December 07, 2013 (Lillehammer, Norway) – The USA’s Sadie Bjornsen continues to outperform matching her career-best 7th place in the women’s 10km CL individual start today at round 2 of the FIS XC World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway in cold (-10) windy conditions. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) asserted her authority claiming the victory by 12.4s over Charlotte Kalla (SWE) who is also showing consistent good form early in the season for another podium result. Norwegian legend Marit Bjørgen settled for third with teammate Therese Johaug in 4th and Russian Yulia Tchekaleva in 5th. The USA’s Kikkan Randall had a solid day in 18th as Jessie Diggins also landed in the points placing 30th followed by Ida Sargent in 39th. No Canadians competed.

Bjornsen in the hot seat © courtesy of Liz Stephen

Bjornsen enjoyed a stint in the race leader’s chair as well which added some lustre to her day. “It’s exciting to have another consistent result the same as last weekend and it was fun to watch the race from the leader’s chair. You never know what’s going to happen each weekend but when you can do it twice it’s always more rewarding. Each race you become more comfortable and I had great skis. It was cold and windy out there but once you got going it was fine and the course was challenging – lot’s of up and down and you’re definitely working every second. I mentioned to my Mom that Kuusamo was the toughest course I’d done but now it’s Lillehammer,” Bjornsen told Trax post race – full interview to follow.

For Randall it was another good day at the office. “Yep, another solid day here in Lillehammer. It was a tough course for sure but it actually skied pretty well. Lots of different sections and fun downhills to keep your attention! My skis were great today and the conditions were just about as perfect as it gets for classic skiing, nice hard track and easy to get strong kick.

Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) in control © Nordic Focus

“I felt like I had good energy out there but wasn’t able to ski as technically well as I wanted. I skied an even pace but I still can’t quite seem to find that real aggressive race gear. I was hoping for a little better today but it was still a solid race. I think this will be the perfect preparation for the relay tomorrow. Out teams haven’t been confirmed quite yet but I think I’ll be skiing a classic leg on our first team,” Randall told SkiTrax. The USA will be fielding two women’s teams – a first – and all eight girls will be racing.

Diggins had great skis and feels her classic is improving and of course she was excited with her teammate’s performance. “I am so proud of Sadie for today’s gutsy race! It was a hard course out there, with great trails that flowed up and down and around with wide grooming and great fans lining the sides.

Charlotte Kalla (SWE) is on form © Nordic Focus

“I had great skis, and I was so excited to feel like there were some spots out there today where I was skiing with much better technique than last year! I didn’t pace my race very well and flooded my legs a bit in the second lap, so I definitely lost time and if I had to do it again I know what I’d fix, but overall I’m happy to get in the points in a classic race with the Norwegian nation’s cup field racing!

As for tomorrow’s relay Diggins is dialed. “Of course, I love relays so much that I am really REALLY pumped for tomorrow. I’m excited to skate the anchor leg and I think this course will be a good one for transitions, which I really like,” she commented.

Bjornsen is looking forward to tomorrow’s relay, “It’s going to be really exciting and I’m looking forward to it… all the girls agree it’s the most exciting race of them all.” The final line up for both US relay teams will be decided later today.

Check out Bjornsen’s FIS XC pre-race interview here.

Final podium (l-r) Bjoergen 3rd, Kowalczyk 1st, Kalla 3rd © Nordic Focus

Results

1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 13:33.7
2. Charlotte Kalla (SWE) 12.4
3. Marit Bjørgen (NOR) 25.6
4. Therese Johaug (NOR) 39.0
5. Yulia Tchekaleva (RUS) 1:03.1
6. Heidi Weng (NOR) 1:06.8
7. Sadie Bjornsen (USA) 1:18.3
18. Kikkan Randall (USA) 1:50.4
30. Jessie Diggins (USA) 2:33.4
39. Ida Sargent (USA) 2:53.5

Full results HERE