January 03, 2012 (Toblach, Italy) – Marit Bjoergen of Norway won the Tour de Ski battle in Toblach, Italy today, but Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland continues to win the war, holding on to first place overall with a 17.7-second advantage over her Norwegian rival. Bjoergen challenged Kowalczyk again as the two eclipsed the rest of the women’s field again in today’s 5th stage of the Tour, a 3.3km individual start classic race, a format that resembled the Tour’s opening stage in Oberhof.

Bjoergen crossed the finish line a whopping 15 seconds ahead of the next fastest competitor, teammate Astrid Jacobsen, with only Kowalczyk left on course. The Polish star was the only competitor to respond to Bjoergen’s challenge through the time check, stopping the clock a mere tenth of a second behind Bjoergen at the 2.4km mark. But the race leader faded slightly to finish in 2nd place at 3.9 seconds behind Bjoergen. Jacobsen finished in 3rd, was another 10 seconds behind Kowalczyk.

“I felt really good and I’m very satisfied because I really wanted to do a good race today and I think it was one of my best races in the Tour de Ski so far,” said Bjoergen in the FIS XC post-race press conference. “I heard at around 1km that I was 2-3 seconds behind and then at the top of the climb I was in front again and I knew I could be strong in the downhill and also on the flat around the stadium and so I knew that it would be possible to take her [Kowalczyk]”.

“This was really a tough race for me,” Kowalczyk conceded. “Actually after 2km I was almost dead, but I’m satisfied, I’m still in a really good place, I’m still leading,”

The USA’s Kikkan Randall had a somewhat disappointing day, despite feeling good, finishing in 29th position at 43 seconds behind Bjoergen. “Today was a tough race,” she told us, “but I felt I skied better than the result looked. I felt good, fought hard and skied technically pretty well.” Randal said she may have been “a little flat” because of yesterday’s long ride to Toblach in the team van.

“My strategy was to start out aggressive,” Randall continued, “really work the opening flats, and then hit the gradual climbs with a smooth but urgent stride.  I felt like I executed this pretty well and was definitely feeling the burn at the top of each climb and on the double pole in the last km.”

Randall also commented on the challenge she faced in choosing between zeros and waxed skis with the day’s warm temperatures and fresh snow. “I tested both hardwax and zeros and chose to go on the hardwax for better kick,” she said.

“The field seemed to be split pretty evenly between wax and no wax. I think my skis were pretty good. I had pretty solid kick but may have been a tad slow on glide.” Randall wasn’t sure as to whether her skis were a factor in today’s results or not: “I didn’t really ski near anyone though so it’s hard to tell.”

Her teammates Holly Brooks and Liz Stephen, meanwhile, finished 53rd and 56th respectively.

After today Kowalczyk retains her overall lead in the women’s Tour with Bjoergen in second place. Further back at +1:33.9 is Norway’s Therese Johaug. With today’s result the USA’s Randall falls to 7th overall, but remains less than 10 seconds out of 4th place and is not discouraged: “At this point I am psyched to still be so close to 4th. I  just want to keep fighting every day!,”

With tomorrow’s 6th stage featuring a 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach it could be Randall’s day to shine and regain some of the ground lost today.

Women’s 3.3km CL results HERE.
Women’s TdS Overall HERE.