January 17, 2015 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg claimed her second World Cup and her first classic sprint victory on Saturday in Otepaa, Estonia. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson continued her fine form settling for second as she challenged Oestberg to the line only 0.60s behind while spoiling another Norge podium sweep. Celine Brun-Lie (NOR) landed third on the podium with her teammate Maiken Caspersen Falla in 4th.

Final podium © Nordic Focus

Heavy snowfall with temperatures around freezing made for tricky wax conditions. Many switched from klister skis to no wax skis as they moved through the heats to the finals. Oestberg led down the final downhill into the stadium where the different speed of skis really played a factor but she held off a charge from Nilsson on the homestretch.

The USA’s Sadie Bjornsen was the lone North American to qualify to the heats as her teammate Sophie Caldwell just missed finishing 31st as only the top 30 advance. Rosie Brennan, the SuperTour women’s leader, was 38th while Ida Sargent was 43rd and Canada’s Allyson Marshall, the Haywood NorAm women’s leader, was 44th.

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) © Nordic Focus

“Another bittersweet day here in Otepaa. I had a solid qualifier, and really came close in my quarters to advancing… but just missed the photo finish unfortunately,” Bjornsen told Trax. “Each weekend I am getting closer and closer to making that semi-final, but today was just too close for comfort. While hard to swallow, I had some really good moments out there. If at first you don’t succeed…try, try again. I am going with this theme.

“Otepaa delivered a fun wintery mix of conditions, and a very excited and loud crowd, so the vibe was awesome! It was a reasonably flat course, with just one gradual hill, which I don’t generally consider one of my strengths, so I was pleased with my ability to come as close as I did to moving on.

“I am really looking forward to the Team Sprint tomorrow. We haven’t gotten to do a “team” event yet this year after La Clusaz weekend got cancelled due to a lack of snow (where the 4×5 relay was scheduled). Relay events are my favorite type of event, so I am really looking forward to this tomorrow!

Qualifications here.
Final results here.