In Otepää we are ready for the 3rd classic sprint this season on Saturday – after the Kuusamo sprint in November and the Oberstdorf sprint in the end of December. In addition there is a discipline which is not skied too often – the classic interval start 10/15 km on Sunday- with the tough and difficult courses in Otepää this race is  something for the strongest skiers!

Most favorites are racing  - notably absent are Emil Jönsson (SWE) and Petter Northug (NOR) among the men and the 2010-winner Hanna Falk among the women who is not yet up to it along with French Jean Aurore who surprised with a 6th place in Oberstdorf.

• Set up your predictions for the Otepäa classic sprint before Saturday 11:00 CET (start of qualification)
• Set up your predictions for the Otepäa classic 10/15 km race before Sunday 11:00 CET
• Overall results WhoWins XC-Predictions 2012

Men’s sprint

In the men’s class, the Russians Nikita Kriukov, Alexey Pethukhov and Nikolay Morilov are definitely among the biggest favourites after their triple in the Oberstdorf classic sprint. Kriukov has been the most stable skier in classic sprint the last seasons, regularly making top 5 races when at the start line. Also look out for Sweden’s Teodor Peterson who showed his classic capabilities by winning in Kuusamo in the end of November – and again impressed in last week’s Milano skating sprint with a third place.

Norwegian Eirik Brandsdal and Ola Vigen Hattested won double in the Otepää classic sprint last year – they should both be counted among the top favourites this year around as well. While Hattestad has struggled finding his shape lately, Brandsdal won the Milano sprint in an impressive way last weekend.

Women’s sprint

In the women’s class we have the usual fight between Marit Bjørgen and Justyna Kowalczyk. Both have been resting since Tour de Ski, so it will be interesting to see how well they have regenerated. The classic sprint is usually not the best discipline for Kowalczyk – on the other hand Kowalczyk took the last classic sprint in Oberstdorf.

Charlotte Kalla took the second spot in the classic sprint opening in Kuusamo in November – and will want to mix in in the fight for victory. The same for a triplet of Norwegian skiers; Maiken Caspersen Falla who finished third in Otepää last year, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen who finished 3rd in the Oberstdorf sprint in the end of December, and Vibeke Skofterud – 3rd in Kuusamo – who is back after the sickness which made her unable to start in Tour de Ski.

Men’s 15 km Sunday

This is a race which is tailored for Lukas Bauer: The Czech skier took 3 x Otepää 15 km in a row between 2008 and 2010 (see statistics below) – and then could not start in 2011 due to illness. This year the Czech skier is back – and Bauer really wants to show that he can perform after not being happy with his  Tour de Ski results. Two other skiers who have this type of race as their specialty are Daniel Rickardsson (SWE) and Eldar Rønning (NOR). Rønning has been sick the last week, but is reported to be strong. Start lists are not yet ready when this is written, but Matti Heikkinen (FIN), Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) are also typically strong in these kind of races.

Women’s 10 km Sunday

Marit Bjørgen is the big favourite over 10 km classic. The Norwegian has won the last three World Cup races over 10 km Classic ahead of Kowalczyk. On the other hand, Otepää is one of Kowalczyk’s favourite courses – she took the win here on the 10 km classic in 2009 and 2010. Also look out for Saarinen (FIN), Johaug (NOR), Skofterud (NOR) and Lähteenmäki (FIN) if they are on the start list.

Relevant Sprint Classic races men

Name		2011 Oberstdorf 2011-12-31 SP C Final	2011 Kuusamo 2011-11-25 SP C Final	2011 Stockholm 2011-03-16 SP C Final	2011 Lahti 2011-03-13 SP C Final	2011 Otepää 2011-01-23 SP C Final	2011 Oberstdorf 2011-01-02 SP C Final	2010 Otepää 2010-01-17 SP 1.4 km C Final	2009 Otepaeae 2009-01-25 SP C Final
JOENSSON Emil		26th		1st	1st	4th	1st	1st	8th
BRANDSDAL Eirik			4th	8th	2nd	1st		20th
HATTESTAD Ola Vigen		33rd	20th	3rd	13rd	2nd		2nd	1st
KRIUKOV Nikita		1st	2nd		5th	3rd		3rd	7th
PETERSON Teodor		10th	1st		37th	8th		10th
PETTERSEN Oeystein			3rd		20th			49th	2nd
NORTHUG Petter jr.		6th	16th	2nd		7th	15th
KERSHAW Devon		11st	56th	27th	49th		2nd
PETUKHOV Alexey		2nd	9th				5th	30th
GOLBERG Paal					3rd	41st
NAESS Boerre								46th	3rd
MORILOV Nikolay		3rd	121st		40th		11st	31st	10th
COLOGNA Dario		5th	11st	11st	36th		3rd		43rd
HETLAND Tor Arne									4th
VAEAENAENEN Jesse					15th			4th	23rd
MODIN Jesper			7th	4th	6th	6th	9th	14th	38th
DAHL John Kristian			48th	9th	4th			35th	30th
JAPAROV Dmitriy		4th			51st	43rd	10th
OESTENSEN Simen						21st	4th
ROENNING Eldar		23rd	17th	7th	22nd	18th		34th	5th
PANZHINSKIY Alexander					11st	26th		5th
RICKARDSSON Daniel		49th	35th	26th	18th	5th	23rd
NEWELL Andrew		25th	19th	5th	29th		12nd	13rd	24th
VALJAS Len			5th		63rd	31st
SCOLA Fulvio		47th	65th	6th	8th		16th
LIND Bjoern								6th	22nd
PENTSINEN Anssi			6th		24th	40th
LEGKOV Alexander		13rd	18th	23rd			6th
LARSSON Mats								18th	6th
JYLHAE Martti			36th		7th
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim		7th	69th	32nd
HARVEY Alex		17th	24th	14th	25th		7th
EINASTE Kein		20th	25th		26th	11st		7th	54th
HELLNER Marcus		9th	53rd	29th			8th
DEVJATIAROV Mickail Jun.					12nd	25th		8th
CHEBOTKO Nikolay		16th	8th			16th		40th	47th
MANIFICAT Maurice		8th	58th	22nd			30th
JAUHOJAERVI Sami		19th	26th	24th	16th		21st		9th
NOVICHIKHIN Mikhail						9th			39th
RETIVYKH Gleb					9th
KUMMEL Peeter		15th	13rd		39th	14th	26th	9th	19th
STRANDVALL Matias			21st	10th	21st	13rd		26th	13rd
ERIKSSON Jens				17th	41st	10th
POLTORANIN Alexey			45th		10th	34th
CHERNOUSOV Ilia		30th	10th	19th			20th

