XC Predictions Kuusamo Sprint Results

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 26 Nov 2011@8:58

Again we had a lot of surprises in the mens class – the ski brand Rossignol taking all the podium with skiers who where all not really expected to be up there. The three top skiers Peterson, Kriukov and Pettersen where tipped as number 25, 10 and 28 respectively!

Petter Northug, Ola Vigen Hattestad and Dario Cologna all disappointed a lot. The only one performing up towards expectations of the top tipped skiers was Jesper Modin who finished 7th.

In the womens class, it went more as expected. Bjørgen took the victory as most out there thought. However, Kowalczyk was a big disappointment whereas Skofterud was the big positive surprise; continuing where she started last weekend.

At the bottom of this article you find sprint heat times breakdown.

Top 10 results – Kuusamo sprint predictions

On top after another though day we have Gustaf with 557 points ahead of Erik Carleton with 488 points and Jan with 475 points (Jan is not me, but a Skidpepp predicter).

Heat time breakdown – mens sprint Kuusamo
Teodor PETERSON. SWE 02:50 02:41 02:44 02:49 (11:06)
Nikita KRIUKOV. RUS 02:51 03:04 02:45 02:44 (11:26)
Oystein PETTERSEN. NOR 02:51 02:43 02:41 02:47 (11:04)
Eirik BRANDSDAL. NOR 02:52 02:50 02:42 02:44 (11:10)
Len VALJAS. CAN 02:53 02:42 02:44 02:44 (11:05)
Anssi PENTSINEN. FIN 02:53 02:54 02:42 02:40 (11:11)
Jesper MODIN. SWE 02:43 02:44 02:44 (08:13)
Alexey PETUKHOV. RUS 02:44 02:43 02:44 (08:13)
Ilia CHERNOUSOV. RUS 02:45 02:45 02:46 (08:18)
Timo SIMONLATSER. EST 02:45 02:45 02:48 (08:19)
Dario COLOGNA. SUI 02:46 02:44 02:46 (08:18)
Nikolay CHEBOTKO. KAZ 02:54 02:43 02:46 (08:26)
Anton GAFAROV. RUS 02:44 02:48 (05:34)
Andrew NEWELL. USA 02:44 02:48 (05:33)
Peeter KUMMEL. EST 02:45 02:45 (05:30)
Alex HARVEY. CAN 02:45 02:49 (05:35)
Alexander LEGKOV. RUS 02:45 02:46 (05:32)
Evgeniy BELOV. RUS 02:45 02:49 (05:35)
Kein EINASTE. EST 02:45 02:46 (05:32)
Petter jr. NORTHUG. NOR 02:45 02:49 (05:35)
Eldar ROENNING. NOR 02:46 02:46 (05:33)
Axel TEICHMANN. GER 02:46 02:49 (05:36)
Lasse PAAKKONEN. FIN 02:48 02:46 (05:35)
Matias STRANDVALL. FIN 02:49 02:48 (05:38)
Sami JAUHOJAERVI. FIN 02:51 02:48 (05:39)
Cyril MIRANDA. FRA 02:56 02:49 (05:46)
Ola Vigen HATTESTAD. NOR 02:57 02:48 (05:46)
