Jessie Diggins should not need an introduction at this point, but for anyone who needs a quick reminder: This episode of the Devon Kershaw Show features the best American cross-country skier of all time. Diggins has three Olympic medals to her name, a gold from the last World Championships and, most recently, a crystal globe she was awarded a few days ago as the past season's overall World Cup champion. Diggins joins us for a conversation about racing and her life as a professional athlete.

A note: This episode includes some frank discussion about eating disorders. If this is something you or someone in your life is struggling with, we suggest taking a look at Project RED-S, which stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. Their site has athlete-focused information and references if you're trying to find help. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders has a Helpline you can call at 888-375-7767 from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Central Time, and you can text HOME to 741741 if you're in a crisis. And the Alaska Eating Disorders Alliance has an informative video that features Diggins and retired Olympic cross-country skier Holly Brooks.

You can reach Devon and Nat at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. Thanks for listening.

Reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated. Apologies for the tardiness of this episode, but we're back with a wrap from Falun, the last World Cup weekend of the season. It's just Devon and Nat kicking it old school again here, but we'll return soon with some guests. Seriously.

Send us your 2025 predictions, Russian troll comments and Gjøran Tefre memes: devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. Thanks for hanging out with us for the whole World Cup season.

We're back, in less than 24 hours since hour last pod. Devon is burning the midnight oil in Norway to bring you this new episode recapping the excellent sprint races in Canmore today. Stay tuned for another episode after tomorrow's race and a bonus episode where Nat will interview Sweden's William Poromaa.

Email us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com with questions, comments and race predictions. We'll be back.

In this Sunday, World Championship team sprint episode of the Devon Kershaw Show, we have a special guest from Québec , the actual Prince of Québec ... Alex Harvey. 

It has been ten short or long years since he and Kershaw won the classic team sprint at the 2011 Oslo World Championships. First off, before listening to the episode today...check out the videos posted below. 

To set the scene, this win goes down at the Holmenkollen, the Shangri La of cross-country skiing. The Holmenkollen is hallowed ground.   

Think dense fog rolling in from Oslo fjord - a hundred thousand fans lining the course and stomping in the stands - there to witness the Canadians overtake a Norwegian in the final straight to win the team sprint. Back then, Harvey and Kershaw were a decade younger but no less wise. But we’ll let them tell the story.

For now, their win in Oslo is a good spine tingle for these times. They remind us of the gift of crowds and that anything can happen when the stars and maybe a little fog align. 

Here are some solid videos to time-machine back to relive the scene:

1) The call from British Eurosport

2) The scene on the grind from former Canadian National Team athlete George Grey

Indeed, we do get to the 2021 World Championships too. Kershaw and Harvey chat about the sunny day’s racing in the freestyle team sprint won by Norway on the men’s side and Sweden for the women. 

Thanks for listening. 

The most special of special guest on the podcast today, Kristin Størmer Steira. Størmer Steira, a retired Norwegian ski star, chats it up with Devon from Lillehammer, where the two are busy raising two young daughters.

According to a 2014 FasterSkier article on the couple, evidently, Kershaw's "great smile", a legacy of his youth in Sudbury, won Størmer Steira over. 

In her own right, Størmer Steira was a Norwegian ski star. Back in 2005, Størmer Steira had a breakout in Oberstdorf at the World Champs where she placed third in the 2 x 7.5 k pursuit and won gold as a member of the 4 x 5 k Norwegian relay team. Along with accolades such as more World Champs and Olympic hardware, she's known as a salt of the earth human being. As listeners of the podcast know, the medals are stashed in a humble wooden box somewhere above the garage. 

Along with Devon, Størmer Steira provides insight into the vagaries of racing in Oberstdorf and the highlights from today when Alexander Bolshunov won his first individual championship medal as he pulled away in the closing moments of the 30 k skiathlon, and Norway's Therese Johaug steamrolled on the women's side. 

Thanks for listening to our championship coverage. 

The storylines were many during Thursday's classic sprint at the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. As the backdrop for the racing -- the temps were high, the salted course began to breakdown in the final corner, and running uphill with skis on ... at lightning speed ... was mandatory.  

Norway swept the men's podium with none other than classic kingpin Johannes Høsflot Klæbo taking the win. For certain, as this was on display in both the men's and women's racing, Klæbo has helped redefine classic sprinting. Stride if you must, but if you're weren't Klæbo-running, you were falling behind. 

