TOUR DE SKI. Justyna Kowalczyk did it again. She started the third stage of Tour de Ski by winning the prologue; thereafter she won the quarter final, semi-final and then the final. Her third victory in the three first stages of Tour de Ski makes her the overall Tour de Ski leader, Sprint Leader and she won 60 important bonus seconds today. Justyna is currently leading the overall Tour de Ski standing with 22.2 seconds ahead of Marit Bjoergen and 1:01.4 minutes ahead of Therese Johuag.

She has earlier explained that she has been training hard throughout the season the get in the best possible shape for Tour de Ski. Right now it looks like she’s unbeatable and none of the other ladies could keep up with her speed today. Fast skis both uphill and downhill, Justyna showed that she’s on a good roll for winning her third Tour de Ski.

It was wet conditions in Oberstdorf this day. With temperatures around +2, and heavy rain/snowfall, the course and waxing conditions didn’t make things easier for the athletes who fought their way to the final. From the very beginning, Justyna had a small gap to the rest of the group, not willing to let them get closer. Marit Bjoergen fought hard in the last uphill, but had to watch Justyna cross the finish line before her and be pleased with yet another second place. Yesterday’s second place winner Therese Johaug was beaten out of the quarter final. Astrid Urenholdt Jacobsen secured third place, ahead of Natalia Matveeva (RUS), Ida Ingemarsdotter (SWE) and Aurore Jean (FRA).

The top 30 athletes of the day all won bonus seconds, first place 60, second place 56, third place 52 and all the way down to 30th (1 bonus second).

With Justyna Kowalczyk leading the overall Tour de Ski standing, Bjoergen and Therese will need to fight even harder in the coming 6 stages if they want to be the first one up Alpe Cermis. Justyna earlier said that she would need a gap of minimum 2 minutes if she will be able to beat Therese Johaug in the final climb.

Tour de Ski continues in Oberstdorf with a Skiathlon tomorrow (5+5 km), where the ladies will start on their classic skis before they swop to skating. There will be 3 opportunities to win further bonus seconds (15, 10, 5), 2 intermediate points and at the finish line. After tomorrow’s race, the athletes will have a day off before the Tour continues in Toblach on the 3rd of January.

Quote Justyna Kowalczyk:

„It’s been three amazing days for me, and this was really a great way of ending the year of 2011”.

“I like the course in Oberhof, but I don’t have the best memories from last year, I hope I will do better tomorrow”.

“My goal for 2012 is to do win the World Cup in Poland, this will be the first World Cup in history”.

Russian victory and dominance, Northug remains the Tour Leader

Impressing four Russian athletes were in the finals of the third Tour de Ski stage today. The two others were no one less than Tour favourites Dario Cologna and Petter Northug. Cologna made it to the final as a Lucky Looser (he didn’t make top 2 in the semi-final, but his time helped him qualify for the final). Alexey Petukhov who won the prologue of today was close to secure the victory of the third stage, but his team mate Nikita Kriukov was faster and could celebrate his first stage win of Tour de Ski. Third and fourth place went to Nikolay Morilov and Dimitry Japarov followed by Cologna and Northug.

It was a cold and wet day in Oberstdorf. The tracks became slippery, and in the last uphill, Northug lost control of his skis and fell. Cologna managed to stay on his feet, but the two of them had to watch the four Russians sprint to the finish line without them.

Petter Northug remain the overall Tour Leader as well as the Sprint Leader after today’s race. He caught another 42 bonus seconds with today’s sixth place, and has a lead with 4.8 seconds ahead of Cologna. Dimitry Japarov (RUS) is ranked third, +14.8 seconds behind.

The winner of the day was happy to end the year of 2011 with a victory, and was proud of his team:

“It was a really good race for me today, and the other Russian guys. I like Germany and I like this course”.

“It’s very good for the Russian team that we were this strong today, especially for our sprint team. We had difficult conditions yesterday; today we had an easier day”.

Northug on the other side can celebrate New Years eve with the Leader bib on, a bib he wants to keep for 2012: “I hope to keep this bib for 2012”.

“It was a good day, and the most important today was to catch as many bonus seconds as possible. I’m happy I made it to the final, I surely fought for the victory, but after the fall I guess both Dario and I are happy to be here”.

The men will fight for bonus seconds 6 times during tomorrow’s skiathlon (10 + 10 km classic/free). There will be five intermediate points where the top 3 will win 15, 10 and 5 bonus seconds, and additionally a point at finish. With a weather forecast saying more rain in Oberstdorf, it can become an interesting race to watch.

FIS Cross-Country wishes all our fans a Happy New Year!

Sofie Torlei Olsen
FIScrosscountry.com
Saturday 31 December 2011