Yuichi ONDA. JPN 02:46 (02:47)
Renato PASINI. ITA 02:49 (02:49)
Franz GOERING. GER 02:49 (02:50)
Jean Marc GAILLARD. FRA 02:49 (02:50)
Karel TAMMJARV. EST 02:49 (02:50)
Ville NOUSIAINEN. FIN 02:50 (02:50)
Calle HALFVARSSON. SWE 02:50 (02:50)
Daniel RICKARDSSON. SWE 02:50 (02:50)
Martti JYLHAE. FIN 02:50 (02:50)
Raido RANKEL. EST 02:50 (02:50)
Johan OLSSON. SWE 02:50 (02:50)
Algo KARP. EST 02:50 (02:51)
Lari LEHTONEN. FIN 02:50 (02:51)
Martin JAKS. CZE 02:51 (02:51)
Alexander BESSMERTNYKH. RUS 02:51 (02:51)
Peter MLYNAR. SVK 02:51 (02:51)
Tord Asle GJERDALEN. NOR 02:51 (02:51)
Alexey POLTORANIN. KAZ 02:51 (02:51)
Finn Haagen KROGH. NOR 02:51 (02:51)
Aliaksandr VORANAU. BLR 02:51 (02:51)
John Kristian DAHL. NOR 02:51 (02:52)
Ondrej HORYNA. CZE 02:51 (02:52)
Andy KUEHNE. GER 02:51 (02:52)
Curdin PERL. SUI 02:51 (02:52)
Ari LUUSUA. FIN 02:52 (02:52)
Marcus HELLNER. SWE 02:52 (02:52)
Giorgio DI CENTA. ITA 02:52 (02:52)
Sergey CHEREPANOV. KAZ 02:52 (02:53)
Devon KERSHAW. CAN 02:52 (02:53)
Ivan BILOSYUK. UKR 02:52 (02:53)
Maurice MANIFICAT. FRA 02:52 (02:53)
Lukas BAUER. CZE 02:53 (02:53)
Hiroyuki MIYAZAWA. JPN 02:53 (02:53)
Tobias ANGERER. GER 02:53 (02:53)
Petr SEDOV. RUS 02:53 (02:53)
Mikko KOUTANIEMI. FIN 02:53 (02:53)
Dietmar NOECKLER. ITA 02:53 (02:53)
Fulvio SCOLA. ITA 02:53 (02:54)
Pierre GUEDON. FRA 02:53 (02:54)
Denis VOLOTKA. KAZ 02:53 (02:54)
Maciej STAREGA. POL 02:54 (02:54)
Maxim VYLEGZHANIN. RUS 02:54 (02:54)
Jens FILBRICH. GER 02:54 (02:54)
Maciej KRECZMER. POL 02:54 (02:54)
Alexander LASUTKIN. BLR 02:54 (02:54)
Fredrik JONSSON. SWE 02:54 (02:55)
Christoph EIGENMANN. SUI 02:54 (02:55)
Yevgeniy VELICHKO. KAZ 02:54 (02:55)
Jussi SIMULA. FIN 02:54 (02:55)
Lars NELSON. SWE 02:54 (02:55)
Aivar REHEMAA. EST 02:55 (02:55)
Michail SEMENOV. BLR 02:55 (02:55)
Bastien POIRRIER. FRA 02:55 (02:56)
David HOFER. ITA 02:55 (02:56)
Kris FREEMAN. USA 02:55 (02:56)
Juha-Matti MIKKOLAINEN. FIN 02:55 (02:56)
Ruslan PEREKHODA. UKR 02:56 (02:56)
Sjur ROETHE. NOR 02:56 (02:56)
Tero SIMILAE. FIN 02:56 (02:56)
Drew GOLDSACK. CAN 02:56 (02:57)
Chris Andre JESPERSEN. NOR 02:56 (02:57)
Mariusz MICHALEK. POL 02:56 (02:57)
Christophe PERRILLAT. FRA 02:56 (02:57)
Graham NISHIKAWA. CAN 02:57 (02:57)
Keishin YOSHIDA. JPN 02:57 (02:57)
Teemu HARKONEN. FIN 02:57 (02:58)