On the women's side, Sweden took the win as Jonna Sundling won her first championship gold as she flew ahead of the competition into the final straight.

Here to help break down the day's racing, and partake in other digressions, is former Canadian National Team member Lenny Valjas. (Thank you Lenny for doing the pod.) 

The legend is set in stone: Kikkan Randall brought a new intensity and bottom-line results to the U.S. Ski Team. Three overall sprint globes to her name, five Olympics, a bronze at the 2017 Lahti World Champs in the skate sprint, a silver at the 2009 Liberec, Czech Republic World Champs skate sprint, a gold at the 2013 Val di Fiemme, Italy World Champs in the team sprint (with Diggins), and the 2018 Olympic Gold in PyeongChang's team sprint. Stellar. 

Her story is infused with her firm belief in team and the matter of fact grit she brings to life as a cancer survivor. Let's not forget she is a proud mom. She remains legend material. 

We are stoked to have her on the show. 

You can follow Kikkan on IG @kikkanimal, her website is kikkan.com  

In this episode, we chat about the weekend's racing from World Juniors and U23s. This is part two of our coverage of Worlds for the younger folks. This episode covers the relays and mass start classic races that concluded Sunday in Vuokatti, Finland. 

On the show is longtime Kershaw friend Noah Hoffman, who it turns out, beyond his cross-country skiing endurance exploits, is an investment partner with Kershaw. We hear about the weekend's racing, their experiences at Junior/U23 Worlds, and the fundamental strategic vision guiding their stock picks.   

Thanks for listening and as this winter moves into mid-February, we hope all are well. 

Devon jumps into the World Junior/U23 fray. This is part one of our coverage of Worlds for the younger folks. This episode covers the classic sprints and the individual skate races that concluded today in Vuokatti, Finland. 

The racing began on February 9 with the junior classic sprint. The U23 classic sprints were postponed on Wednesday due to the severe cold in Finland. Those sprints were held Thursday. Friday was a jam-packed race day with race officials and volunteers running four different individual skate events. 

We will be recording a second podcast on Sunday to conclude World Juniors/U23s. 

Thanks for listening. You can find detailed results from World Juniors here. 

In this episode, Devon and former Canadian National Team member Jess Cockney discuss the intricacies of Saturday's skate sprint and Sunday's team sprint in Ulricehamn, Sweden. 

The stage has been set, the first few acts are over, yet the curtain has not closed -- Jessie Diggins with a third place in Saturday's sprint brings her closer to securing the World Cup overall as the season enters it's last month and a half of racing. No other way of putting it, Diggins looks in-form and formidable. 

The men's skate sprint saw a slimmed down Norwegian squad locked out of the final and Oskar Svensson of Sweden sweep in for another win. And Sunday, that was team sprint day - we'll let Kershaw and Cockney drill down on the merits of that race. You'll hear some Yin and Yang.  

And as a bonus, we get a brief oral history of perhaps the most Canadian of things, the xc-ski air guitar. The origin myths you hold close to your heart may be dispelled.   

Thanks for listening. 

The second weekend with Norway back on the scene was a reveal. Therese Johaug, arguably the second greatest cross-country skier of all time, was bested by an in form and dialed in Jessie Diggins. Interval starts, for what its worth, most often do not command a television or streaming audience. This show is a must watch. It may just be Diggins' best career race. 

So we chat a ton about Diggins. But we also dive in head first and discuss some other stout race performances - Schumacher's 9th place, Bolshunov's double-win weekend, Linn Svahn's supremacy on the sprint course, and the dicey nature of Saturday's mass start racing. 

As we inch closer to the World Championships at the end of February, it's time to start thinking about who might bring home some hardware. The Falun three race series gave us a glimpse into who's star might shine in Obertsdorf. 

We all thought the big news would be the return of Norway. And certainly, that was the news, just not the lead. Norway swept both the men's and women's skiathlon podiums on Saturday and won the 4 x 5 k and 4 x 7.5 k relays on Sunday. But...and this is a big but, Alexander Bolshunov made headlines with his violent behavior as he crossed the finish line in Lahti on Sunday. 

