January 02, 2011 (Oberstdorf, Germany) – Petra Majdic (SLO) was on a mission today as she romped to victory soloing in at the women’s 1.2km classic sprint final with a huge gap over TdS leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) in second and Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in third. After topping the qualifications, it was Majdic’s way of saying “I’m back”.

The Slovenian star has had a lacklustre start to her season this year following a traumatic injury last year when she crashed during training at the 2010 Vancouver Games but still managed to take home classic sprint bronze despite broken ribs and a punctured lung.

There was no stopping Majdic today. After racing through her 1/4 final heat she demolished the group in her semi final soloing in for the win. In the final against Kowalczyk she quickly went to front again and soon had a gap on the chasers and she kept extending her lead to the finish with no challengers.

In the finish area she was all smiles pumping her arms over and over celebrating her win. “I am very happy and will enjoy this win. It was a great race and I felt better and better during it,” Majdic told FIS XC. “I like this kind of tough course. This win was also extremely important for my self confidence that I can still win.”

Kowalczyk dominated her heats as well but in the final was not able to respond to Majdic and battled Jacobsen for second as she continues to lead the Tour with Majdic now in second

“I am satisfied with second place today,” said Kowalczyk in post-race when interviewed by FIS XC, “I’m in a good position in the Tour de Ski ranking but know that a good advantage can be fast undone. I will be fighting for bonus points tomorrow and will think more about my tactics.”

The USA’s freestyle sprint specialist, Kikkan Randall qualified 18th, one of her better classic efforts, but faced a tough 1/4 final heat with Kowalczyk and Charlotte Kalle (SWE) and was eliminated.

“I felt good but was struggling to find good kick,” said Randall in a phone interview with SkiTrax. “My skis were good but had trouble finding the right rhythm. I had more to give and it was a bit frustrating.” She was close to Kowalczyk and Kalle during the heat but hit a wall and then found herself batting with Russia’s Julia Ivanova in the finishing stretch.

“Coming over the last hill I was in third but the Russian skier caught up and we matched each other stride for stride. It was really close and in the end she got to the line first and ended up being the lucky loser as ours was the fastest heat.”

It was as tough break but Randall was satisfied as this was one of her best classic performances to date. “I felt strong and this was one of my better classic sprints – it’s a tough course but I like it. You always have to push to the end because you never know about your heat until later. This time I was the unlucky loser.”

“It was definitely Kikkan’s best classic sprint of the year,” said US Head Coach Chris Grover. Randall just missed being the lucky loser spot by a mere two-tenths of a second behind Russia’s Ivanova.

After three solid days of racing Randall sits 19th overall at the TdS and said she’s ready for more. “Tomorrow will be hard but I’m looking forward to making gains where I can.”

Results HERE.
Overall HERE.
Overall detail HERE.