Relevant Sprint Classic races women

Name		2011 Oberstdorf 2011-12-31 SP C Final	2011 Kuusamo 2011-11-25 SP C Final	2011 Stockholm 2011-03-16 SP C Final	2011 Lahti 2011-03-13 SP C Final	2011 Otepää 2011-01-23 SP C Final	2011 Oberstdorf 2011-01-02 SP C Final	2010 Otepää 2010-01-17 SP 1.2 km C Final	2009 Otepaeae 2009-01-25 SP C Final
BJOERGEN Marit		2nd	1st	2nd	1st	10th		9th
FALK Hanna				34th	8th	9th		1st
MAJDIC Petra				1st	3rd	1st	1st	2nd	1st
KOWALCZYK Justyna		1st	13rd	7th	4th	4th	2nd	7th	7th
KALLA Charlotte		8th	2nd	9th	5th		11st
BRODIN Hanna		38th	10th	23rd	38th	2nd
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		16th	18th	8th	9th	11st	6th	3rd	2nd
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt		3rd	74th	14th	2nd	14th	3rd	15th
FALLA Maiken Caspersen			11st	3rd		3rd			8th
KUITUNEN Virpi								14th	3rd
SKOFTERUD Vibeke W			3rd	33rd
MURANEN Pirjo				17th	11st	7th		6th	4th
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida		5th	15th	4th	7th			4th	18th
PROCHAZKOVA Alena			16th	5th	22nd		4th		5th
MATVEEVA Natalia		4th	6th						15th
RANDALL Kikkan		9th	4th	10th	21st		17th		15th
ANDERSSON Lina				22nd	25th	5th		17th	6th
KYLLOENEN Anne		21st	5th	27th	15th	19th	26th	33rd
IVANOVA Julia		32nd	24th	41st	26th	36th	5th		17th
PERAELAE Kirsi						26th		5th	12nd
VISNAR Katja		15th	9th	6th	13rd	6th		11st	24th
FOLLIS Arianna				20th	6th		15th
JEAN Aurore		6th	42nd				29th
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		7th	36th	19th	17th	24th	7th	29th	14th
SMUTNA Katerina		27th	7th	26th	23rd	13rd	14th	16th	13rd
GAIAZOVA Daria			14th		48th	8th		12nd
JOHAUG Therese		18th	8th	31st			21st
LONGA Marianna				16th	10th		8th
PAJALA Magdalena								8th
OLSSON Anna								10th	9th
GENUIN Magda				15th	14th		9th
DOTSENKO Anastasia		10th	17th	36th
NATSUMI Madoka					33rd	17th	10th	26th	22nd
NORGREN Britta									10th

Results from relevant classic 15 km races men

Name		2011 Oslo 2011-03-01 15 km C	2011 Drammen 2011-02-19 15 km C	2011 Otepää 2011-01-22 15 km C	2010 Otepää 2010-01-16 15 km C	2009 Otepaeae 2009-01-24 15 km C	2008 Otepaa 2008-02-09 15 km C
ROENNING Eldar		2nd	7th	1st	7th	7th	35th
BAUER Lukas		7th	10th		1st	1st	1st
RICKARDSSON Daniel		42nd	1st	2nd			24th
HEIKKINEN Matti		1st	24th			24th	55th
MAE Jaak		14th	25th	29th	3rd	9th	2nd
VEERPALU Andrus				5th	2nd	33rd	4th
OLSSON Johan		17th	23rd			2nd	39th
JOHNSRUD SUNDBY Martin		3rd	2nd	7th		10th	23rd
NORTHUG Petter jr.			3rd	8th
NOUSIAINEN Ville		8th		24th		38th	3rd
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim		10th	12nd	3rd			53rd
VITTOZ Vincent				34th		3rd	10th
HELLNER Marcus		34th		4th		15th
NOVIKOV Sergey					4th	23rd	19th
TEICHMANN Axel		13rd	8th	14th		4th	30th
VOLZHENTSEV Stanislav		4th	5th	10th			38th
COLOGNA Dario		25th	4th			5th	8th
JAUHOJAERVI Sami		5th	9th			8th	48th
HJELMESET Odd-Bjoern				19th	8th	6th	5th
KUZNETSOV Alexander					5th	13rd
SEDOV Petr			6th
JAKS Martin		18th	42nd	6th		53rd	11st
SVARTEDAL Jens Arne					6th	21st	6th
MANIFICAT Maurice		6th	49th			31st	56th
SOEDERGREN Anders		22nd	43rd	21st	12nd	10th	7th
FILBRICH Jens			18th	9th		18th	9th
ZHMURKO Artem				42nd	9th
ANGERER Tobias		9th	16th	16th		12nd	13rd
SORIN Egor					10th

Results from relevant classic 10 km races women

Name		2011 Oslo 2011-02-28 10 km C	2011 Drammen 2011-02-19 10 km C	2011 Otepää 2011-01-22 10 km C	2010 Otepää 2010-01-16 10 km C	2009 Otepaeae 2009-01-24 10 km C	2008 Otepaa 2008-02-09 10 km C
BJOERGEN Marit		1st	1st	1st	2nd	6th	7th
KUITUNEN Virpi					6th	3rd	1st
KOWALCZYK Justyna		2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	5th
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		3rd	3rd	4th	3rd	2nd	2nd
JOHAUG Therese		4th	4th	3rd		5th	3rd
KALLA Charlotte		11st	9th		4th	9th	16th
MAJDIC Petra		13rd	17th	9th	5th	4th	8th
NYSTAD Claudia							4th
LAHTEENMAKI Krista		5th	7th		18th
SKOFTERUD Vibeke W		9th	13rd	5th		13rd
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida		28th	5th
LONGA Marianna		7th	6th
MURANEN Pirjo		6th	15th	14th		7th	14th
TCHEKALEVA Yulia		12nd	11st	6th	11st
ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa		18th		8th	12nd	11st	6th
HAAG Anna		14th	12nd	7th	7th
ISHIDA Masako		17th	8th	11st	8th	15th	31st
KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe			18th	13rd		8th	15th
NISKANEN Kerttu		8th	14th	10th
SMIGUN-VAEHI Kristina					9th
TYLDUM Ingri Aunet							9th
STEMLAND Kristin Muerer			65th				10th
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer		10th	19th	12nd
SIDKO Alena						10th
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt			10th		10th

For the first time since 1998 the Cross Country Skiing World Cup is back in Milano. The course this weekend is a completely flat course – 620 meters long – but still with some technical elements due to many curves. The competitions will take place in the Sempione Park (Parco Sempione) close by the city center for the first time. The Park with its 380,000 square meters is the largest green space in the historic center of the city.

• Set up your predictions for the Milano sprint before Saturday 12:00 CET (start of qualification)
• Overall results WhoWins XC-Predictions 2012

Most of the all-round skiers who competed in Tour de Ski skip the Milano sprint – like Dario Cologna, Petter Northug, Justyna Kowalczyk and Marit Bjørgen. The pure sprint specialists are all at the start in the sprint races in Milano – but notably the Swedish Sprint specialists Emil Jönsson skips the races. “Emil got cold after the Tour and therefore had to stay at home,” Sweden’s sprint coach Arild Monsen explains in a press relase from the Swedish Ski Team.

Men’s favourites

Of the Men on the start list, Morilov (RUS), Petukhov (RUS) and Hattestad (NOR) each have one victory in skating sprint races this season (see table below for results in the last skating sprints for all starters in the Milano sprint). The biggest favourites in the Milano sprint are again the Russian skiers – but Hattestad who won in a similar flat course in Düsseldorf in early December is very eager to be back on top after his disappointing classic sprint during Tour de Ski where he missed the finals.

Swedish Peterson started the season very well with 5th and 2nd places in Düsseldorf and Davos – the Swede will want to show that he is still to be counted in the top. Also count in the other Norwegian skiers among the favourites – Gløersen, Golberg and Brandsdal finished 3rd, 4th and 6th in Rogla. Also count in home favourite Pellegrino (ITA) who got to the finals in Düsseldorf but has not come past the semifinals since then – and Hofer (ITA) who finished 4th in Toblach.

Women’s favourites

Kikkan Randall has been the dominating skier in the women’s sprint this season – winning the two first races in Düsseldorf and Davos. Finishing Tour de Ski up Alpe Cermis last weekend cost her a lot of power though, so it will be exciting to see if the American skier has managed to get enough rest the last week.

Norwegian sprint specialist Maike Caspersen Falla got her first World Cup victory in Rogla before Christmas, and will try to repeat the victory in Milano. Also look out for Crawford (CAN) and Matveeva (RUS).