Down the final straight, Joni Mæki from Finland went wide, closing off a charging Bolshunov - the two were battling for second and third place in the men's relay. Call it an aggressive move by Mæki or a wise tactical speed check on the incoming Bolshunov, either way, the Russian lost his cool. He swung a pole at the Finn and shortly after crossing the finish line with full steam momentum, he tackled Mæki. The Russian team was disqualified, the Finns took second place, and the podcast had an easy intro. 

The takeaway - be kind and be fair when things don't go your way. And also, we are thankful you are here to listen. 

In the big global picture, much has transpired since Jessie Diggins won the Tour de Ski. On the macro side of things, that being on the World Cup, a break has transpired. On Saturday, the cross-country World Cup returns with a skiathlon. The more notable news is the Norwegian national team will spice up the skiing as they return from a self-imposed hiatus from the World Cup since early December. 

We also answer some listener questions and discuss how we deal emotionally with less than desirable outcomes. So yeah, there's an unofficial therapy session of sorts. 

Thanks for listening and feel free to send questions to devon@fasterskier.com and jason@fasterskier.com. 

The World Cup gave us two great races in Canmore today to start a 10-day swing through North America. Devon and Nat recap the results, and hear from a couple of special guests at the tail end of the show. We'll be back tomorrow.

Questions? Comments? nat@fasterskier.com and devon@fasterskier.com.

The question is not where to start. That is with Jessie Diggins and her shining moment over eight stages at the Tour de Ski. Diggins secured the overall win in the Tour de Ski on Sunday, the first non-European skier, male or female to win the Tour. Ivan Babikov, former Candian National Ski Team member and master of the Alpe himself, joins Devon to discuss Diggins, the Russians, the Alpe, and the vagaries of the Tour de Ski.

Thanks for listening along for our eight-episode series breaking down each stage. 
 

The Tour de Ski's Stage 7 cliff notes: Diggins remains the overall Tour de Ski leader after being eliminated in today's semi-finals of the classic sprint. The news day on the micro-level belongs to Sweden with a sweep of the women's podium and Oskar Svensson, yes a Swede, won on the men's side. More macro: Diggins wears the yellow bib heading into Sunday's final stage, the Alpe Cermis hill climb. Bolshunov has literally shut the door on the competition. 

The Tour de Ski's Stage 6 cliff notes: Diggins lands 9th on the stage but retains the overall lead, Brennan falls out of overall contention, Bolshunov wins, and Schumacher pops a top-10 for 8th place. (We are joined by guest Zach Caldwell.)

The Tour de Ski's Stage 5 cliff notes: A feisty race from both Diggins and Brennan. Diggins places third, Brennan fourth. In the men's race, Schumacher paces to 15th, and a wall of red as Bolshunov is simply peerless. Gus Schumacher arrives with a career-best 14th. 

The 5 k loop in Toblach, Italy was a Diggins course - according to Kershaw - and she took charge. With Diggins and Brennan going 1-2, again, the Tour de Ski has a decidedly American look on the women's side. 

And with most of Russia's men's roster in the top-8, the boys in red Lycra control the standings. A bright note for men's U.S. skiing, Gus Schumacher put together a top-15 worthy effort on the day.  

The Stage 4 breakdown on the podcast.

The show notes are short. Three long days of race coverage and we end stages 1-3 on a high note for U.S. women's skiing. Jessie Diggins, in a gritty race performance on Sunday, secured the Tour de Ski's overall lead while Rosie Brennan raced to second overall. If you have not taken the time to watch the race, please take the time. It is worthy. 

Here to discuss a late arriving email regarding the podcast's soft coverage of U.S. men's skiing and the day's racing is Nat Herz. Nat led the charge at FasterSkier several years ago and now is a reporter for Alaska Public Media based in Anchorage. 

Thanks again for listening. 

A big note upfront, in this episode we review a video when Devon was relegated for obstruction during a World Cup sprint. So, if you have a phone or other device handy, here's the link to the video. 

Take a look, because we'll get into this pretty deep in the episode. And .... we'll chat the racing of the day, Stage 2 of the 2021 Tour de ski - all mass start classic racing. 

The Race on the men's side shook out with a big Bolshunov win, while the women had a surprise winner of sorts with Swede Linn Svahn, known for her sprinting, won the day. Two American women in Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan remain in the hunt for the overall. 

We talk about children and car seats, obstruction on the sprint course, and where it goes from here with six stages to go. 