Akira LENTING. JPN 02:57 (02:58)
Andreas KATZ. GER 02:58 (02:58)
Anders SOEDERGREN. SWE 02:58 (02:58)
Roland CLARA. ITA 02:58 (02:59)
Nobu NARUSE. JPN 02:59 (02:59)
Tom REICHELT. GER 02:59 (02:59)
Ivan BABIKOV. CAN 02:59 (02:59)
Veselin TSINZOV. BUL 02:59 (02:59)
Lars FLORA. USA 02:59 (02:59)
Myroslav BILOSYUK. UKR 02:59 (03:00)
Oleksiy SHVIDKIY. UKR 02:59 (03:00)
Pietro PILLER COTTRER. ITA 03:00 (03:01)
Philipp MARSCHALL. GER 03:00 (03:01)
Robin DUVILLARD. FRA 03:01 (03:01)
Jiri MAGAL. CZE 03:01 (03:01)
Remo FISCHER. SUI 03:01 (03:02)
Arvis LIEPINS. LAT 03:01 (03:02)
Kevin SANDAU. CAN 03:02 (03:02)
Martin BAJCICAK. SVK 03:02 (03:02)
Sergey MIKAYELYAN. ARM 03:02 (03:02)
Sergei DOLIDOVICH. BLR 03:02 (03:03)
Toni LIVERS. SUI 03:02 (03:03)
Valerio CHECCHI. ITA 03:03 (03:04)
Dominik LANDERTINGER. AUT 03:04 (03:04)
Vytautas STROLIA. LTU 03:06 (03:06)
Ivan BURGOV. BUL 03:06 (03:07)
Noah HOFFMAN. USA 03:06 (03:07)
Nikolay MORILOV. RUS 03:10 (03:10)
Tad ELLIOTT. USA 03:11 (03:11)
Paul Constantin PEPENE. ROU 03:14 (03:15)
Petrica HOGIU. ROU 03:20 (03:20)
Heat time breakdown – womens sprint Kuusamo
Marit BJOERGEN. NOR 02:50 02:48 02:48 02:51 (11:18)
Charlotte KALLA. SWE 02:52 02:49 02:47 02:55 (11:24)
Vibeke W SKOFTERUD. NOR 02:54 02:50 02:48 02:47 (11:20)
Kikkan RANDALL. USA 02:54 02:44 02:50 02:54 (11:24)
Anne KYLLOENEN. FIN 02:55 02:48 02:48 02:53 (11:26)
Natalia MATVEEVA. RUS 03:04 02:43 02:48 02:49 (11:26)
Katja VISNAR. SLO 02:43 02:44 02:48 (08:17)
Katerina SMUTNA. AUT 02:50 02:48 02:56 (08:36)
Hanna BRODIN. SWE 02:51 02:48 02:54 (08:35)
Nicole FESSEL. GER 02:51 02:48 02:55 (08:35)
Therese JOHAUG. NOR 02:54 02:45 02:57 (08:37)
Maiken Caspersen FALLA. NOR 03:11 02:47 02:54 (08:54)
Daria GAIAZOVA. CAN 02:44 02:54 (05:39)
Krista LAHTEENMAKI. FIN 02:44 02:55 (05:40)
Katrin ZELLER. GER 02:44 02:55 (05:40)
Polina MEDVEDEVA. RUS 02:45 02:53 (05:39)
Chandra CRAWFORD. CAN 02:48 02:53 (05:42)
Alena PROCHAZKOVA. SVK 02:48 02:54 (05:44)
Celine BRUN-LIE. NOR 02:49 02:56 (05:46)
Julia IVANOVA. RUS 02:49 02:55 (05:45)
Justyna KOWALCZYK. POL 02:50 02:52 (05:42)
Ida INGEMARSDOTTER. SWE 02:50 02:54 (05:45)
Anastasia DOTSENKO. RUS 02:51 02:49 (05:41)
Mona-Lisa MALVALEHTO. FIN 02:53 02:52 (05:46)
Aino- Kaisa SAARINEN. FIN 02:53 02:54 (05:48)
Natalia KOROSTELEVA. RUS 02:53 02:53 (05:47)