Another interesting start is Swiss Van der Graaff who has the impressive series 3 – 5 – 8 in the first three sprint races this season – after finishing around number 40 last season. See the table below for other outsiders based on the latest sprint free technique races in the World Cup.

Men starters

Name		2012 Toblach 2012-01-04	2011 Rogla 2011-12-18	2011 Davos 2011-12-11	2011 Duesseldorf 2011-12-03	2011 Oslo 2011-02-24	2011 Drammen 2011-02-20
MORILOV Nikolay		1st	2nd	6th	34th	8th
HATTESTAD Ola Vigen			5th	53rd	1st	4th
PETUKHOV Alexey		5th	9th	1st	2nd	14th
PETERSON Teodor		9th	8th	2nd	5th	16th	33rd
GLOEERSEN Anders			3rd	17th	26th	13rd
GOLBERG Paal			4th	8th	3rd		26th
HOFER David		4th	12nd	13rd	59th	18th	23rd
PENTSINEN Anssi			23rd	30th	4th	32nd	47th
JYLHAE Martti			24th	22nd	15th	22nd	5th
MODIN Jesper			26th	20th	21st	5th
KUMMEL Peeter		30th	39th	34th	52nd	6th
BRANDSDAL Eirik			6th		10th	17th
PELLEGRINO Federico		28th	7th	12nd	6th	12nd	17th
WENZL Josef		7th	37th	27th	17th	39th
STRANDVALL Matias			45th	46th	7th	20th	7th
TAMBORNINO Eligius			11st	26th	8th		35th
FRASNELLI Loris				23rd			8th
KINDSCHI Joeri			33rd	18th	9th	38th
VALJAS Len			18th	28th	42nd	15th	9th
NOECKLER Dietmar		10th		43rd
NEWELL Andrew			21st	16th	16th	10th	18th
HAMILTON Simeon			10th	33rd		25th	53rd
PASINI Renato			35th	38th	33rd	30th	11st
JAEGER Martin			28th	31st	11st	11st
NORTHUG Tomas				54th	12nd		14th
GAFAROV Anton			13rd	41st	31st		37th
PETTERSEN Oeystein			16th	14th	29th	41st
PASINI Fabio		14th	47th
SCOLA Fulvio		32nd	60th		57th	43rd	15th
LINDBLAD Anton				15th	28th
TRITSCHER Bernhard		17th	34th	24th	61st	21st	19th
BRYNTESSON Robin			17th	19th	22nd
EISENLAUER Sebastian			46th		19th
GROS Baptiste			20th	47th	36th
EDIN Johan			29th	21st
PANZHINSKIY Alexander			25th		51st		22nd
HEDIGER Jovian			22nd	39th
HEUN Daniel			48th	35th	23rd	27th	30th
KOZISEK Dusan				65th	50th	24th	34th
FOSSLI Sondre Turvoll							25th
BOGDANOV Stanislav			30th	25th	30th		38th
DARRAGON Roddy			36th	32nd	27th		40th
SAAREPUU Anti						34th	50th
SIMONLATSER Timo		35th			40th	47th
BARTON Jan			58th	52nd	35th
HALFVARSSON Calle					38th
EIGENMANN Christoph			55th			40th
WURM Harald			41st	51st	44th	53rd	44th
MIRANDA Cyril		43rd	43rd		62nd	42nd	56th
HERBURGER Aurelius			44th	44th	54th
PARFENOV Andrey							45th
STOCKINGER Martin					49th
SELLIS Siim				56th	64th		51st
RAZYM Ales				60th	54th
RANKEL Raido				65th			57th
JAY Renaud				67th	65th
KOSTNER Janmatie					68th
WATSON Callum			75th	87th			81st

Women starters

Name		2012 Toblach 2012-01-04	2011 Rogla 2011-12-18	2011 Davos 2011-12-11	2011 Duesseldorf 2011-12-03	2011 Oslo 2011-02-24	2011 Drammen 2011-02-20
FALLA Maiken Caspersen			1st	3rd	8th	13rd	2nd
RANDALL Kikkan		2nd	6th	1st	1st	26th	1st
CRAWFORD Chandra			2nd	9th	4th	28th	14th
MATVEEVA Natalia		23rd	14th	2nd	2nd
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida		27th	3rd		48th	12nd	6th
VAN DER GRAAFF Laurien			8th	5th	3rd	40th	41st
FABJAN Vesna		5th	7th	11st	20th	4th	9th
HERRMANN Denise		4th	16th	13rd	37th	23rd	19th
BRODIN Hanna		41st		4th	5th	10th	33rd
KOROSTELEVA Natalia		14th	5th	18th	24th	32nd	39th
WENG Heidi		12nd		6th	23rd		47th
SARASOJA-LILJA Riikka		21st	13rd	26th	6th
MALVALEHTO Mona-Lisa			21st	17th	7th
BRUN-LIE Celine						14th	7th
GAIAZOVA Daria			9th	30th	46th	20th	20th
ERIKSSON Mia				57th	9th
JEAN Aurore		9th	23rd		40th	31st	59th
VISNAR Katja			10th	21st	13rd	21st	21st
EIDE Mari				56th	12nd		29th
VUERICH Gaia			17th		14th	35th	26th
GRUBER Bettina			22nd	32nd	15th
NIKOLAEVA Svetlana			40th	15th	16th		55th
KYLLOENEN Anne		20th	42nd	28th	17th	33rd	43rd
GROENVOLL Maria Nysted					25th		18th
CEBASEK Alenka		31st	28th	19th	18th	19th
TRACHSEL Doris			20th	43rd
BROCARD Elisa		22nd	29th	34th	21st	46th	51st
BUILLET Marion			38th	51st	22nd
BJORNSEN Sadie				52nd	34th	24th	42nd
DIGGINS Jessica						25th	46th
SARGENT Ida			25th	50th	52nd	45th
SOEMSKAR Linn			35th	36th	26th
JONES Perianne			52nd	29th	32nd	29th	49th
NOVIKOVA Valentina			32nd				40th
RINGWALD Sandra				47th	33rd
DEBERTOLIS Ilaria		38th		48th
LAURENT Greta				41st	54th
GROHOVA Karolina				65th	42nd
BOTTOMLEY Esther						44th	56th
LOCATELLI Manon				44th	44th
HARSEM Kathrine Rolsted							53rd

Roar took home the overall Tour de Ski 2011/2012 XC-predictions – 107 points ahead of Arne Post in second spot. Thanks for everybody participating – and congratulations to Roar for his victory.

In today’s Alpe Cermis predictions Roberto Dallavalle was strongest ahead of IvarW. The final Tour de Ski standings predictions were won by David Charabin.

• Overall results – Tour de Ski Predictions 2011/2012
• Results Tour de Ski final standings predictions
• Results Alpe Cermis stage predictions

See also:

• GPS-analysis Alpe Cermis Stage 2012 – men
• GPS-analysis Alpe Cermis Stage 2012 – women

Winner interview

Below you find a short interview with the winner, Roar.

Q: Congratulations with the victory in the overall Tour de Ski predictions! Did you use much time to research your predictions ahead of each race?
- Thank you! Very pleased with the victory. I am extremely interested in watching cross country skiing on television and Northug has been my favourite since the autumn of 2005. I was one of them who was really upset when he was left out of the 2006 Olympic squad.

Q: Where are you from? Are you a skier yourself?
- I am originally from Norway but currently living in Sweden. I have done some skiing many kilograms ago but I was not any good at all really.

Q: How long have you been using the WorldofXC XC-Predictions? And where did you find it?
- I found the Worldofxc site a couple of years ago after searching for a skiing tips site on the internet.

Q: Can you suggest any improvements for the XC-Predictions?
- One improvement might be to make the drag and drop work on iPhone/Android. Another one would be to make it possible to choose a substitute skier in each race.