Let's cut to the chase ... this will be a long long 10 days of race coverage here at FasterSkier. Those 10 days include eight stages and two rest days. Phew. Today, Friday, January 1, saw Val Müstair, Switzerland host a stout skate sprint. Two laps of curves and whoops and hills at some altitude. 

Kershaw brings us into the action and susses out the trends. One major trend coming into the day, Rosie Brennan in the yellow bib  as the overall leader of the World Cup. One major trend coming out of the day, Jessie Diggins trending into her podium-form. The Swedes are back in the action and Simi Hamilton popped the fourth fastest qualifying time. Some good things to like about the day. 

For now it is onward. Seven stages to go. 

Full disclosure, we do get to the Dresden sprints, we swear, but it takes a few minutes in this episode.

On a day when Devon's began his 39th trip around the sun -  it was his birthday on December 20th - the discourse shimmied to a full spectrum of topics - most of which directly tie into sliding on snow. (For the most part.)

There's the chat about backcountry skiing and the lovely video edits from Norwegian big-mountain ski phenom Nikolai Schirmer. Devon has lost some time to the wormhole that is Schirmer's video series documenting his ascents and descents in Norway's Lyngen Alps. (Honestly, if you are looking for an escape, this could be a good indoor choice.)

In this episode, we also devaite and talk spicy food in Norway, and, by his own admission, Devon's relative intolerance for serious spiciness. And yes, there is talk of the weekend's sprinting in Dresden, Germany. The World Cup appears to have pulled it off, a no-fans city-sprint affair along the Elbe River in what was a sunny and spring-like Dresden.

The U.S. men placed four skiers in the top-15 with Simi Hamilton in  fifth, Kevin Bolger in sixth, Logan Hanneman in 12th, and JC Schoonmaker in 14th. A very good day at the sprint office. Caldwell Hamilton and Jessie Diggins went second and fourth, respectively, for the U.S. women, with Julia Kern in 12th, and Hannah Halvorsen earning her first World Cup points in 23rd. 

Have a good holiday season. 

Davos is many things and brings to mind fine high-mountain living, deep mountain valleys, and an old-school vibe stop on the World Cup. The weekend began with a zippy skate sprint that at least for the moment brought a familiar feel to sprinting when Italy's Federico Pellegrino took the win. However, on the women's side, a persistent and tenacious athlete, Rosie Brennan, took her first career World Cup win. She can sprint. But had we placed a wager on a first win coming in sprint or distance, we would have gone for distance eight out of time times. 

Yet on Saturday, there was Brennan, streaming ahead on the final straight with enough composure and a time gap to celebrate across the finish line. Pure joy. And fun to watch. The following day, in cross-country skiing's race of truth, Brennan smashed ahead on the decidedly old-school Davos 5 k loop and won the race with half a minute to spare. A clean-sweep-weekend for Brennan earns her the overall lead in the World Cup after five races and the honor of wearing the yellow bib. 

Sure we talk most things that transpired in Davos: some misses for the U.S. men, a solid performance by Scott Patterson in the 15 k skate, a slew of Americans stoutly qualifying in the sprint, (think JC Schoonmaker and Kevin Bolger), and Hailey Swirbul's most excellent third place in the women's 10 k. 

The race series moves on to Dresden, Germany next week, where the city is under strict lockdown orders due to Covid-19. It's onward for the World Cup, we hope it's upward. 

Coming in hot from Canmore, Alberta, where the World Cup circuit makes its North American return after five years away. We've got a preview here of sorts, featuring an interview with JC Schoonmaker, the California-raised U.S. Ski Team member who made his first World Cup podium earlier this season. We cover his rude awakening to the demands of elite-level training, his affection for his adopted home of Alaska and get some fun details about his podium finish in Sweden.

We'll be posting episodes frequently over the next couple of weeks, with Nat on the ground and Devon following closely from afar. We're also excited to announce that we've locked in a live recording at Utepils Brewery in Minneapolis next weekend, after the race on Sunday, Feb. 18. Stay tuned for more details. In the mean time, send us your feedback and which World Cup athletes you want us to try interview while they're here: devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Not two weeks ago, despite the pandemic, it appeared the FIS World Cup had dodged the proverbial positive-test bullet. The Ruka, Finland round of the World Cup went down with fantastic racing, and, as far as we know at the time of dropping this episode, no positive Covid-19 cases among the athletes in Ruka.

