March 10, 2013 (Lahti, Finland) – Brisk -15 degree temperatures greeted skiers in Lahti this morning as the day belonged to Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) who scored a resounding win in the women’s 10km CL individual start with a 23.1s margin over Marit Bjoergen (NOR), thereby solidifying her grip on the overall WCup title. Heidi Weng (NOR) grabbed third place ahead of teammate Therese Johaug in 4th.

But the loudest cheers may have come from the American camp as Alaskan skier Sadie Bjornsen laid down another personal best for her first top-20 distance result as the top North American as well. This followed her stellar 9th place in the Classic Sprints yestersday putting Lahti high on her list of favourite venues. Bjornsen was 5th in the same distance and technique at the U23 Worlds in Ezurum, Turkey last year.

“Yesterday was my first top 10 in sprinting and today was my first top 20 in distance skiing… so I guess I kind of like it here,” Bjornsen told SkiTrax post-race. “I felt good on the start line and the 10km CL is one of my favourite races so I was really looking forward to it.

“The course tough and challenging with lots of climbing… but every uphill offers a chance from some recovery so you have to keep that in mind and pace yourself properly. I had good skis and it was a cold day – my tests told me it was going to be a good one. I like the individual starts as well because growing up I did a lot of them and always liked being able to do secret things like hammer when noone thinks you still can.” The course in Lahti was very different than the one in Turkey according to Bjornsen – full interview coming soon.

Teammates Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall were also in the points tied in 28th as Randall sits third overall in the overall WCup standings (1,009) behind Therese Johaug in 2nd (1,097) while Kowalczyk leads with a whopping 1,678 points. The closest rival to Randall, who locked up the Sprint Cup globe yesterday, is Norway’s Kristin Stoermer Steira in 4th with 929 points. Fans would love to see Randall land on the overall WCup podium as well.

“Today was a step in the right direction for getting my distance racing back on track. The feelings were much better than in Val di Fiemme. Started off a bit too slow today but found a good rhythm on the 2nd lap. It’s nice to finally be back at sea level after having spent 2 full months at altitude…

“Conditions were pretty nice today, although quite cold.  I had great skis.  I felt like I skied technically better in my warmup than I did during the race which was a little frustrating.  I haven’t quite found the classic form that I had last season. Really cool to see Sadie have another personal best day,” said Randall post-race.

Just out of the points today was Canada’s Daria Gaiazova in 33rd followed by Jessie Diggins (USA) in 43rd and Ida Sargent in 44th. Emily Nishikawa (CAN) finished 54th and Rosie Brennan (USA) placed 61st.

“I was happy to be so close to the top-30, only eight seconds out, but at the same time I misjudged my speed and perceived effort and did not ski hard enough in the last three kilometres,” said Gaiazova. “Nonetheless this effort today will be beneficial for my racing shape for the classic sprint in Drammen.”

Next stop is in Drammen on March 13 for the CL Sprints…

Final results HERE.
Overall WCup Standings HERE.