[Editors comment: Some support for iPhone/Android will be coming. Not sure if it will be drag-and-drop or just choosing from a drop-down menu though]

Results WhoWins Tour de Ski Predictions 2011/2012

Alexander Legkov (RUS) was the strongest skier on the Alpe Cermis stage in the 2012 edition of Tour de Ski – only 0.1 second ahead of Maurice Manificat (FRA) and with Marcus Hellner (SWE) only a second behind.  Curious fact: Both these skiers broke down completely on the second last stage of Tour de Ski 2012 – loosing around 2 minutes!

Updated 8/1/2011 22:30! Article has been updated with GPS-data read out from the units – now better data available.

However, Roland Clara (ITA) won the climb itself (see climb times further below) – with Legkov only in fourth 16 seconds behind. Manificat and Moriggle (ITA) where also faster than Legkov up the final climb.

See also:

• Overall Tour de Ski results 2011/2012 edition – including athlete news
• The big Alpe Cermis Final Climb page – all stage times for all previous Tour editions

GPS illustration

The above GPS split times illustration is taken from the live GPS tracking (complete GPS-tracking available here). Unfortunately Manificat’s GPS did not transsmit data in the first part of the stage, but You can see how Manificat was 20 seconds behind Legkov after 7.4 km – beating Legkov in the last part.

(The article continues below the graph)

Hellner versus Northug

The biggest fight in today’s stage was the fight for second spot – as Dario Cologna (SUI) could “take it easy” at the front of the race. The two main players in the fight for the seconds spot was Marcus Hellner (SWE) and Petter Northug (NOR). Northug started 40 seconds behind Hellner, and lost some small seconds on the first flat part as you can see on the GPS-illustration below. When the hill starts around 6.5 km, Hellner eats the lead of Northug second by second – catching the Norwegian around 7.5 km. Northug manages to hang on for 500 meters, but then at 8 km it is “Good bye” to Northug. Hellner takes nearly 40 seconds on Northug in the end.

Legkov versus Hellner

Now comparing Hellner against Legkov for the stage win – a fight which Hellner looses with just about a second. Hellner takes time on Legkov in the flat part up to 7 km, then Legkov takes time on Hellner in the first part of the alpine hill. Based on the comparison between Hellner and Northug above, it looks like this is where Hellner takes it easy for some minutes to gather some strength to catch Northug. Thus it looks like Hellner looses the stage victory due to his tactical play in order to win the second spot in the overall tour.

Clara versus Legkov

Next up is Roland Clara – the strongest climber today – versus Legkov. As you can see from the below illustration, Clara looses around 30 seconds in the flat part of the course until around 6 km – then continues to loose some time in the steepest part of the hill, but is clearly faster from 7.8 km and up to the finish where he gains more than 20 seconds.

What about Lukas Bauer?

Lukas Bauer (CZE) was the big favourite to win the stage after impressive performance in earlier editions. This was however not Bauer’s big day – loosing a lot of time in the flat part and in the first part of the hill. The first 7.7 km Bauer lost nearly a minute to Legkov. The last part of the hill Bauer was on par with Legkov – but then Legkov had already started loosing to Clara.

Cologna versus Hellner and Northug

Comparing Dario Cologna with Hellner, you see how Hellner is on par with Cologna in the flat part, and then picks a minute up the alpine hill.

Comparing Cologna with Northug, the opposite happens. Northug manages to get some seconds on Cologna in the flat part down to 6 km, but then looses time in the alpine hill in two places: around 7.3 km where Northug waits for Hellner and from 7.5 km where Northug understands that he has lost all possibilities for a 2nd spot and his 3rd spot is secured.

Climb times

Climb times of all skiers are available here.

1. Roland Clara 16.34.9
2. Maurice Manificat 16.48.2
3. Thomas Moriggle 16.49.3
4. Alexander Legkov 16.51.0
5. Matti Heikkinen 16.51.8
6. Sjur Røthe 17.07.9
7. Marcus Hellner 17.10.3
8. Michail Semenov 17.13.8
9. Yevgeniy Velichko 17.18.2
10. Martin Bajcicak 17.18.8

Stage times

Stage times for all skiers available from FIS.

The above illustration shows a splits analysis of the development in the final Tour de Ski stage up Alpe Cermis – highlighting how Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) did a fantastic race – crushing Marit Bjørgen (NOR) and everybody else in the toughest part of the hill.

• See here for full analysis

With only one race left of this year’s exciting Tour de Ski, Roar keeps the overall lead in the XC-Predictions with 5000 points – 60 points ahead of Arne Post in second with PeJa in third another 23 points behind. Thus the fight for victory is still open as both the overall Tour and the last stage are left.

In the XC-Predictions of Stage 8, Evelina was strongest with 679 points ahead of bergelius and SIEGER JC.

• Read the Alpe Cermis preview-article here

• Tour de Ski 2011/2012 Overall prediction results
• Results XC-Predictions Stage 8
• Set up your predictions for Stage 9
• New! Tour standing combined with updated athlete news!

The Final Climb up Alpe Cermis is the toughest race in the Cross Country Skiing World Cup – this is the stage where legends are made and the Tour de Ski is decided.

Norwegian skier Therese Johaug’s climb in 2011 is the most legendary race up Alpe Cermis so far – beating Marte Elden (NOR) in second spot with more than a minute and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) with nearly two minutes. Lukas Bauer (CZE) is the King of Alpe Cermis being fastest up two times. Most impressive was the legendary 2010 edition where Bauer started the stage 10 seconds behind Petter Northug (NOR) and crushed Northug up the Final Climb – winning the overall Tour de Ski with 1:16 down to Northug AND in addition winning the Alpe Cermis stage.

Facts about Alpe Cermis

Some facts about the Alpe Cermis stage:

- Height difference of 425 meters
- Total climb 495 meters
- Final stage in Tour de Ski since the first edition in 2007
- The toughest race in the Cross Country Skiing World Cup
- Length of the race 9.000 meters (since 2011)
- Same course for men and women (since 2011). The first part of the course has changed over the years
- Therese Johaug (NOR) is the Queen of Alpe Cermis with her fantastic 2011 race
- Lukas Bauer (CZE) is the King of Alpe Cermis with three best times

2012 preview: Men

Lukas Bauer, Ivan Babikov (CAN) and Giorgio Di Centa (ITA) are the three skiers in this year’s start field who always perform well up Alpe Cermis (see the table below or the full table for all skiers here). But with such a tough race profile , motivation and position in the field is often just as important as pure strength. Dario Cologna (SUI), Alexander Legkov (RUS) and Marcus Hellner (SWE) have all shown that they can perform on par with the stage winner if it is necessary in order to fight for the victory. Petter Northug has come closer and closer to the stage winner each year  - down to +39 seconds in 2011. If the fast Norwegian continues his improvements, he should be able to fight for the stage win this year.

In the overall, Cologna has a lead of 1:22 down to Petter Northug with Hellner and Kershaw at 2:06. Lukas Bauer is in 5th at 3:35. Based on the previous races up Alpe Cermis, this should be an easy job for Cologna. The race for 2nd spot can get a tight fight between Northug, Hellner and Kershaw, though.

2012 preview: Women

In the womens class, Therese Johaug is the big favourite for the stage win after crushing the field last year and also winning in 2009. The other big names for the last stage are Kristin Størmer Steira (NOR) who won the stage in 2010 and Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) who took the Alpe Cermis stage win in 2008.  Riitta-Liisa Roponen (FIN) was only 3 seconds behind Steira in 2010 and should also be counted among the outsiders for the stage win. And don’t forget Marthe Kristoffersen (NOR) – third last year, and in better shape this year.

