December 28, 2013 (Oberhof, GER) – Four-time defending Tour de Ski champ, Justyna Kowalcyzk (POL), has left the Tour in protest over the format changes which sees Sunday’s round #2 in Oberhof becoming a skate sprint in lieu of the originally planned 9/15km CL Pursuit due to difficult warm weather conditions.

The Polish star is stronger in the classic discipline and feels her Tour is now compromised and has decided to head to the mountains to train for the rest of the World Cup and Sochi. “Yes, we withdrew. We’ll go to training camp somewhere in the mountains, just looking for a good place,” said Sport.pl women’s coach Alexander Wierietelny.

This opens the door for Norway’s Marit Bjoergen to finally win the Tour which has elduded her on her list of accolades, but without Kowalczyk it will be a bitter-sweet victory if she prevails as their long-standing rivalry is what fans were hoping to see this year in the build up to Sochi.

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