Denise HERRMANN. GER 02:53 02:56 (05:50)
Vesna FABJAN. SLO 02:54 02:56 (05:51)
Triin OJASTE. EST 02:55 02:57 (05:53)
Kerttu NISKANEN. FIN 02:56 02:56 (05:53)
Stefanie BOEHLER. GER 02:57 (02:57)
Piret PORMEISTER. EST 02:57 (02:58)
Anna HAAG. SWE 02:57 (02:58)
Elisa BROCARD. ITA 02:58 (02:58)
Svetlana NIKOLAEVA. RUS 02:58 (02:59)
Ingvild Flugstad OESTBERG. NOR 02:58 (02:59)
Doris TRACHSEL. SUI 02:59 (02:59)
Maria GRUNDVALL. FIN 02:59 (02:59)
Barbara JEZERSEK. SLO 02:59 (02:59)
Valentina NOVIKOVA. RUS 02:59 (03:00)
Ann-Mary AEHTAEVAE. FIN 02:59 (03:00)
Aurore JEAN. FRA 02:59 (03:00)
Ida SARGENT. USA 03:00 (03:01)
Perianne JONES. CAN 03:00 (03:01)
Alevtina TANYGINA. RUS 03:00 (03:01)
Marthe KRISTOFFERSEN. NOR 03:01 (03:01)
Sadie BJORNSEN. USA 03:01 (03:01)
Sara LINDBORG. SWE 03:01 (03:01)
Riikka SARASOJA-LILJA. FIN 03:01 (03:02)
Alysson MARSHALL. CAN 03:01 (03:02)
Laura ROHTLA. EST 03:01 (03:02)
Lina KORSGREN. SWE 03:02 (03:02)
Laura AHERVO. FIN 03:02 (03:03)
Anastasia KAZAKUL. RUS 03:02 (03:03)
Anastasia SLONOVA. KAZ 03:03 (03:03)
Riitta-Liisa ROPONEN. FIN 03:03 (03:03)
Seraina BONER. SUI 03:03 (03:03)
Virginia DE MARTIN TOPRANIN. ITA 03:03 (03:04)
Laure BARTHELEMY. FRA 03:03 (03:04)
Heidi WENG. NOR 03:03 (03:04)
Oxana YATSKAYA. KAZ 03:03 (03:04)
Yelena KOLOMINA. KAZ 03:03 (03:04)
Maria RYDQVIST. SWE 03:04 (03:04)
Irina KHAZOVA. RUS 03:04 (03:04)
Kristin Stoermer STEIRA. NOR 03:04 (03:05)
Anouk FAIVRE PICON. FRA 03:05 (03:05)
Jennie OEBERG. SWE 03:05 (03:06)
Coraline HUGUE. FRA 03:05 (03:06)
Maija HAKALA. FIN 03:06 (03:06)
Holly BROOKS. USA 03:06 (03:07)
Ewelina MARCISZ. POL 03:06 (03:07)
Masako ISHIDA. JPN 03:06 (03:07)
Valentina SHEVCHENKO. UKR 03:07 (03:07)
Astrid Uhrenholdt JACOBSEN. NOR 03:07 (03:08)
Tanja KAUPPINEN. FIN 03:07 (03:08)
Melissa GORRA. ITA 03:08 (03:08)
Lisa LARSEN. SWE 03:08 (03:09)
Monika GYORGY. ROU 03:10 (03:10)
Monique SIEGEL. GER 03:11 (03:11)
Sylwia JASKOWIEC. POL 03:11 (03:11)
Marina MATROSSOVA. KAZ 03:11 (03:11)
Maryna ANTSYBOR. UKR 03:13 (03:13)
Silvia RUPIL. ITA 03:13 (03:13)
Paulina MACIUSZEK. POL 03:13 (03:14)
Elizabeth STEPHEN. USA 03:14 (03:14)
Marjaana PITKAENEN. FIN 03:14 (03:14)
Debora AGREITER. ITA 03:15 (03:15)
Ingrida ARDISAUSKAITE. LTU 03:15 (03:15)
Marina PILLER. ITA 03:15 (03:16)
Antoniya GRIGOROVA-BURGOVA. BUL 03:29 (03:29)