Taking a look at the fight between the two fighting for the overall victory – Marit Bjørgen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Kowalczyk seems to be stronger, but Bjørgen has yet to race the stage in 100% top shape. Last year Johaug took nearly 2 minutes on Justyna Kowalczyk, but Kowalczyk skied at the front of the field without pressure, and her race up Alpe Cermis was therefore more like “a walk in the park” than the toughest race of the year. In 2010 Kowalczyk was only 25 seconds behind the stage winner Kristin Størmer Steira, and thus Kowalczyk has shown that she can perform very well if needed. Marit Bjørgen  has only raced the Alpe Cermis stage twice – in 2007 when she lost 1:20 to the stage winner and in 2009 when she lost nearly 4 minutes after a full break-down. However, Bjørgen should be able to fight on equal terms with Kowalczyk – this is going to be very interesting!

Men: Tour de Ski overall

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
BAUER Lukas		+1:44.1 4:29:46.1 (3)	+0:00.0 4:13:10.6 (1)	+2:20.8 2:58:26.2 (10)	+0:00.0 3:38:07.4 (1)
ANGERER Tobias					+4:37.3 3:42:44.7 (14)	+0:00.0 3:29:49.7 (1)
COLOGNA Dario		+0:00.0 4:28:02.0 (1)	+1:32.1 4:14:42.8 (3)	+0:00.0 2:56:05.4 (1)	+7:36.1 3:45:43.5 (30)
NORTHUG Petter jr.		+0:27.2 4:28:29.3 (2)	+1:16.3 4:14:27.0 (2)	+0:59.0 2:57:04.4 (2)	+3:52.9 3:42:00.3 (8)	+1:07.0 3:30:56.7 (4)
LEGKOV Alexander				+5:37.4 3:01:42.8 (33)	+5:27.0 3:43:34.4 (20)	+0:46.3 3:30:36.1 (2)
OESTENSEN Simen			+9:10.1 4:22:20.8 (25)		+7:24.9 3:45:32.3 (28)	+0:50.1 3:30:39.9 (3)
TEICHMANN Axel			+3:08.0 4:16:18.6 (7)	+1:02.8 2:57:08.2 (3)	+4:36.5 3:42:43.9 (13)

Women: Tour de Ski overall

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
KALLA Charlotte		+4:27.7 2:51:58.7 (5)			+0:00.0 2:43:01.0 (1)
KUITUNEN Virpi				+0:00.0 2:06:41.4 (1)	+0:36.3 2:43:37.4 (2)	+0:00.0 2:20:15.3 (1)
KOWALCZYK Justyna		+0:00.0 2:47:31.0 (1)	+0:00.0 2:37:54.5 (1)	+1:21.1 2:08:02.5 (4)	+2:20.7 2:45:21.8 (7)	+3:08.5 2:23:23.8 (11)
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		+8:12.1 2:55:43.1 (13)	+1:34.7 2:39:29.2 (4)	+0:07.2 2:06:48.6 (2)	+4:07.1 2:47:08.1 (17)	+1:21.8 2:21:37.1 (4)
MAJDIC Petra		+4:52.6 2:52:23.6 (6)	+0:19.2 2:38:13.7 (2)	+0:34.5 2:07:15.9 (3)	+4:36.0 2:47:37.0 (18)	+1:52.0 2:22:07.3 (6)
FOLLIS Arianna		+3:19.9 2:50:50.9 (4)	+1:12.2 2:39:06.7 (3)	+2:35.6 2:09:17.0 (8)	+0:53.2 2:43:54.3 (3)	+4:31.9 2:24:47.2 (16)
SHEVCHENKO Valentina		+8:57.9 2:56:28.9 (16)	+6:27.2 2:44:21.8 (19)	+4:06.6 2:10:48.0 (14)	+1:09.2 2:44:10.2 (4)	+1:20.8 2:21:36.1 (3)
ROTCHEVA Olga				+6:31.4 2:13:12.8 (19)	+1:14.7 2:44:15.8 (5)
BJOERGEN Marit				+3:12.4 2:09:53.8 (10)		+1:17.5 2:21:32.8 (2)
JOHAUG Therese		+1:21.5 2:48:52.5 (2)		+2:20.0 2:09:01.4 (6)	+3:33.7 2:46:34.7 (14)
NEUMANNOVA Katerina						+1:23.8 2:21:39.1 (5)

Men: Alpe Cermis only

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	Best	Average
BAUER Lukas		+0:00.0 30:28.3 (1)	+0:00.0 33:43.4 (1)	+0:15.2 34:06.4 (5)	+0:46.0 33:45.1 (7)		+0:00.0	+0:15.3
BABIKOV Ivan		+0:47.1 31:15.4 (6)	+0:05.2 33:48.7 (4)	+0:00.0 33:51.2 (1)			+0:00.0	+0:17.4
HELLNER Marcus		+1:57.4 32:25.7 (23)	+0:02.3 33:45.8 (2)		+1:16.3 34:15.3 (14)	+2:01.5 34:09.3 (31)	+0:02.3	+1:19.4
DI CENTA Giorgio		+1:16.0 31:44.3 (14)	+0:39.1 34:22.6 (8)	+0:03.2 33:54.4 (3)	+0:35.4 33:34.4 (4)	+0:41.4 32:49.2 (3)	+0:03.2	+0:39.0
LEGKOV Alexander				+1:12.7 35:03.9 (16)	+1:20.1 34:19.2 (18)	+0:04.9 32:12.7 (2)	+0:04.9	+0:52.5
COLOGNA Dario		+1:29.8 31:58.1 (18)	+0:09.0 33:52.4 (5)	+1:20.8 35:12.0 (22)	+1:28.1 34:27.2 (21)		+0:09.0	+1:06.9
HEIKKINEN Matti			+0:56.5 34:39.9 (12)	+0:12.0 34:03.2 (4)			+0:12.0	+0:34.2
BAJCICAK Martin					+0:19.8 33:18.8 (3)	+0:47.1 32:54.9 (6)	+0:19.7	+0:33.4
CLARA Roland		+0:32.4 31:00.7 (2)	+0:45.5 34:28.9 (10)	+0:31.3 34:22.6 (8)			+0:31.3	+0:36.4
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim				+0:32.6 34:23.8 (9)	+1:52.6 34:51.6 (30)		+0:32.6	+1:12.6
PERL Curdin		+0:33.8 31:02.1 (3)	+1:17.4 35:00.8 (13)	+1:35.8 35:27.1 (30)			+0:33.7	+1:09.0
NORTHUG Petter jr.		+0:39.0 31:07.3 (5)	+1:24.6 35:08.1 (16)	+0:56.3 34:47.6 (13)	+1:37.1 34:36.2 (25)	+1:59.9 34:07.7 (30)	+0:39.0	+1:19.4
MORIGGL Thomas		+0:58.0 31:26.3 (8)	+0:51.5 34:35.0 (11)				+0:51.5	+0:54.7
FREEMAN Kris		+0:53.9 31:22.2 (7)					+0:53.9	+0:53.9
ANGERER Tobias					+1:04.0 34:03.1 (10)	+1:31.7 33:39.5 (18)	+1:04.0	+1:17.8
DUVILLARD Robin		+1:04.5 31:32.8 (11)	+1:35.1 35:18.6 (18)				+1:04.5	+1:19.8
KERSHAW Devon		+1:09.5 31:37.8 (12)	+1:41.7 35:25.1 (21)	+1:20.6 35:11.8 (21)			+1:09.5	+1:23.9
JAKS Martin		+1:23.2 31:51.5 (16)			+1:09.5 34:08.6 (12)		+1:09.5	+1:16.3
JAUHOJAERVI Sami				+1:16.9 35:08.2 (18)	+1:58.9 34:57.9 (33)	+1:39.2 33:47.0 (22)	+1:16.9	+1:38.3
FISCHER Remo		+1:17.0 31:45.3 (15)					+1:17.0	+1:17.0
PASINI Fabio			+2:41.3 36:24.7 (33)	+1:17.6 35:08.8 (19)			+1:17.6	+1:59.4
MANIFICAT Maurice		+1:56.8 32:25.1 (22)	+1:19.0 35:02.5 (15)				+1:19.0	+1:37.9
HOFER David				+1:25.3 35:16.5 (25)			+1:25.2	+1:25.2
FILBRICH Jens		+2:12.9 32:41.2 (27)	+1:39.4 35:22.8 (19)	+1:27.6 35:18.8 (26)	+1:36.0 34:35.0 (24)	+1:28.1 33:35.9 (16)	+1:27.6	+1:40.8
VELICHKO Yevgeniy			+1:45.1 35:28.5 (23)	+1:33.2 35:24.4 (29)			+1:33.2	+1:39.1
DOLIDOVICH Sergei						+1:40.9 33:48.7 (23)	+1:40.9	+1:40.9
HARVEY Alex		+1:41.7 32:10.0 (20)	+2:34.1 36:17.5 (31)				+1:41.7	+2:07.8
TEICHMANN Axel			+1:46.0 35:29.4 (24)	+1:49.5 35:40.7 (33)	+1:41.9 34:40.9 (27)		+1:41.9	+1:45.7
PERRILLAT Christophe		+1:44.7 32:13.0 (21)			+2:23.6 35:22.6 (40)	+1:53.5 34:01.3 (28)	+1:44.7	+2:00.5
REHEMAA Aivar				+1:48.0 35:39.2 (32)			+1:47.9	+1:47.9
CHERNOUSOV Ilia			+2:43.3 36:26.7 (34)		+3:22.8 36:21.8 (51)	+1:48.3 33:56.1 (26)	+1:48.2	+2:38.1
NOUSIAINEN Ville			+1:50.6 35:34.0 (27)		+2:03.3 35:02.3 (34)	+2:24.1 34:31.9 (40)	+1:50.5	+2:06.0
RENNEMO Kristian Tettli		+2:01.1 32:29.4 (24)					+2:01.1	+2:01.1
CHEBOTKO Nikolay			+3:07.6 36:51.0 (36)	+2:54.0 36:45.2 (42)	+2:13.2 35:12.2 (38)		+2:13.1	+2:44.9
JAPAROV Dmitriy		+2:24.1 32:52.4 (29)					+2:24.1	+2:24.1
BESSMERTNYKH Alexander		+2:25.2 32:53.5 (30)					+2:25.2	+2:25.2
ROENNING Eldar				+3:03.3 36:54.5 (43)	+3:21.0 36:20.0 (50)	+2:47.6 34:55.4 (46)	+2:47.6	+3:03.9
MIRANDA Cyril				+2:48.2 36:39.4 (41)			+2:48.2	+2:48.2
KARP Algo				+3:13.6 37:04.8 (45)			+3:13.6	+3:13.6