The cracks began to appear shortly after the racing in Finland concluded. Several of Norway's star skiers independently withdrew from World Cup racing through December - they were the first to go. Then three major World Cup players, Norway, Sweden, and Finland collectively opted out. As we reported on the FasterSkier website, these teams felt the safety protocols and fidelity to those Covid-19 prevention measures in Ruka were insufficient. 

We all know that race day is race day - you compete against those who wear the bibs. That said, we also know a World Cup race without Norway, Sweden, and Finland is like the Bulls without Jordan, a slalom race without Shiffrin, grooming with no classic tracks set. 

Devon breaks it down and provides his thoughts on where this all goes from here. 

Thanks for listening and here's the disclaimer, this episode contains some unbeeped potty words.  

So much to break down. Ruka, Finland presented a challenge on several fronts. Athletes contested a classic sprint, a 10 k / 15 k interval start classic, and a 10 k / 15 k skate pursuit over a three day period. A great way to exhaust some of the fastest skiers and a great way to entice us back into the verbal throws on the podcast discussing who is on form, and who maybe missed the kick. 

The racing in Finland transpired as the globe wrestles with a pandemic. As it should be, we discuss all the racing - the Norwegians, the Swedes, the U.S. team, the Russians - and how the pandemic has impacted the scene. 

Take an hour of your day, allow yourself to unwind and let Devon be your World Cup escape. This is sixty minutes jam packed with classic, skate, sprint and distance bliss. 

Thanks for listening and if you have any questions please send them to jason@fasterskier.com and devon@fasterskier.com.

Beitostølen, Norway and Bruksvallarna, Sweden hosted FIS Cup racing over the weekend. The news from Norway tells of a Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who might be back on form when it comes to his distance racing chops. He's also keyed in for the sprints. In his two races this weekend, he won the classic sprint and placed second in the 15 k classic. Therese Johaug, unsurprisingly, swept the women's distance events in Beito. Same old same old for her on the World Cup this season? Maybe. 

Devon also lets us know he was unimpressed by the members of the Swedish men's national team in Bruksvallarna. That may be nothing new to listeners of the podcast, but it's a reminder that while the women's program in Sweden remains on par with Norway's top-level talent, the men's squad might be poised for another let down on the World Cup.  

This much is true: the World Cup begins this Friday in Ruka, Finland with a three-race series starting with a classic sprint. Every athlete, regardless of talent, sponsor dollars, or pedigree, will have to deal with racing during a pandemic. There's no need to dwell on what that means, besides the extra caution stakeholders and athletes must take to remain healthy. This will be a season with ups and downs, some unforeseen some predictable. 

In this preseason pod, Devon revs up for a race season rife with unknowns galore as the cross-country skiing world descends on Finland to kick it all off. 

Like so many organizations, FIS, the governing body for international skiing, is a slow-to-change entity. Doping reforms, for example, have evolved but at a yawn-worthy rate. So in rather atypical fashion, like a finger snap, FIS voted to oust its Secretary General, Sarah Lewis, on October 9th. Lewis had been considered a lifer at FIS. She'd been on staff for two decades. News on the "why" of her removal remains sparse. Yet it was an unexpected departure. 

Not so unexpected, the postponement of the FIS fluoro ban which was announced in November 2019. Originally, FIS and the associated stakeholders were to outlaw fluorinated wax products, across all disciplines, beginning this season. A noble task considering the documented adverse health and environmental impacts related to long-chain fluorocarbons, yet one notably tough to execute. Put simply, the testing mechanism for detecting flours on ski bases was flawed. As we reported earlier, FIS stated: “Despite the accuracy of the device measurement technology, testing also indicated that there were potential sources of measurement error related to other aspects of the testing system that require further testing and design adjustments to ensure absolutely fair and consistent results for all competitors.”

So...fluoros are fair game this season on the World Cup. 

That and a bit more on the show. Thanks for listening and if you have questions for Devon, you can email them to Devon@fasterskier.com or Jason@fasterskier.com. 

We mix things up in the episode. We deviate from the norm and jump into a discussion about the science of sport with journalist and author Alex Hutchinson. Some of you may know his work from Outside Magazine where he pens the Sweat Science column. Hutchinson is also the author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, published in 2018. 