XC-Predictions Sjusjøen: Results

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 19 Nov 2011@16:02

This was the day of the big surprises in the mens class: Of 234 predictions in the WhoWins XC-predictions for this season opener the winner Johan Olsson was tipped inside the Top 5 by only 38 people. The women’s class was less of a surprise – Marit Bjørgen winning as expected.

With many surprises, today’s predictions were really tricky. On top after a though day we have Terje K with 637 points ahead of Alexander with 621 points and Sanna with 614 points according to the unofficial results.

Top 10 results – Sjusjøen Predictions

For this round of predictions we also welcome Skidpepp’s readers who as a test this weekend had a separate league with a different point system within the WorldofXC Predictions. You can see the results of the “Skidpepptipset” here. All the top 3 predicters in the WorldofXC Predictions are also part of the Skidpepp league – obviously they know their way when it comes to Cross Country Skiing.

Roland Clara: Massive surprise

If Olsson’s victory was a surprise, Roland Clara finishing second was a massive surprise. Clara was only tipped inside the Top 5 by three of 234 people. Calle Halfvarsson in 4th spot was another big surprise – only on three Top 5 lists and so was Alex Harvey in 5th although he was on 18 Top 5 lists. Remo Fischer in 6th wasn’t on a single Top 5 list!

With many surprises, there were also many disappointments today; the biggest being Marice Manificat who was the hightlight of last weekend but who finished only 17th today. Also the Russians (Legkov and Vylegzhanin), Rickardsson, Cologna and Hellner disappointed.

Skofterud in early shape

Among the women Vibeke Skofterud’s third spot is the big surprise of the day with her 3rd spot – only predicted as number 14. And of course Biathlon athlete Tora Berger who skied her first Cross Country World Cup race ever today – finishing 4th and only being tipped in Top 5 by two people. Other positive surprises are Marthe Kristoffersen and Kikkan Randall.

On the other end of the scale, Justyna Kowalczyk was the big disappointment with her 10th spot. However, she has never been good in the season opener – finishing only 7th last year. Other disappointments were Therese Johaug finishing 7th, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen finishing 27th and Anna Haag finishing 15th.

Race development: 15 km classic WC opening

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 19 Nov 2011@14:41

Johan Olsson skied a fantastic last part of the race – taking the second World Cup victory in his career. 31 seconds is a huge winning margin in international cross country skiing. Above you see the race development in a SplitsBrowser.

The SplitsBrowser (see above) compares the race development of different skiers in a graphical way. A flat curve means that a skier is fastest on a split – when a curve goes down on a split, the skier looses time. Split number 3 is at the end of the first loop of 4, split number 6 at the end of the second loop and split number 9 at the end of the third loop.

Just like Bjørndalen

- I tried to do the same thing as Ole Einar Bjørnalen did here a few years ago. Open slowly, and then speed up in the last part of the race, a very happy Olsson said after his victory after admitting that Bjørndalen is his big role medal regarding skiing technique.

As you can see from the SplitsBrowser screenshot above or the interactive SplitsBrowser here, Dario Cologna was the fastest starter, seemingly on the way to victory. However, Cologna used too much energy in the first loop, loosing a lot of time in the second part of the course.

Fast second loop by Clara

Roland Clara skied a very fast second loop, but this seemed to cost a lot of energy. In the end it cost him the second spot to Petter Northug.

In the two last loops, there was nothing to do with Olsson. Alexey POLTORANIN was closest in the finish – but POLTORANIN lost too much time in the start of the race to fight for a place on the podium.

Northug in second

Petter Northug was the big Norwegian favourite ahead of the race.

- 30 seconds is a lot, but I am still satisfied, Petter Northug said after the race.
Northug had a good last part of the race – “only” loosing 7 seconds to Olsson on the last 3.75 km loop.

- Johan Olsson got to relax at the back of a big group of skiers for a while, which helped him gain some energy. That helped him a bit.

