February 19, 2011 (Drammen, Norway) – Norwegian xc ski star

fired the final salvo today that she is ready for the start of next week’s FIS Nordic World Championships by winning the women’s 10km classic event at the World Cup in Drammen.

Coming directly there from a two-week training high altitude camp in Italy, Bjoergen demonstrated her training is right on track for the upcoming Worlds in Oslo. And there on home turf, she will carry the hopes of a nation as she has all season.

Bjoergen was in the lead almost the entire race and took the 10km classic victory with a time of 27:31.9, on a day filled with blue sky  and sunshine, by some 17 seconds over current World Cup leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL). In third was Finish star Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. Norway’s Therese Johaug was fourth, while Ida Ingemarsdotter of Sweden was fifth. Many commented about the steep climbs on the course.

After the race Bjoergen said, “it was a good win for me today – it is very good to win a World Cup at home. There were a lot of people along the course. My shape is very good and I am looking forward to Holmenkollen.”

The top North American woman, Sadie Bjornsen of Winthrop, WA, was 51st in 30:50.6 at her first-ever World Cup race. SkiTrax caught up with neo-World Cup skier to get her thoughts on her debut.

“Today I was not looking for a result, but more of an experience, so I was happy with how I felt. The weather was perfect with hard tracks and clear skis. The super steep course was a grinder, which I love and I had good skis…

“I missed my start a bit… the green light didn’t go on the starter – nor did it count down. So I stood there for a bit before I asked the starting guy if I could go losing about 8 seconds. I went out like a bat out of hell before I came into a rhythm later on in the race.

Other USA skiers finished as follows: Liz Stephen was 55th, Ida Sargent placed 59th, while Holly Brooks was 60th and Morgan Arritola finished 62nd.

“It feels great to be back on the World Cup for sure,” Stephen told SkiTrax in an email. “It’s been a long break, and being on the road again is awesome.  We have a big team over here for Worlds now, which is really fun, and it was awesome to see a first ever world cup start with Sadie Bjornsen today, and Jessie Diggins tomorrow. Really cool to have some new, young faces around.

“The course conditions were very near perfect today and there was tons of snow. My fitness feels very close to where I want it to be, and all of my focus now is on Worlds, so I will be training accordingly going into my first race on Saturday in the pursuit.

The mind is the biggest thing at this stage, as the body is basically where it’s going to be. I’m really excited about the Championships, we have a great team, and being in Norway is pretty amazing with all the enthusiasm and fans.”

The top Canadian skier was Daria Gaiazova who finished in 61st with a time of 31:37.3. Following the race she told skitrax.com it wasn’t one of her better days. “Well today was not the kind of day we came here for in terms of results. Speaking for myself, I’m refocusing on Sunday’s skate sprint and hoping to ski faster than I did today.”

Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford was 64th, while Perianne Jones was 66th, and Brooke Gosling came in 68th. Following the races Crawford told SkiTrax that she raced today because, “Distance racing for me is going to help my top end form for next week’s sprints, so I went into it with a good attitude and no expectations. It’s actually the first time I’ve ever done the distance race the day before the sprint at the World Cup, and I’m glad to have the opportunity.”

Crawford also mentioned that the racing in Norway was “totally incredible” as many who have competed in Norway have remarked for decades.

Bjornsen echoed Crawford’s comments on racing in Norway. “With it being a Norwegian World Cup everyone was going super fast. There were so many fans out there – and once some of them discovered my last name is Norwegian they were going nuts!

“It would be great to do more races, because racing with so many fast girls is going to eventually rub off on you. You are inevitably going to get faster. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s sprint and the many more races to come! This World Cup stuff is sooo fun!”

Full results HERE.