January 3, 2010 (Oberhof, Germany) – Petra Majdic (SLO) pulled out the stops to score again on Stage 3 of the Tour de Ski winning the women’s 1.6km Classic Sprint on Sunday over series leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) in second and top qualifier Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) in 3rd. Majdic is now 4th overall.

Norway was 1-2 in the men’s 1.6km Classic Sprint demonstrating their speed power once again as Eldar Roenning earned the victory with team mate and TdS men’s overall leader Petter Northug in second as Germany’s Axel Teichmann flexed his sprint muscles for Oberhof fans to take 3rd on the podium. Andy Newell (USA) finished a solid 8th gaining valuable points in the FIS World Cup sprint standings and keeps knocking on the podium door while Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished in 16th, a good result for the tough skier recovering from recent sickness, now 13th overall. Newell is 8th overall in the TdS Sprint standings.

Qualifications
Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) put in a searing qualification time of 4:19.67 to top the women’s field in the 1.6km Classic Sprint at Stage 3 of the 2010 Tour de Ski in Oberhof on Sunday. Previous Tour de Ski sprint winners Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Petra Majdic (SLO) were second and third and have been put on notice – Saarinen is back on form. Italy’s speedster Arianna Follis placed 4th, followed by a newcomer to the top 5 Katerina Smutna (AUT). Canadian Sara Renner was 5 seconds out of the top 30 in 42nd place at +24.18 and did not advance (only the top 30 skiers continue to the next rounds).

Emil Joensson (SWE) broke the Petter Northug (Nor) domination topping the men’s 1.6km qualifications in Oberhof on Sunday besting Eldar Roenning (NOR) by 2.02 seconds, and Nikolay Chebotko (KAZ) by 2.44seconds. Northug (NOR) was 6th at 4.51 seconds out. Andy Newell (USA) led the North Americans in 16th place with Canadians Devon Kershaw in 23rd, Alex Harvey just missing the cut in 31st, Ivan Babikov 55th, and George Gray was 63rd.

Women’s 1.6km Classic Sprint Qualifications here.
Men’s 1.6km Classic Sprint Qualifications here.

Women’s 1.6km Classic Sprint final here.
Men’s 1.6km Classic Sprint final here.

Women’s Tds Sprint Standings here.
Men’s Tds Sprint Standings here.

Women’s Tds Overall Standings here.
Men’s Tds Overall Standings here.

Results (brief)

Women

1. Petra Majdic (SLO)
2. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)
3. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN)

Men

1. Eldar Roenning (NOR)
2. Petter Northug (NOR)
3. Axel Teichmann (Ger)

8. Andy Newell (USA)
16. Devon Kershaw (CAN)

Qualifications (brief)

Women

1. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) 4:19.67
2. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) +2.48
3. Petra Majdic (SLO) +5.25
4. Arianna Follis (ITA) +7.57
5. Katerina Smutna (AUT) +9.74

42. Sara Renner (CAN) +24.18

Men

1. Emil Joensson (SWE) 3:41.78
2. Eldar Roenning (NOR) +2.02
3. Nikolay Chebotko (KAZ) +2.55
4. Teodor Peterson (SWE) +3.91
5. Ivan Alypov (RUS) +4.22

15. Andy Newell (USA) +8.96
23. Devon Kershaw (CAN) +11.14
31. Alex Harvey (CAN) +12.71
56. Ivan Babikov (CAN) +19.53
83. George Grey (CAN) +20.42