Czech Lukas Bauer became the first man to win two Tour de Ski titles with an impressive climbing performance in Val di Fiemme.

Bauer, who claimed his first victory two years ago, started the final stage of the 10-day Tour just over eight seconds behind the leader Petter Northug. But he 24-year-old Norwegian was not so strong, Bauer overtook him and then hammered down his advantage to the finish on the Alpe Cermis. Northug, who was also second last year, finished 1:16min behind while reigning champion, Switzerland's Dario Cologna, moved from fourth to third on the challenging 10km final stage to complete the podium.

Northug took the victory in the Tour Sprint standing ahead of his team mate Simen Oestensen and Markus Hellner from Sweden who finished today on 4th place.

In the World Cup overall ranking, Northug is clearly in the lead with 1060 points. On second place is Lukas Bauer (663 points) and close behind Markus Hellner (627 points).

Lukas Bauer- Tour winner
"After yesterday's race I felt quite strong and belived in myself. I felt I could be better than Petter in the Climb as I think he is stronger in sprints and I am better in uphill. It was not my plan to skip so many races before Christmas but I had health problems with my asthma and breathing in general. Therefore I did not compete and was one month withou any training. I was worried that I might have had too long interruption in my preparation. For me value of Tour de Ski is very hugh. It is a good program with 10 days of racing. My main goal now is Olympics. I want to be in a good shape to fight with the best for medals. I would like to return home with a medal."

Petter Northug
"I feel quite tired after the race. I tried to follow Lukas all the way but after first 500 - 600 m on Cermis i realized I did not have a chance. Than I focused on fighting for second place. I did not want to allow the second group behind me to catch me. The Final Climb is very tough but there is also very nice atmospehere. I will try in upcoming days. When I feel relaxed enough I will start training. First race before the Olympics will be for me Canmore. I hope I will be well prepared for the biggest highlight of the season. I would like to win the overall World Cup standing as well."

Dario Cologna
"I am very happy and satisfied about my third place. I guess it was the maximum of what was possible as Lukas and Petter were to far ahead. I felt very good and it was a good race for me. I had enough power in the finish. Now I will rest a while at home and I am looking forward for that. Then we will have a training camp in St. Moritz. I will skip World Cups in Otepää and Rybinsk. We will afterwards go to Canmore. "

Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the 4th editition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear

The Polish skier arrived on the Alpe Cermis after a demanding last stage 19,6 seconds ahead of Petra Majdic (SLO), who started into the race as a leader. On third place finished Arianna Follis (ITA) 1:12.1 min behind the winner. Aino Kaisa Saarinen gave her best to close the gap between Follis and her but at the end the home favourite was faster.

Majdic winner of the sprint ranking

In the sprint ranking, Petra Majdic took the victory 1.04min ahead of Arianna Follis and Aino Kaisa Saarinen.

Steira fastest

The fastest lady of the day on the 9 km long course with an uphill of 3,7 km was Kristin Steira (NOR) 35:49,4min.

Justyna Kowalczyk - Tour winner
"I'm very happy about my victory. The Tour de Ski is on of the biggest event in Cross-Country Skiing. It is the third biggest event after the Olympics and World Championships. It was a tough race and I tried to attack Petra quite early but I couldn't make it and so I stayed behind for a while. At the end, I could manage the take over and even gain a couple of seconds. Now I try to rest, eat and sleep a lot. This evening we will go to Tallinn and I will prepare myself for Otepää. This is one of my favourite place in the World Cup."

Petra Majdic - Tour Sprint winner, 2nd in Tour Overall ranking
"I am very happy about my second place today! I feel perfect. It is the end of Tour de Ski. I made it so I am very happy. Today it was one of my best Final Climbs ever. I felt very good, relaxed and easy going and I enjoyed the race very much. I imporved my skating technique thies season. I did not expect that Justyna will attack in the uphill. I even felt that she started to lose but she came back and attacked. She was faster in te curves and that made the difference. I knew she had one of the fastest times last year so I am very happy with my result. Final Cimb has a special value to Cross-Country skiing. We get a lot of attanetion to our sport."

Arianna Follis - 3rd in Tour Overall ranking
"I am very satisfied with my race today. It was very hard and tough race for me. Aino Kaisa Saarinen was very close and she was attacking strongly. I am happy I could claim 3rd place here in Italy. I like it very much here. I improved during this season my classic technique. We will skip upcoming World Cup weekends in Otepää. We will go after to Canmore. Now it is there very cold but temperatures should rise up little bit."

FIScrosscountry.com
Sunday 10 January 2010

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