Women Alpe Cermis only

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	Best	Average
JOHAUG Therese		+0:00.0 33:14.4 (1)		+0:00.0 35:07.7 (1)	+1:16.4 35:22.7 (4)		+0:00.0	+0:25.4
SHEVCHENKO Valentina		+2:06.8 35:21.2 (5)	+2:24.2 38:14.0 (30)	+0:44.3 35:52.0 (3)	+0:00.0 34:06.2 (1)	+0:05.4 34:29.9 (3)	+0:00.0	+1:04.1
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer			+0:00.0 35:49.8 (1)	+0:08.7 35:16.4 (2)	+0:55.3 35:01.5 (2)	+0:01.4 34:25.9 (2)	+0:00.0	+0:16.3
ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa		+2:49.2 36:03.6 (13)	+0:03.0 35:52.8 (2)	+1:07.9 36:15.6 (7)	+1:29.1 35:35.3 (8)		+0:03.0	+1:22.3
KOWALCZYK Justyna		+1:59.3 35:13.7 (4)	+0:25.0 36:14.8 (4)	+0:47.1 35:54.8 (4)	+2:12.1 36:18.3 (18)	+1:08.5 35:33.0 (13)	+0:25.0	+1:18.4
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		+3:44.6 36:59.0 (21)	+0:55.6 36:45.5 (7)	+1:54.7 37:02.4 (14)	+2:56.7 37:02.9 (25)		+0:55.6	+2:22.9
HAAG Anna				+0:58.4 36:06.1 (6)			+0:58.4	+0:58.4
BOEHLER Stefanie				+1:10.8 36:18.5 (8)	+1:17.3 35:23.5 (5)	+1:16.4 35:40.9 (15)	+1:10.8	+1:14.8
KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe		+1:53.9 35:08.3 (3)	+1:14.5 37:04.3 (11)				+1:14.5	+1:34.2
ZELLER Katrin		+2:20.8 35:35.2 (7)	+1:17.0 37:06.9 (13)	+2:32.8 37:40.5 (24)	+1:24.9 35:31.2 (6)		+1:17.0	+1:53.9
BJOERGEN Marit				+3:55.4 39:03.1 (28)		+1:20.0 35:44.6 (16)	+1:20.0	+2:37.7
JANECKOVA Ivana		+4:06.4 37:20.8 (25)	+1:27.6 37:17.5 (16)		+3:27.7 37:33.9 (31)		+1:27.6	+3:00.6
KALLA Charlotte		+2:47.1 36:01.5 (12)			+1:30.7 35:36.9 (9)		+1:30.7	+2:08.8
HUGUE Coraline			+2:07.9 37:57.7 (24)				+2:07.8	+2:07.8
NYVLTOVA Eva		+3:51.9 37:06.3 (22)	+2:09.0 37:58.8 (25)				+2:09.0	+3:00.4
LAHTEENMAKI Krista		+2:12.7 35:27.1 (6)					+2:12.6	+2:12.6
LARSEN Lisa			+2:16.5 38:06.3 (27)				+2:16.5	+2:16.5
RYDQVIST Maria		+2:26.2 35:40.6 (8)					+2:26.1	+2:26.1
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt		+2:42.0 35:56.4 (10)					+2:42.0	+2:42.0
BROCARD Elisa			+2:44.3 38:34.1 (32)				+2:44.2	+2:44.2
JEAN Aurore		+3:37.5 36:51.9 (15)					+3:37.5	+3:37.5
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		+3:41.8 36:56.2 (18)					+3:41.7	+3:41.7
FESSEL Nicole						+3:47.0 38:11.5 (39)	+3:47.0	+3:47.0
SMUTNA Katerina				+4:18.8 39:26.5 (29)	+3:49.4 37:55.6 (34)		+3:49.3	+4:04.1
RANDALL Kikkan		+3:53.2 37:07.6 (23)					+3:53.1	+3:53.1
MATROSSOVA Marina			+3:55.2 39:45.0 (38)				+3:55.1	+3:55.1
JEZERSEK Barbara					+4:27.0 38:33.2 (39)	+4:37.7 39:02.2 (43)	+4:26.9	+4:32.3
BARTHELEMY Laure		+4:46.5 38:00.9 (28)					+4:46.5	+4:46.5
IVANOVA Julia				+5:39.7 40:47.4 (36)	+4:47.2 38:53.4 (41)		+4:47.2	+5:13.4
DE MARTIN TOPRANIN Virginia		+4:55.5 38:09.9 (29)					+4:55.5	+4:55.5
SHAIDUROVA Larisa		+5:03.6 38:18.0 (30)					+5:03.5	+5:03.5

Set up your predictions

• Results XC-Predictions Stage 8 (when results ready)
• Set up your predictions for Stage 9
• Tour de Ski 2011/2012 Overall prediction results
• New! Tour standing combined with updated athlete news!