First loop time (main part of loop)
1. 05:23 Dario COLOGNA SUI
2. 05:27 +00:04 Calle HALFVARSSON SWE
3. 05:27 +00:04 Roland CLARA ITA
4. 05:27 +00:04 Sergey TURYCHEV RUS
5. 05:27 +00:04 Sjur ROETHE NOR
6. 05:29 +00:06 Petter NORTHUG NOR
7. 05:30 +00:07 Johan OLSSON SWE
8. 05:30 +00:07 Remo FISCHER SUI
9. 05:31 +00:08 Maurice MANIFICAT FRA
10. 05:31 +00:08 Alexander LEGKOV RUS
11. 05:31 +00:08 Finn Haagen KROGH NOR
35. 05:38 +00:15 Alex HARVEY CAN
Second loop times (main part of loop)
1. 05:34 Roland CLARA ITA
2. 05:37 +00:03 Johan OLSSON SWE
3. 05:38 +00:04 Alex HARVEY CAN
4. 05:39 +00:05 Remo FISCHER SUI
5. 05:40 +00:06 David HOFER ITA
6. 05:40 +00:06 Calle HALFVARSSON SWE
7. 05:40 +00:06 Dario COLOGNA SUI
8. 05:41 +00:06 Nikolay CHEBOTKO KAZ
9. 05:41 +00:07 Petter NORTHUG NOR
10. 05:42 +00:08 Alexander LEGKOV RUS
11. 05:42 +00:08 Martin JOHNSRUD SUNDBY NOR
Third loop times (main part of loop)
1. 05:36 Johan OLSSON SWE
2. 05:43 +00:07 Tarjei BOE NOR
3. 05:44 +00:08 Alexey POLTORANIN KAZ
4. 05:45 +00:09 Alex HARVEY CAN
5. 05:46 +00:10 Martin BAJCICAK SVK
6. 05:46 +00:10 Pietro PILLER COTTRER ITA
7. 05:46 +00:10 Anders SOEDERGREN SWE
8. 05:47 +00:11 Lars BERGER NOR
9. 05:47 +00:11 Ville NOUSIAINEN FIN
10. 05:47 +00:11 Jiri MAGAL CZE
11. 05:47 +00:11 Petter NORTHUG NOR
14. 05:49 +00:13 Roland CLARA ITA
20. 05:50 +00:14 Remo FISCHER SUI
21. 05:51 +00:15 Calle HALFVARSSON SWE
Last loop times
1. 07:54 Johan OLSSON SWE
2. 07:56 +00:02 Alexey POLTORANIN KAZ
3. 08:00 +00:06 Lars BERGER NOR
4. 08:00 +00:07 Marcus HELLNER SWE
5. 08:01 +00:07 Petter NORTHUG NOR
6. 08:02 +00:08 Remo FISCHER SUI
7. 08:03 +00:09 Aivar REHEMAA EST
8. 08:03 +00:09 Ville NOUSIAINEN FIN
9. 08:04 +00:10 Roland CLARA ITA
10. 08:08 +00:14 Finn Haagen KROGH NOR

Interactive SplitsBrowser:

The day of the big surprises

Looking at the 234 predictions in the WhoWins XC-predictions for this season opener, you can see that Olsson and Roland Clara are the big surprises. Clara was only tipped inside the Top 5 by three of 234 people – whereas Olsson was tipped by 38 people. Calle Halfvarsson in 4th spot was another big surprise – and so was Alex Harvey in 5th and Remo Fischer in 6th.  With many surprises, there were also many disappointments today; the biggest being Marice Manificat who was the hightlight of last weekend but who finished only 17th today. Also the Russians (Legkov and Vylegzhanin), Rickardsson, Cologna and Hellner disappointed.

Race development: 10 km classic WC opening

Posted by Jan Kocbach, 19 Nov 2011@12:43

Marit Bjørgen did it for the third time in a row – winning the World Cup season opening. Above you see the race development in a SplitsBrowser.

The SplitsBrowser (see above) compares the race development of different skiers in a graphical way. A flat curve means that a skier is fastest on a split – when a curve goes down on a split, the skier looses time.

Too fast too early by Skofterud?

Bjørgen was fastest at all splits except for the last part of the second loop where Skofterud was faster. Skofterud seems to have burned a bit too much fuel here – loosing time afterwards. This is probably what cost her the second spot – which Charlotte Kalla took in the end after a tight fight on the last loop.

- I tried to ski technically well, and feel that I managed to do that. This was a course which fit me very well, Marit Bjørgen said after her victory race.

Along with Bjørgen there were 6 other Norwegians among the top 10. A big success for Norway – not that good for international cross country skiing.

- I knew that we had a very good team, and that our team had done a good job together.

Splits analysis

Interactive SplitsBrowser:

Big surprise of the day: Skofterud

Looking at the whopping 234 predictions in the WhoWins XC-predictions for this season opener, you can see that Vibeke Skofterud’s third spot is the big surprise of the day with her 3rd spot – only predicted as number 14. And of course Biathlon athlete Tora Berger who skied her first Cross Country World Cup race ever today – finishing 4th and only being tipped in Top 5 by two people. Other positive surprises are Marthe Kristoffersen and Kikkan Randall.

On the other end of the scale, Justyna Kowalczyk was the big disappointment with her 10th spot. However, she has never been good in the season opener – finishing only 7th last year. Other disappointments were Therese Johaug finishing 7th, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen finishing 27th and Anna Haag finishing 15th.