January 05, 2012 (Cortina, Italy) – Marit Bjoergen (NOR) finally claimed the red leader’s bib over her closest rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) on Stage 7 of the 2012 Tour de Ski, a 15km free race with handicap start. The two were tied at three wins apiece before the stage, but at the end of the day, Bjoergen edged ahead grabbing the win and the leader’s bib for the first time during the nine-stage contest.

While it’s a small margin of seven seconds it’s the first time Bjoergen has ever been the Tour’s overall leader. She is now poised to become the first Norwegian to win the TdS. Team mate Therese Johaug (NOR) raced in a lonely limbo, maintaining her third place ranking and finished +3:16.9 behind.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall had a solid day, finishing fifth after starting fourth. She didn’t have the best first half but as her engine warmed up she picked up the pace. Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) caught and passed her on the second lap to claim fourth on the day and is now 4th overall. Randall won a hard-fought race for fifth in an all-out sprint with Marthe Kristoffersen (NOR) and Charlotte Kalla (SWE), who settled for sixth and seventh, respectively.

Temperatures on race day were a comfortable minus 3 C when Kowalczyk pushed off first, 4.8s ahead of Bjoergen, who proceeded to bridge to her. Together, Kowalczyk and Bjoergen maintained their head-to-head battle over the entire 15km distance, neither able to shake the other.

When Bjoergen launched an attack on the second lap, Kowalczyk responded, refusing to be shaken. The race was decided in the final metres, when Kowalczyk made a small technical mistake, allowing Bjoergen to surge away and gain precious seconds for the win and the overall lead.

Johaug, in third place overall, now trails the leader by 3:20 and will have a hard time making up lost ground on the final two stages of the Tour. Randall also has her work cut out as she is 15 seconds from Lahteenmahki in fourth but is being hunted closely by Kristoffersen at only four-tenths of a second behind. In fact, sixth through 11th place are all within a minute of the American.

Women’s 15km FR results HERE.
Women’s 15km FR results detail HERE.
Women’s TdS Overall HERE.