SKI CLASSICS. The 46th edition of the prestigious Marcialonga took place today in Trentino, Italy. The elite women started at 07:50 local time in the village of Moena, while the elite men began ten minutes behind them. Petter Eliassen of Team BN Bank dominated the men´s field to collect his maiden victory in this legendary event. Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team, was the first woman to cross the famous finish line in Cavalese for the third time in her career.

“My tactic was to keep as high speed as possible from the start. It was a big group of skiers with only 10 km left and to speed up the pace to make the others tired was my advantage. When I approached the Cascata hill and was looking forward to the tough climb, it was a good sign," the men's winner Eliassen said in his interview at the finish.
 
Johansson Norgren's victory was the 17th of her long distance skiing career, making her the Visma Ski Classics legend with the most overall victories in history.
 
“I had amazing skis and felt so strong. It was a bit back and forth with Lina Korsgren, but I think I did a great tactical race and I felt strong all the way through. Overall it was a great day for me," she said in her post-race interview.
 
Andreas Nygaard and Oskar Kardin finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the men’s race and on the women’s side Lina Korsgren took 2nd place, with Astrid Øyre Slind in 3rd position.
 
Oskar Kardin of Team Ragde Eiendom and Lager 157 Ski Team's Anton Karlsson had a battle for the sprint points in Predazzo. The latter managed to get maximum points, to extend his overall lead in the race for the green jersey. Team BN Bank's Morten Eide Pedersen held on to the climb bib after the Cascata hill competition. On the women´s side, Johansson Norgren showed her strength again to win the Predazzo sprint and increase her green bib lead, while she also took over the climb bib by finishing second in the Cascata climb.

In the men's youth competition, Magnus Vesterheim from Team Kaffebryggeriet is now only two points ahead of Lager 157 Ski Team's Emil Persson. Team Ragde Eiendom's Sofie Elebro now leads the women's youth category by just 27 points from Marie Renée Sørum Gangsø, Team Synnfjell.
 
The next Visma Ski Classics event is Toblach-Cortina, which takes place on Saturday 2nd February. This is the 4th consecutive race weekend and it will also be the final stage of the Visma Alp Trophy competition, which is currently led by Eliassen and Johansson Norgren.

Press Release
Visma Ski Classics
Sun, January 27, 2019 2:11 pm
Photo by Magnus Östh

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