March 15, 2014 (Falun, Sweden) – The battle for the women’s overall World Cup title heated up today in Falun as fiesty Therese Johaug of Norway threw down the gauntlet at the 5km mark dropping teammate Marit Bjoergen as she powered to victory in the women’s 15km Skiathlon boosting her mini tour margin over Bjoergen to 15 seconds.

Bjoergen settled for second place today and now all that remains is the final race, a 10km pursuit start FR, to decide the winner of the mini tour and the overall World Cup title. Kerttu Niskanen of Finland held off Norway’s Heidi Weng, Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Kristin Stoermer Steira (NOR) to claim third and will start 1:17.3 behind Johaug

The top North American today was Liz Stephen in 15th followed by Kikkan Randall in 20th with Sadie Bjornsen in 21st all in the points. Further back was Jessie Diggins in 36th, Ida Sargent 37th, Caitlin Gregg in 40th, Sophie Caldwell in 41st and lone Canadian Andrea Dupont in 45th.

We caught up with Stephen, who sits 17th overall up over last year when she finished 20th.

“Last night it rained a bunch and then sleeted and then snowed over the top, but the skiing was good. Pretty transformed snow and the high winds blew some snow into the tracks in places making the conditions slow in some spots and very fast in others. I had a pretty standard classic race for me this season, but the skate portion went much better than the racing has been going lately.  The body was really ready to race out there during the skate.

“The goal going into the season was top 15 in the overall and top 10 in the distance list, but I am close to those goals, and improving over last year’s standings in the overall is certainly something to recognize as a step in the right direction.”

So what was it like sharing in Randall’s Sprint Cup Globe glory yesterday… ? “It is amazing to be Kikkan’s teammate.  She has taught me to believe in myself, how to work harder, try new things, be open to the idea of being the best in the World someday.  The fact that she instills this fun atmosphere on our team while also kicking serious ass on the world cup, year in and year out is really inspirational and special to be a part of.  Im really very proud of her and to be her teammate in so many ways,” commented Stephen.

For Randall it was a tought day as she was feeling the affects of yesterday’s sprint but she’s a fighter and eager to go after any points she can to improve her overall position. She’s in 5th with 801 points and hoping to catch Weng in 4th with 831 points.

“I wanted to be up in the top 15 so I fell short of that goal today. Pretty typical women’s race, hard from the start. To have a good result you have to go with that opening pace and try to stay up near the front. I tried to start hard but my body was pretty tired from the sprint yesterday.

“Great new courses here in Falun.  I’m really impressed with the creativity from the organizers.  These are fun courses to race and will be good championship courses for next year,” Randall told Trax post-race.

With tomorrow being her last WCup race is she happy with her season… ?

“Really pumped to be almost done with the world cup season. It’s been a lot of racing and a lot of emotional energy, especially in the last six weeks.  It’s been a pretty good season.  Overall I was happy with my consistent sprint performance but felt I went backwards a step in my distance skiing.  And of course the Olympics was my biggest goal of the season and I didn’t reach my goals there. I am definitely ending this season wanting more.

Randall left the door open when we asked about her thoughts and/or comments on the next four years and the 2018 Games in South Korea… “A lot to figure out this spring. Will keep you posted,” said the Alaskan star.

We also caught up with Bjornsen who is coming on strong at the end of the season and was happy with her race today… but our first question was about yesterday’s CL sprint as we didn’t connect with her.

“Yesterday was bitter sweet. I had a great qualifier, I felt really strong in my quarters, but I just didn’t ski it the most ideal way. Leading meant that I wasn’t in the correct position for the draft effect, and then didn’t have the extra juice to make up for that at the end. It was pretty cool though to be duking it out with my teammates at a World Cup event – just shows how far we have come. Then to see both of those girls go on to the finals… shows that I will get there some time in the future,” shared Bjornsen.

One of the highlights of the day was Bjornsen’s strong classic performance as she was ninth at the exchange.

“I was really happy with today. I had a good classic leg, and then after getting passed by about ten people in the first 100 meters of the skate, I was able to pull myself together a ski a strong skate leg for my own standards. I have been looking forward to doing some skate skiing, and today was the start to that. Tomorrow will be another good try… there are four races in Anchorage after tomorrow [US Distance Nationals], so lots of racing still to come!

“Overall, I am happy with the season. The beginning went great, the middle was a huge struggle, and now I’m getting the chance to finish off on a high again. I know that I was able to make a jump this year, so that is important – and next year my goals will be the same, but that will also include staying healthy!

“I really like these 2015 World Champ courses! I think they are challenging, but great! I look forward to coming back for Championship events next year,” she concluded.

The final word goes to US Cross Country Head Coach, Chris Grover, who likes what he’s seeing both on snow and behind the scenes.

“Solid day out there for Liz, Kikkan, Sadie, and Noah in particular. We had changing conditions over night with rain and new snow and colder temperatures that we have seen since January this morning. The service team did an excellent job of making great skis and that kept our athletes in the hunt.

“Sadie had a stand-out classic race and Liz had one of the fastest skate legs of the day. Noah was strong all day and very patient in the execution of his race strategy. He climbed up the rankings from start to finish. The final day of the Tour and World Cup Finals has always been an excellent day for the USA so look for many of our men and women to move up in the ranks.

Results here.