Tour de Ski Recap
The second annual Tour de Ski came to an end in exciting fashion on Sunday. Young Charlotte Kalla of Sweden overtook Finn Virpi Kuitunen on the final climb for the women’s victory. Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic finished off a dominating week by extending his lead an winning the men’s crown by almost three minutes.
The Tour de Ski is modeled on cycling stage races. Eight events were held over ten days, with distances ranging from sprints to 20km. Bonus time is awarded to the top three finishers in distance racers, and to the top 30 in sprint events. Additionally, bonus seconds are awarded at intermediate points during distance events. 54 women and 75 men started the event. By the finish, 45 women and 59 men had completed the grueling week and a half of racing.
The Tour began with a prologue in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic– an unconventional 3.3km for women and 4.5km for men. Defending women’s champion Virpi Kuitunen got off to a strong start, taking the victory and the 15 extra bonus seconds. In the men’s race, Lucas Bauer came away with the win on his home soil. Canadians Devon Kershaw and David Nighbor finished 25th and 37th respectively.
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Tour de Ski Recap
