January 06, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) secured her 4th Tour title on Sunday but for American fans the day belonged to Liz Stephen who grabbed her 2nd podium with the second fastest time up Alpe Cermis, the final 9km FR handicap climb, to finish 15th overall behind her teammate Kikkan Randall who had a tougher day dropping from 7th to 12th in the final standings.

Randall added to Team USA’s accolades finishing second on the TdS Sprint podium as Jessie Diggins raced her heart out as well, moving up from 24th to 21st with a superb debut effort at the Tour. Veteran Holly Brooks also suffered on the final day’s climb slipping back a few places to 38th overall still one spot better than last year’s Tour.

For Norway it was a solid day with Therese Johaug claiming second overall again but once again she was the fastest up Cermis – she and Stephen were the only skiers to break 35min. In third, for her first podium at the Tour, was Norwegian Kristin Stoermer Steira.

Taking fourth with strong ascent up the alpine Cermis climb was Finland’s Krista Lahteenmaki with the 5th best time. Taking 5th and 6th were two more Norwegians as Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Heidi Weng finished ahead of former Tour winner Charlotte Kalla from Sweden in 7th.

“We knew Kikkan was getting a little tired but she’s still in a great place just suffering from a bit of normal Tour fatigue that 90% of the skiers had today – it’s still an awesome result,” said US Women’s coach Matt Whitcomb.

“It was a great day for Liz and Jessie as well who worked together to help Liz get into good positioning for the climb where she attacked and put in a solid day. We just need to work on her mid-Tour stages to help her achieve a top-10 in the future. I’m really proud of the way these girls skied today,” added Whitcomb.

All US skiers that finished the Tour will stay in Val di Fiemme to recover and will pass on the upcoming WCup in Liberec (CZE) regrouping next week for the WCup in La Clusaz on Jan. 19-20.

For Kowalczyk it was resounding affirmation of the dynasty she’s created at the Tour as she now has a stronger lead in the overall WCup standings with 740 points over Randall in second with 662 followed by Finland’s Anne Kylloenen in 3rd with 473 points with Marit Bjoergen (NOR) in 4th with 450 points.

Results HERE.
Final Overall standings after Stage 7 HERE.
WCup standings HERE.