The second last stage in this 6th edition of Tour de Ski is a tough classic mass start race in Val di Fiemme. There will again be a lot of bonus seconds to fight for: 90 seconds in the men’s race and 45 seconds in the women’s race. This race will decide the starting order for the final race up Alpe Cermis.

Bonus seconds for intermediate points will be 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 seconds for the first ten athletes at a designated intermediate point. The top three of the Stage will in addition get bonus seconds (15, 10 and 5 seconds).

In the women’s class there is a tight fight between Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Marit Bjørgen (NOR) for the overall lead. In the men’s class Dario Cologna (SUI) looked very strong on the Queen Stage from Cortina to Toblach and has now a clear lead in the overall Tour. Still nothing is decided – the Val di Fiemme mass start race can change everything!

• New! Tour standing combined with updated athlete news!
• Results XC-Predictions Stage 7
• Set up your predictions for Stage 8
• Tour de Ski 2011/2012 Overall prediction results

Men

In the tables below the results from the second last stage of the 5 previous editions of the Tour de Ski are summarized (in 2007 it was a longer 30 km race) – including only skiers who participate in this edition of the Tour. As you can see there have been four different winners: Eldar Rønning in 2007, Lukas Bauer in 2010, Petter Northug in 2011 and Axel Teichmann in 2009. All four are competing in this edition of Tour de Ski – and all three have shown excellent shape in the races so far. Along with overall leader Dario Cologna they are favourites for this mass start stage.

Women

Women results are also summarized in a table below.  Kowalczyk won last year, but the winners from 2007-2010 – Virpi Kuitunen and Petra Majdic do not participate this year.

In addition to Kowalczyk, Marit Bjørgen is the big favourite in this race with 4 stage victories in a row. Therese Johaug will also want to try to get some bonus points in this race – but she has to be very strong to get away from the field and win the race.

Statistics Men starters

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
ROENNING Eldar				+0:14.5 55:33.7 (12)	+0:21.8 1:00:39.7 (15)	+0:00.0 1:21:30.0 (1)
BAUER Lukas		+0:10.5 57:27.7 (13)	+0:00.0 59:03.5 (1)	+1:16.5 56:35.7 (25)	+0:07.5 1:00:25.3 (7)
NORTHUG Petter jr.		+0:00.0 57:17.2 (1)	+0:31.5 59:35.0 (2)	+0:06.7 55:25.9 (8)	+0:20.3 1:00:38.2 (13)	+0:11.1 1:21:41.1 (8)
TEICHMANN Axel			+0:32.3 59:35.8 (3)	+0:00.0 55:19.2 (1)	+0:05.5 1:00:23.3 (5)
JAUHOJAERVI Sami			+1:51.5 1:00:55.0 (28)	+0:00.3 55:19.5 (2)	+2:52.5 1:03:10.3 (46)	+0:01.6 1:21:31.6 (3)
CHEBOTKO Nikolay			+1:16.5 1:00:20.1 (17)	+0:01.3 55:20.5 (3)	+3:13.9 1:03:31.7 (48)
COLOGNA Dario		+0:01.8 57:19.0 (2)	+0:33.3 59:36.8 (4)	+0:01.8 55:21.0 (4)	+2:50.0 1:03:07.8 (44)
KERSHAW Devon		+0:02.2 57:19.4 (3)	+1:34.5 1:00:38.0 (22)	+2:01.3 57:20.5 (37)
JAKS Martin		+0:02.6 57:19.8 (4)			+0:43.5 1:01:01.3 (27)
HARVEY Alex		+0:02.9 57:20.1 (5)	+0:58.0 1:00:01.6 (13)
CLARA Roland		+0:03.7 57:20.9 (6)	+2:23.4 1:01:26.9 (32)	+0:44.6 56:03.8 (23)
FILBRICH Jens		+0:03.9 57:21.1 (7)	+0:48.0 59:51.5 (10)	+0:04.0 55:23.2 (7)	+0:25.1 1:00:43.0 (19)	+0:15.3 1:21:45.4 (11)
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim				+0:03.9 55:23.1 (6)	+1:31.1 1:01:49.0 (34)
ANGERER Tobias					+0:10.1 1:00:28.0 (9)	+0:04.1 1:21:34.2 (5)
PERL Curdin		+0:04.5 57:21.7 (8)	+1:28.1 1:00:31.7 (19)	+1:54.8 57:14.0 (31)
NOUSIAINEN Ville		+3:22.6 1:00:39.8 (31)	+1:37.4 1:00:40.9 (24)		+0:12.7 1:00:30.6 (12)	+1:40.2 1:23:10.2 (21)
REHEMAA Aivar				+0:13.8 55:33.0 (10)
LEGKOV Alexander				+3:18.6 58:37.8 (46)	+0:36.5 1:00:54.4 (23)	+0:13.8 1:21:43.9 (10)
MIRANDA Cyril		+0:19.6 57:36.8 (16)	+2:22.1 1:01:25.6 (30)	+1:57.7 57:16.9 (35)
DI CENTA Giorgio		+0:20.2 57:37.4 (17)	+1:28.5 1:00:32.0 (21)	+0:43.6 56:02.8 (21)	+0:22.1 1:00:40.0 (16)	+3:42.0 1:25:12.0 (36)
CHERNOUSOV Ilia			+1:28.4 1:00:31.9 (20)		+4:40.5 1:04:58.3 (56)	+0:42.1 1:22:12.2 (14)
KARP Algo			+2:15.5 1:01:19.0 (29)	+0:43.2 56:02.4 (20)
HELLNER Marcus		+1:53.4 59:10.6 (23)	+0:53.6 59:57.2 (11)		+1:47.0 1:02:04.8 (38)	+7:11.5 1:28:41.5 (55)
VELICHKO Yevgeniy			+1:09.5 1:00:13.0 (14)	+1:46.5 57:05.7 (28)
BAJCICAK Martin					+1:29.7 1:01:47.6 (33)	+6:05.6 1:27:35.6 (49)
BABIKOV Ivan		+2:29.7 59:46.9 (27)	+1:37.6 1:00:41.2 (25)	+4:51.9 1:00:11.1 (47)
PASINI Fabio			+3:52.6 1:02:56.1 (40)	+1:45.9 57:05.1 (26)
HOFER David				+1:46.8 57:06.0 (30)
MORIGGL Thomas		+1:47.1 59:04.3 (20)	+2:56.4 1:01:59.9 (39)
JAPAROV Dmitriy		+1:52.0 59:09.2 (22)
HEIKKINEN Matti		+3:37.7 1:00:54.9 (34)	+2:22.4 1:01:25.9 (31)	+1:55.6 57:14.8 (32)
FISCHER Remo		+1:56.9 59:14.1 (24)
DUVILLARD Robin		+1:58.3 59:15.5 (25)	+4:49.8 1:03:53.3 (41)
PERRILLAT Christophe		+4:21.7 1:01:38.9 (35)			+2:22.8 1:02:40.6 (42)	+4:23.8 1:25:53.8 (41)
MANIFICAT Maurice		+2:31.6 59:48.8 (28)	+2:55.7 1:01:59.2 (37)
RENNEMO Kristian Tettli		+3:07.1 1:00:24.3 (29)
BESSMERTNYKH Alexander		+3:27.0 1:00:44.2 (32)
DOLIDOVICH Sergei						+4:35.0 1:26:05.0 (43)
FREEMAN Kris		+8:05.5 1:05:22.7 (38)