His Sweat Science pieces unravel the latest research exploring human performance and distills the findings into lively reading. 

We spoke to Hutchinson about his book, his recent Sweat Science piece "Why Altitude Training Helps Some but Not Others - A new analysis casts doubt on the idea that people are born as "responders" or "non-responders" for training in thin air," and this one time Kershaw bested Hutchinson's friends in a running race. For those new to Hutchinson and his work, he remains as adept running the roads as he is with the pen. In other words, he's speedy and keen.

And for those on Twitter and interested in the fusion of sport and science, you can find his musings @sweatscience.

March 31st is the last day we posted a new episode. Depending on where you stand in the COVID time machine, that might as well be a light year. Or a nano-second.

From Oslo, Norway Devon chats about the time that was and the time that will be as we lurch into fall and then winter. In other words, it's about time we rebooted this project.

On the list of topics discussed, staying put when the air quality is grim, a brief discussion of doping, altitude training, and the prospects for a World Cup season.

Thanks for catching up with the podcast and as always, if you have questions for Devon, you can send them to devon@fasterskier.com or jason@fasterskier.com.

Kershaw is free from quarantine and back at home in Lillehammer. As we all know, the race season has been shut down. That means it's time to discuss news items of note. Like...the "flexing" of some skiers as they ski an un-godly number of kilometers, Stina Nilsson's switch from cross-country to biathlon, the Norwegian Ski Federation's financial crisis, and, the retirement of Norway's Eirik Brandsdal.

(The U.S. Ski Team's Erik Bjornsen also announced his retirement via Instagram. That news broke after we recorded the show.)

Thanks for listening and we hope all of you are doing ok out there.

Canceled. The North American leg of the World Cup became a blip as the weight of a pandemic became too much to bear for organizers. Minneapolis canceled. Canmore canceled. And....finally...Québec canceled. We discuss what was a crazy week when, accordingly, the globe shut down pro and amateur sport.

We spoke with Kershaw when he was six days into a 14-day quarantine. Kershaw had been in Germany for World Juniors and upon his return to Norway, was part of a general quarantine for individuals who had traveled abroad since Feb. 27. 

Kershaw spoke to us from a snowed-in cabin in Sjusjøen, Norway. But it's not exactly paradise. True fact, Kershaw was running low on food: Johaug to the rescue. And as for velvet corduroy skiing (while keeping social-distance) in the Lillehammer area, grooming has been suspended. 

Be safe and healthy out there. 

A return to semi-normal: Devon is back from World Juniors and better for it. It was a big week in Germany for North America. This episode is a return to our discussion of the World Cup. The famed Holmenkollen hosted the weekend's 30 k / 50 k classic mass start races. Hindsight is 20/20, the Norwegian women should have swapped skis, and frankly, not much anybody can do about a steamrolling Bolshunov. 

Straight up this is mostly about Junior Worlds -- specifically the junior women's 4 x 3.3 k relay and the 4x 5 k relay for the  junior men. A good day all around: U.S. men in first, Canada second. And in the women's race, U.S. junior women in second overall.

We do discuss the World Cup sprints from this past Wednesday...but not a big discussion.

In this episode, Kershaw also mentions a video interview published by Norwegian broadcaster NRK, in which Jessie Diggins discusses her new book and her challenges with an eating disorder. You can find that video link here. 

Goms! These races, in Switzerland, were unambiguously awesome. Wipeouts, sun, fondue, North American podiums and breakout performances. And an Alaskan guest who watched the races firsthand.

We really went above and beyond the call of duty this week — we've got sounds from the side of the trail and even a profanity-laced tirade from Devon if you stick it out to the end of the show. We'll be on scene at the next round of World Cups, which are in a couple of weeks in Canmore, Alberta.

A sincere thank you to everyone who's generously pitched in to support us over the past few weeks. Email us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We'll be back soon.

It is Monday after all. A day late for the Lahti relay recap but right on time to discuss U.S. skier, Gus Schumacher's 10 k classic win at World Juniors. The 19-year-old Schumacher from Anchorage, Alaska can close - and he did that Monday with a burning fast final 3.3 k loop in taking the win. 

And yeah, the women's 4 x 5 k  and the men's 4 x 7.5 k relays played out at Lahti's World Cup on Sunday.  It wasn't  exactly a yawner, but simply put, the relays, this late in a jam packed season, lacked consequence. Like we note, some interesting racing went down (yeah Finland's women for second place), it just simply seemed to lack some shine. 

