Nathan's analysis sounds logical. Steira would not have been the
first, nor the last, XC skier to draft on her closest competitor and,
if a coach reminded Steira to do that during the race, I doubt that he
would have been the first coach to give that kind of tactical advice
during a race.

I've been under the impression that coaches were on the course to do
more than just say "Go faster!", but maybe I'm wrong.


BTW, if memory serves, I believe Steira already has one World Cup win,
defeating Katerina Neumanova in the '04-'05 season. Taxing my memory
further, I think she dogged Neumanova until they reached a steep climb
and then, sensing she had the stronger legs, took the lead and the win.


I'm pretty new to this site - is it common for a race to elicit such a
remarkably long train of speculation?


Russ