December 11, 2010 (Davos, Switzerland) – Norway’s Marit Bjoergen claimed yet another resounding victory in women’s 10km classic on the tough Davos course at high altitude (1,600m) in difficult snowy conditions with a 30-second margin over Justyna Kowalczyk in second while Bjoergen’s teammate Therese Johaug took third another 10s back. With light falling snow and -2C it was a challenging day for wax technicians and overall times were slower.

Following heavy snowfall overnight that tapered off by the start the women’s race it was decided by the FIS Jury due to move the seeded women to the middle of the field to guarantee “…fairest conditions possible for all the racers. The same will be applied in men’s race.”

In what turned out to be a 3-women competition for the podium top Finn, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, returned to the World Cup following a shoulder injury with a solid result in fourth, a minute and a half behind Bjoergen. Swedish star Charlotte Kalle was not on the start line due to sickness.

“Davos hasn’t been actually my favorite place,” said unbeaten Bjoergen post race. “But today I had very good skis, my body responded very well and my shape was good. I will be on the start for the sprint tomorrow. I have not skied the sprint course but I think it’s pretty much the same. Of course I will lose a race at some point this season – it may come tomorrow.”

For the USA’s Kikkan Randall who was seeded 26th it was a day of survival as she finished 47th with team mate Liz Stephen in 48th. “I still haven’t figured out this course,” said Randall. “It’s a tough circuit that goes mostly uphill for about 2-3km and in these conditions it’s even tougher. The altitude has an affect as well and I kept pushing but decided it was best not to kill myself and save something for tomorrow’s sprints.”

The USA’s Morgan Arritola finished in 57th another 45s back followed by Canada’s Daria Gaiazova in 61st racing in Davos for the first time.

“Its a very tricky race course here in Davos,” said Gaiazova. “Smart pacing is the key here because the 5km loop consists of roughly 2.5km of uphill, followed by 2.5km of mostly downhill and flats. I did not pace myself well and had a lot of difficulties on the uphill sections. I lost massive amounts of time on both laps and never managed to find my groove in the race today. I am looking forward to racing the skate sprint tomorrow!”

SkiTrax reached Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth who agreed, “It was tough out there and it warmed up a bit which made it more challenging for waxing and kick. You had to pace yourself well and it wasn’t Dasha’s day but she finished and can now focus on the sprints on Sunday.”

We caught up with US team’s head coach Chris Grover as well who told us, “All three women were disappointed. Kikkan decided to race today despite the tough conditions as she feels it helps to kick-start her for tomorrow’s sprints. Morgan was having some acid reflux problems so it wasn’t her greatest day and Liz had good energy but struggled on the course – I think our skis were as good as anyone elses out there today and strongest skiers made the best of it.”

Post-race intervews (turn up your volume)

Full results HERE.
Final results with splits HERE.