That said, evidently, according to Kershaw, the sun was out in Oberweisenthal, Germany for maybe the first time in 27 years today. That seems excessive. Come out more often sun. 

Post Ski Tour 2020 it was back to the basics for the World Cup: Interval start classic races for the men and women. The local boy, Iivo Niskanen, still claims the 15 k classic as his race, especially when it goes down in Finland. For the women, Norway's Therese Johaug pipped out the win over Ebba Andersson of Sweden. 

This was good solid racing in the 10 k and 15 k, respectively. Devon, by the way, is in Oberwiesenthal, Germany for the 2020 Junior/U23 Worlds. He's there helping out the younger generation of Canadian athletes. So, needless to say, we take a dive into Junior World's coverage as well -- today's race was a skate sprint for the juniors.

Stage 6 of the Ski Tour 2020 was, by any stretch of the imagination, a steamroller for Norway. A clean sweep on the men's and women's podium. On the men's side, that's not exactly what we expected. Russia's Alexander Bolshunov looked like a sure thing for the overall win. A 30 k classic for the twenty-three-year-old, I mean who would have predicted anything different? 

The weather was all over the place. As Devon has said several times, the weather in Trøndelag can be a mix of everything unpleasant. And that's the way it was. Big flakes of snow fell during the men's race. Let's just say that the klister on the Russian's skis didn't synch with the precipitation.  

Good on Johaug for her near clean sweep, she won five of six stages, and Pål Golberg and his wax techs scored a big one for the home crowd in Trondheim. 

A full-on championship course in Trondheim, Norway where the World Championships will go down in the mid-2020s. That's a long way off. This much was true: the venue, like this tour, has been kind to Norway. Maiken Caspersen Falla and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo pleased the home fans. And yes, with all the fans, it seems this might be a venue to revisit in the near future. 

One more day, a Stage 6 15 k/ 30 k classic pursuit to go. 

The race ended where it began: Stage 4 of the Ski Tour 2020. In between, it was 34 k mass start skate bliss through the Norwegian countryside for those watching from home. For those racing on course, it was not such a comfortable vibe. Pain cave anybody? 

We discuss the unstoppable Johaug and an Alexander Bolshunov who sent it ... and stuck it, as he made a one-skier-show of the front of the race. 

Of course, there's some chit chat in there too. Thanks for listening. 

Åre, Sweden -- the site of the national (alpine) ski area in Sweden. Also the site of Stage 3 of the Ski Tour 2020's skate sprint. Short at 0.66 k, but oh so steep with a finishing climb with slopes at 28 percent. Yah! 28 percent. Maybe part sideshow, maybe not. Either way, athletes had to get themselves to the top. In what was a leg-burning affair, for a one-off event, it was sporting entertainment. 

Thanks for listening. 

The Ski Tour 2020 show continued Sunday in Östersund, Sweden with the men's and women's classic pursuit races. Again, as we discuss in the podcast, it was Norway and Russia heavy on the men's side. 

For the women, Johaug did her thing, but the racing was gritty. A chase pack of three and a speedy group from fifth through sixteenth made the 10 k affair a fun watch.

Like usual we dig into the day. We also diverge a bit and celebrate Susan Dunklee and her silver medal at the 2020 IBU World Champs, and we also discuss some of the latest doping news surrounding Russia and a few of their biathletes.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and we'll be back on Tuesday after Stage 3.

It was all Norway in both the men's and women's Stage 1 of the Ski Tour 2020 from Östersund, Sweden. Sjur Røthe on the men's side was pacing perfection while Therese Johaug simply steamrolled. This was clear, Norway had the best skis, and perhaps by default, the fastest skiers almost across the top-10 board. Yet, it is a long week ahead, and we are one stage into a six stage event. 

Here's the debrief from Devon: post 15 k/ 10 k interval start skate.  

Sometimes when the unexpected happens, it's a good thing. That's what went down today in Falun, Sweden. In the men's 15 k mass start skate, it was not a scrum of 20 to 30 skiers in a cluster at the finish. A fast and furious pace set by Hans Christer Holund turned that concept on its head. Although the race was won by Alexander Bolshunov, the wily Norwegian that is Holund, took it out hot and broke the field apart. For the women, well..., it was Johaug as predicted, but it was a tight race dictated by a select three of Johaug, Ebba Andersson, and Heidi Weng.

