• Preview
• Women's Cross-Country
• Men's Cross-Country
• Short-Track Cross-Country
• Dual Slalom
• Downhill

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At 19 years of age, Ryder Hesjedal (CAN, Gary Fisher-Saab) is a pup compared to those that crowd his side at the start gate, but the rookie racer has put his foot down this season, and today he left a mark. The young Canadian took his first ever NORBA win by outsmarting the mob of riders who threatened to eat his cake during Saturday's short-track cross-country race.

He was beaming as he climbed to the top spot of the podium, and deservedly so — the men's race was a battle, and a strategic one at that. It became a mind game as they baited each other, hoping someone would stumble. The lead changed with the lap but the riders who were brave enough to break were reeled right back in. Blistering fast, but unsuccessful attacks were made, particularly by Geoff Kabush (CAN, Kona), another young Canadian.

Kabush was the only man brave enough to charge and attempt to rid himself of the pack, but his bold attempts were stifled as the men would follow each time he broke. He'd dash out of the saddle, but couldn't grab a gap; each time, the men followed.

During the last lap, as the collar began to tighten, disaster struck when his wheels came out from underneath and pushed him to the ground. "I just wasn't concentrating and I laid it out. Luckily there weren't too many guys right behind me so I was able to jump right back up," said a dejected Kabush.

He was able to quickly re-saddle and immediately began picking off riders. He pinned it for the front and managed to savor fifth.

After Kabush's crash, nine riders were in contention. It was anybody's win, but Hesjedal sprinted up the last hill, leading by bike lengths and winning by seconds.

"I knew if I was at the front, I had a chance to win. I thought there were three laps to go, but I was wrong, there was actually four so I had to dig down deep," said Hesjedal. Dug he did, and he came up clenching gold.

Seamus McGrath (CAN, Haro/Lee Dungarees) was also elbow to elbow in the chase pack, but he left the the others to do the work. He wasn't looking to lead, and he had his reasons. "You can't really attack if you're in front, but if you come from two or three spots back, the leader can't see you. It's easier to get by then," said McGrath.

McGrath wasn't able to pass Hesjedal and had to settle for second. Third was a close one, but Pavel Tcherkassov, (RUS, Gary Fisher-Saab) joined his teammate on the podium for a bag of bronze.

Women

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The women's race was also decided late in the game, with two riders dominating. Ella Epifanova (RUS, Volvo-Cannondale), the Russian rocket, started in 31st position, and immediately wove her way to the front. She caught Chrissy Redden (CAN, Gary Fisher-Saab), who was sitting comfortably in the lead, and combined, the two made it a race for third. They left the rest of the women chasing, while they swapped leads a half-lap ahead.

Redden waited patiently and sprung in the final seconds. Epifanova was leading with 50 yards to go when Redden shot ahead on the final flat before the finish. She buzzed by Epifanova to steal gold.

Epifanova had fallen into the zone and wasn't sure of the lap count; it may have cost her the win. "I made a mistake. I didn't realize that we were on the lap," she explained. She misunderstood and believed thought she had a lap left.

Jimena Florit (ARG, RLX Polo Sport) attempted to make the leaders group a trio, but she just wasn't prepared to go. "I made an effort to get to the front of the group, but when I caught them, they attacked. I was already maxed and couldn't respond," she explained. Florit was left behind and ended the race in third.

The short-track cross-country ended just before dusk and the attention turned to the dual slalom course...

— Lucas Kane, running laps for MountainZone.com