WORLD CUP
Three’s Company
DARIO COLOGNA AND JUSTYNA
KOWALCZYK EACH TAKE THEIR THIRD
TOUR DE SKI; KIKKAN RANDALL 10TH
Dario Cologna skis toward his third
Tour de Ski victory.
After 11 days of racing through Germany and Italy,
Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and Switzerland’s Dario
Cologna proved to be the toughest in handling the de-
mands of the unique multi-stage cross country event.
American Kikkan Randall, meanwhile, proved to be
the toughest U.S. talent, finishing 10th in the Tour, a big
jump from last year’s 21st place finish. Teammate Liz
Stephen finished eighth in the final hill climb (a career-
best World Cup finish) and 24th overall. Holly Brooks,
skiing with a broken wrist, was 39th while Kris Free-
man was 43rd.
Brooks compared the wave start of the final stage to
a gigantic catfight. “The entire flat section to the base
of the Cermis is 1.5 skaters wide and you can imag-
ine a bunch of hungry girls vying for position the entire
time, broken poles, yelling, etc.,” she said. “Once we
got to the climb things sorted themselves out a bit but
my best skis took a gigantic beating — lots of holes
and scratches from other girls. People were attempting
to pass on the inside of the uphill switchback corners
and skis would get tangled or girls would get their skis
caught in the gates.”
Randall said that she was “pumped” with her finish
and amazed by Stephen and Brooks. “Having team-
mates definitely made this Tour more enjoyable and
helped me stay relaxed,” she said. “It’s so encouraging
to see our team more and more respected and more
competitive each year.”