We are not eaxctly all over the map in this episode, but we cover some ground: from the lack of national diversity in the men's top 10, to how soon is too soon for athlete's not meeting a national team's health standards to be back on the World Cup. Today was the Swedish phenom Frida Karlsson's first World Cups of the season since the opening weekend in Ruka, Finland. She had been held from elite competiton by the national team, for health reasons. She showed early signs of her former speed and endurance in her first race back. (Karlsson took the ski scene by storm last year, when she won three medals as a nineteen year old at the 2019 World Championships.)

As always, thanks for listening. If you have questions for Devon, please send them to devon@fasterskier.com or info@fasterskier.com.

In this episode --  an analysis of a wonderful day of classic sprinting in Falun, Sweden. First off, hats off to the organizing committee: the fans were out in force, Sweden showed up to race, Johaug advanced to the semis, two Norwegians pounced in the men's race....inhale -- it was simply a fun day of skiing. And, Falun's course was for real. Stout climbs forced athletes to run hills and technical banked turns kept everybody honest.

Really, it was an event, despite the region's low snow, that was a highlight. (We are biased towards these championship level courses on the sprint circuit.)

In between the racing, there's some banter about Klæbo's broken fingers, and some chatter about the new baby in Lillehammer, Norway. 

Thanks for listening.  

Prince of Quebec Alex Harvey and his protege on the Canadian team, Tony Cyr, check in with us after a three-day weekend of racing in Germany. We went kinda long. Also: We have a first-of-its-kind waxing and service report from U.S. Ski Team technician Eli Brown. 

Let us know what you think: We're at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We'll be back after another weekend of racing in Switzerland before the World Cup circuit heads to North America.

This week, we re-posted a great piece from the Statistical Skier (Joran Elias). Before jumping into this episode, it's worth taking some time to digest some of the findings. Elias wrote the piece in response to a podcast we posted after the classic sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany. In that sprint, Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo had an astounding qualifier. In the podcast following the race, we discussed Klæbo'performance and the time-back to some skiers in the field.

What does it all mean? Well, Klæbo still crushed it. However, the Statistical Skier's analysis helped put some things into perspective.

"This is one of the problems with measuring performance based on only the winner," Elias wrote in the Statistical Skier. "Devon talked (correctly, I think) in the podcast about how if you’re 15 seconds back from the winner in qualification that’s a pretty good signal that you’re not going to win. But, it is a potentially quite misleading signal about how you skied relative to your own performance history!"

Jump on in head first.

You can find more great material from the Statistical Skier here.

(This might be one of those occasions when it helps to have a computer open to the Statistical Skier piece when listening.)

In this episode of of The Devon Kershaw Show from FasterSkier, it is all classic: a deep breakdown from Devon on the nature of Obertsdorf, Germany's classic sprint course. The course has some relevance for this basic reason: the 2021 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships will be held at this venue next season. And what a preview. With three steep climbs, a wee bit of recovery, this sprint course demands big capacity. 

There's also the highlight of the day for Kershaw - three American women in the top-10. Just 24 hours prior, the U.S. women looked uncharacteristically flat. With a quick reset, the classic sprint was a home-run for the team. 

Lastly, we look into the big time gaps in the men's qualifier in which Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway destroyed the field. And of course we include some analysis of Klæbo's run away win. 

Thanks for listening.

Next season the 2021 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships will be hosted by Oberstdorf, Germany. On Saturday, the women raced a 15 k skiathlon, the men 30 k on what is now a gut-punch of a course. It is championship-worthy.

In today's episode, we cover all the striding, all the gliding, and the ski-exchanges in between. Bolshunov remains on form after the TdS, while two notable Norwegians, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Emil Iversen appear to be in a distance funk: both posted a DNF today as they pulled from the race. More pleasant news, father time has smiled on Martin Johnsrud Sundby who missed the podium by a fraction and Dario Cologna who raced to a top-ten.

For the women, well, it was Johaug. But not by much. The top end of the field kept her within sight. It was good chase-them-down skiing on the women's side. And yeah, we discuss the down day for the Americans who have us conditioned for podium expectations.

Thanks for listening.