhill and partly uphill from the course profile). At the part between 2.2 and 5 km (and 7.2 and 10 km) she is not that dominant – Skofterud and Kalla being very strong in this part of the course.  Looking at the course profile, you can see that this is the flatter part of the course.

Skofterud versus Steira

Above you see curves comparing the position at each split for Kristin Størmer Steira and Vibeke Skofterud. As you can see, Skofterud got stronger and stronger through the race. Starting at a 10 place at the first split, and finishing with the second best split at the last split.

Split 1

1.	04:54		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	05:02	+00:08	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
3.	05:04	+00:10	Anna HAAG	SWE
4.	05:05	+00:10	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
5.	05:06	+00:12	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
6.	05:07	+00:13	Therese JOHAUG	NOR
7.	05:09	+00:15	Mia ERIKSSON	SWE
8.	05:09	+00:15	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL
9.	05:09	+00:15	Silvana BUCHER	SUI
10.	05:10	+00:15	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
11.	05:10	+00:16	Maria RYDQVIST	SWE
14.	05:12	+00:18	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR

Split 2

1.	01:15		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	01:19	+00:04	Nicole FESSEL	GER
3.	01:19	+00:04	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
4.	01:20	+00:04	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
5.	01:20	+00:05	Evi SACHENBACHER STEHLE	GER
6.	01:20	+00:05	Anna HAAG	SWE
7.	01:20	+00:05	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
8.	01:21	+00:06	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL
9.	01:21	+00:06	Therese JOHAUG	NOR
10.	01:22	+00:07	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR
11.	01:22	+00:07	Petra MAJDIC	SLO
16.	01:23	+00:08	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR

Split 3

1.	05:44		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	05:47	+00:03	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
3.	05:51	+00:07	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR
4.	05:52	+00:08	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
5.	05:56	+00:13	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
6.	05:57	+00:13	Riitta-Liisa ROPONEN	FIN
7.	05:58	+00:14	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
8.	05:59	+00:15	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL
9.	06:03	+00:19	Therese JOHAUG	NOR
10.	06:03	+00:19	Marianna LONGA	ITA
11.	06:03	+00:19	Svetlana MALAKHOVA-SHISHKINA	KAZ

Split 4

1.	04:45		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	04:46	+00:01	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR
3.	04:54	+00:10	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
4.	04:55	+00:10	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
5.	04:57	+00:12	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
6.	04:57	+00:12	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
7.	05:00	+00:16	Anna HAAG	SWE
8.	05:01	+00:16	Nicole FESSEL	GER
9.	05:02	+00:18	Maria RYDQVIST	SWE
10.	05:03	+00:18	Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN	NOR
11.	05:03	+00:18	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL

Split 5

1.	01:17		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	01:20	+00:03	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR
3.	01:20	+00:03	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
4.	01:21	+00:04	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
5.	01:22	+00:05	Anastasia DOTSENKO	RUS
6.	01:22	+00:05	Anna HAAG	SWE
7.	01:22	+00:05	Nicole FESSEL	GER
8.	01:22	+00:05	Therese JOHAUG	NOR
9.	01:22	+00:05	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
10.	01:23	+00:05	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
11.	01:23	+00:06	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL

Split 6

1.	05:54		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	06:01	+00:07	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
3.	06:04	+00:10	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
4.	06:04	+00:10	Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN	NOR
5.	06:06	+00:12	Alena PROCHAZKOVA	SVK
6.	06:07	+00:14	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
7.	06:08	+00:14	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
8.	06:10	+00:17	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL
9.	06:11	+00:17	Marianna LONGA	ITA
10.	06:11	+00:17	Nicole FESSEL	GER
11.	06:12	+00:18	Ida INGEMARSDOTTER	SWE
28.	06:17	+00:23	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR

Overall (unofficial results from live timing)

1.	23:48		Marit BJOERGEN	NOR
2.	24:30	+00:41	Charlotte KALLA	SWE
3.	24:40	+00:51	Arianna FOLLIS	ITA
4.	24:47	+00:58	Kristin Stoermer STEIRA	NOR
5.	24:47	+00:59	Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN	NOR
6.	24:49	+01:00	Vibeke W. SKOFTERUD	NOR
7.	25:04	+01:16	Justyna KOWALCZYK	POL
8.	25:05	+01:16	Anna HAAG	SWE
9.	25:11	+01:22	Nicole FESSEL	GER
10.	25:11	+01:22	Therese JOHAUG	NOR
11.	25:14	+01:26	Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN	NOR
12.	25:17	+01:29	Maria RYDQVIST	SWE
13.	25:17	+01:29	Petra MAJDIC	SLO
14.	25:20	+01:32	Marianna LONGA	ITA
15.	25:23	+01:35	Silvana BUCHER	SUI
16.	25:30	+01:42	Svetlana MALAKHOVA-SHISHKINA	KAZ
17.	25:30	+01:42	Britta JOHANSSON NORGREN	SWE
18.	25:31	+01:42	Mia ERIKSSON	SWE
19.	25:35	+01:46	Kikkan RANDALL	USA
20.	25:36	+01:48	Yulia TCHEKALEVA	RUS
21.	25:39	+01:51	Krista LAHTEENMAKI	FIN
22.	25:41	+01:53	Ida INGEMARSDOTTER	SWE
23.	25:43	+01:55	Riitta-Liisa ROPONEN	FIN
24.	25:44	+01:56	Silvia RUPIL	ITA
25.	25:45	+01:57	Elizabeth STEPHEN	USA
26.	25:46	+01:58	Evi SACHENBACHER STEHLE	GER
27.	25:48	+02:00	Alena PROCHAZKOVA	SVK
28.	25:49	+02:00	Riikka SARASOJA	FIN
29.	25:50	+02:02	Vesna FABJAN	SLO
30.	25:53	+02:04	Elena KOLOMINA	KAZ
31.	25:59	+02:10	Anastasia DOTSENKO	RUS
32.	26:01	+02:13	Valentina SHEVCHENKO	UKR
33.	26:02	+02:13	Alena SANNIKOVA	BLR
34.	26:02	+02:13	Laure BARTHELEMY	FRA
35.	26:04	+02:16	Ingvild Flugstad OESTBERG	NOR