Statistics Women starters

Name		2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
KOWALCZYK Justyna		+0:00.0 30:27.6 (1)	+0:15.5 34:21.9 (22)	+0:53.2 31:03.5 (15)	+1:10.4 33:58.5 (26)	+1:21.3 43:23.5 (5)
KALLA Charlotte		+2:16.2 32:43.8 (15)			+0:04.5 32:52.6 (2)
NYVLTOVA Eva		+3:09.6 33:37.2 (23)	+0:04.5 34:10.9 (8)
ZELLER Katrin		+1:28.1 31:55.7 (8)	+0:06.0 34:12.4 (10)	+0:47.5 30:57.8 (11)	+0:05.5 32:53.6 (5)	+3:24.3 45:26.5 (31)
JANECKOVA Ivana		+4:03.5 34:31.1 (31)	+0:06.1 34:12.6 (12)		+1:24.4 34:12.5 (32)
JOHAUG Therese		+0:06.3 30:33.9 (2)		+0:37.1 30:47.4 (9)	+0:29.4 33:17.5 (15)
ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa		+2:03.8 32:31.4 (14)	+0:07.9 34:14.3 (16)	+1:41.2 31:51.5 (23)	+0:37.2 33:25.3 (20)
LARSEN Lisa			+0:08.5 34:15.0 (17)
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer			+0:09.4 34:15.8 (18)	+0:39.0 30:49.3 (10)	+0:13.0 33:01.1 (9)	+2:40.7 44:42.9 (20)
SMUTNA Katerina		+2:27.5 32:55.1 (18)	+0:14.1 34:20.6 (21)	+1:07.5 31:17.8 (16)	+0:20.5 33:08.6 (12)	+4:58.6 47:00.8 (41)
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		+1:14.0 31:41.6 (5)	+0:29.4 34:35.8 (27)	+0:20.5 30:30.8 (3)	+0:59.2 33:47.3 (23)
SHEVCHENKO Valentina		+3:26.3 33:53.9 (24)	+0:20.7 34:27.2 (24)	+0:49.3 30:59.6 (13)	+0:32.9 33:21.0 (17)	+1:40.6 43:42.8 (11)
BJOERGEN Marit				+0:33.0 30:43.3 (5)		+1:06.5 43:08.7 (3)
KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe		+1:25.1 31:52.7 (7)	+0:34.1 34:40.6 (30)	+1:28.5 31:38.8 (21)
BOEHLER Stefanie				+0:35.6 30:45.9 (7)	+1:30.5 34:18.7 (34)	+1:40.3 43:42.5 (10)
HAAG Anna		+1:59.3 32:26.9 (13)		+0:36.5 30:46.8 (8)
BROCARD Elisa			+0:45.4 34:51.8 (35)
MATROSSOVA Marina			+1:01.2 35:07.7 (38)
IVANOVA Julia				+1:49.3 31:59.6 (27)	+1:23.2 34:11.3 (31)
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		+1:33.3 32:00.9 (10)
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt		+1:53.8 32:21.4 (12)		+1:50.1 32:00.4 (29)
LAHTEENMAKI Krista		+2:16.8 32:44.4 (16)
BARTHELEMY Laure		+2:31.9 32:59.5 (19)
NISKANEN Kerttu		+2:33.0 33:00.6 (20)
RYDQVIST Maria		+2:54.1 33:21.7 (21)
KYLLOENEN Anne		+2:55.2 33:22.8 (22)
JEZERSEK Barbara					+3:24.8 36:12.9 (44)	+7:10.1 49:12.3 (48)
RANDALL Kikkan		+3:54.8 34:22.4 (27)
JEAN Aurore		+4:01.1 34:28.7 (29)
DE MARTIN TOPRANIN Virginia		+4:01.7 34:29.3 (30)
HUGUE Coraline			+4:03.9 38:10.3 (44)
FESSEL Nicole						+4:11.3 46:13.5 (37)
SHAIDUROVA Larisa		+5:59.2 36:26.8 (36)

Video: Technical description of the course

One of the easiest predictions so far – 6 people had the top 3 men and women correct! Best of all: Mattias who took 866 points. Northug_Viker_Ner_Sig, Wally Wombat, Les Gens Parka Grande, Christiane and SK were the others hitting the Jackpot today.

In the overall Roar keeps his lead – now only 43 points ahead of Les Gens Parka Grande. Two stages left in addition to the overall – nothing is decided yet!

• Splits/GPS-analysis of Cortina-Toblach stage
• Tour de Ski 2011/2012 Overall prediction results
• Results XC-Predictions Stage 7
• Set up your predictions for Stage 8
• New! Tour standing combined with updated athlete news!

Several big fields chased Dario Cologna (SUI) in the Queen Stage of Tour de Ski 2011/2012 from Cortina to Toblach as you can see in the above illustration. However, Cologna did impressive work alone at the front while the followers stopped cooperating, and the gap to Northug and the followers never got much below 1:30 in the end.

The illustration above is a graphical illustration of the race development based on the split times. A line which is flat means that a skier has the same time as Cologna for the split. A line which goes down represents slower speed – a line which goes up represents faster speed.

Studying the illustration, you can see how Petter Northug (NOR) lost more than a minute to Cologna before the first split at 7.7 km (curve falling steeply) – getting caught up Legkov (RUS). As discussed in relation to the GPS-data below, Northug actually caught up with Cologna first, but then was punished for his tough start and “waited out” Legkov.

• Overall Tour de Ski standing with athlete news and results from all stages

Stopped cooperating

The strongest skiers in today’s field were the group formed by Hellner (SWE), Manificat (FRA) and Kershaw (CAN). They steadily gained time on Cologna at front up to 20 km – having gained more than a minute when they caught Northug and Legkov around 20 km. Then they slowed down to the speed of Northug/Legkov – and if they had not stopped cooperating when catching Northug/Legkov they would probably have managed to gain even more time on Cologna. However, as in last year’s edition, it looks like the big group stopped cooperating in the last third of the race.

Cologna versus Northug

- I thought that we would ski togheter – and that was also the plan. But I felt really good and saw that Petter was tired, so I tried to ski my own race, Dario Cologna said to NRK after the race.

- I was surprised that I got away from Northug, but I had a very good day today.

The GPS-data is missing for significant parts of the course, but you can still see how Northug started fast and caught Cologna . However, the start was to tough for Northug, who lost a lot of time over a short distance between 4.5 km and 7 km “waiting” for Legkov (dashed parts of the line are areas without GPS-coverage):

- My body was not great today, and Cologna was strong. So I could not join Cologna, and had to wait for Legkov. I think it was better to let Cologna go at that point and wait for Legkov and the group behind, Northug said to NRK after the race.

Manificat versus Cologna

Maurice Manificat was one of the big winners of the day with the second best time behind Marcus Hellner – gaining nearly 1:30 on Dario Cologna. The GPS curve of Manificat versus Cologna shows how Manificat gained a minute on Cologna until 20 km, and then kept the pace for the rest of the course (Hellner’s GPS did not work – he was another 10 seconds faster than Manificat).

Three big groups

It is also very interesting to take a look at the complete field – seeing how nearly no single skiers except for Cologna survived on their own their own throughout the race - just as last year. The rest of the skiers fighting in the top packed themselves into only three big groups.

Note! Lukas Bauer fell after approximate 10 km, broke his pole and lost contact with the group. Vylegzhanin was forced to leave the group as well, and ended up skiing together with Bauer.

• Overall Tour de Ski standing with athlete news and results from all stages
• GPS tracking data Queen Stage Tour de Ski 2012