November 28, 2011 (Kuusamo, FIN) – While Marit Bjoergen surprised noone with her victory of the mini-tour title in Kuusamo, Finland this past weekend, North American fans were also given plenty to cheer about as American Kikkan Randall threw down the gauntlet claiming 6th overall. Following in her footsteps was teammate Holly Brooks who achieved a breakthrough of her own this past weekend putting together two solid distance races, finishing 17th on in the 5km freestyle race, and 22nd in the pursuit, climbing to 23rd overall in the tour.

Randall battled hard in Sunday’s pursuit, starting ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, but couldn’t quite hold off the determined Polish star. “It was hard,” Randall told SkiTrax by phone in a post-race interview, “I was kind of skiing in no-man’s land, starting between Johaug and Kowalczyk. Kowalczyk caught me on the first lap and I hung with her for about a kilometre, but she was carrying a little more momentum on the flats and got a bit of a gap on me.

“I also knew there was a group chasing from behind so I just had to keep fighting to stay in front, and luckily I crossed the line before they caught me,” she added.

With her effort Randall solidified her position within the elite of women’s cross-country skiing. Finishing a best-ever 4th in the sprint, 12th in the 5km skate and 16th in the final 10km classice race finished just behind Kowalczyk in 6th overall.

The Norwegians swept the final pursuit race with Therese Johaug taking the win, Bjoergen claiming second and a happy Vibeke Skofterud landed on the podium in third. Bjoergen is now four-for-five in individual World Cup races this season and takes a commanding lead in the World Cup overall series with 446 points. Her Norwegian teammates, Johaug and Skofterud, are in second and third with 316 and 309 points respectively.

Following back-to-back weekends of racing the Norwegian star has also pocketed 64,750 Swiss Francs ($70,600 US) in prize money for her efforts.

“I’m very satisfied with my race today,” Bjoergen told FIS Cross Country. “I knew I had to be fast in the beginning. I’m very happy and especially to have my friends by my side on the podium. I also had very good skis today.”

As well Randall currently sits 6th overall in the World Cup standings after Kuusamo, with 189 points and is confident going forward, particularly for the Tour de Ski where she finished 21st overall last year.

“This gives me good confidence. It’s fun to know that I can be solidly in the top 10. Obviously my fitness is in a good place now and I think I could get stronger as I continue to race so the Tour de Ski is going to be something to look forward to knowing that this mini-tour went well.”

Racing for the first time in Kuusamo, Brooks shook off a disappointing 70th in the sprint race on Friday and rallied in the distance races.

“Today’s race was an absolute BLAST!,” an excited Brooks told SkiTrax, “Four laps on a 2.5km course felt a bit like roller derby… it seemed like we were always going up or down, with very little flat skiing or double poling at all.”

She credited her wax technicians for providing her with good skis for the race: “Once again the wax techs, and specifically, Casey Fagerquist hooked me up with some great race skis.  There were some HUGE climbs out there and there were some girls herring-boning on the first and second laps up the steepest pitches.  I had better kick than the girls skiing around me and was able to ski efficiently up the hills.”

Brooks also suggested that had the race been longer she might have moved up even higher: “I almost wish that the race had been another 1/2 or full lap, as I was gaining on a large group of girls right in front of me.”

“I’m really satisfied with the result and this entire weekend has been an absolute blast. It’s nice to finish on a high note after being disappointed with my sprint result,” she concluded. “I think that the mini tours suit me well because overall, I’m a fairly well-rounded skier.”

Brooks now sits in 26th overall in the World Cups standings after Sjusjoen and Kussamo.

Other North American women completing the Kuusamo mini-tour today included the USA’s Liz Stephen, who finished in 35th overall, as well as Ida Sargent (38th) and Sadie Bjornsen (59th).

Speaking to SkiTrax by phone after the race Stephen said: “It was really good, we had amazing skis today, and a lot of the North Americans started really close together so I skied some of the race with Ida and a little bit with Sadie so that was cool, and it was my best classic World Cup result on the day today and almost got me back into the top 30 for the weekend but not quite.

“I’ll keep working on those sprints and maybe one day the mini-tours will suit me a little better,” she said, referring to her 85th position in the classic sprint event on Friday.

Racing for Canada today were Chandra Crawford (54th), Perianne Jones (57th) and Alysson Marshall (69th). “Did what I could and went all out, finished the Ruka triple in 54th but stayed positive and pushed it the whole way,” Crawford tweeted to her followers later in the day. Dasha Gaiazova did not start the final stage.

Women’s 1okm Pursuit results HERE.
Women’s Mini-Tour results HERE.
Women’s WCup Overall HERE.