March 15, 2008 (Bormio/St. Caterina) – After the second day of the World Cup Final in Bormio/St. Caterina, Virpi Kuitunen (Fin) and Vincent Vittoz (Fra) are in the lead of the World Cup Final ranking. Both of them finished first in the classical mass start race. In the 10km classical mass start race on the challenging course in St. Caterina, Kuitunen crossed the finish line first after having a tight fight with Justyna Kowalczyk (Pol) on the last meters. Kuitunen finished 0.6 seconds ahead of Kowalczyk. The Norwegian Marit Bjoergen (Nor) took the third place, 3.0 seconds behind the winner.

Thanks to her 30 bonus seconds, Kuitunen is now leading the World Cup Final standing after the prologue and the 10km with a total time of 38:21.8 minutes, only 2,5 seconds behind is Kowalczyk and in third place follows Claudia Nystad (Ger), at 27.6 seconds behind Kuitunen.

In the men’s race, Vittoz attacked after 1.5km and took the lead and hold on until the end of the race. In second at the finish was the overall World Cup winner Lukas Bauer (Cze) 18.3 seconds behind Vittoz, and in third position was Tord Asle Gjerdalen from Norway.

With all the intermediate sprint bonus points, 1.15 min in total, Vittoz is in the lead of the World Cup Final ranking with a total time of 58:48,8 minutes, 57,5 seconds ahead of Bauer with Gjerdalen in third at 1:42.6 minute behind Vittoz, who managed today his first top place in a classical race on World Cup level.

The World Cup Final of the 2007/2008 Cross-Country World Cup season is Sunday – 10km (ladies) and 15km (men) handicap start race. Starting times are 14.00h for ladies and 16.00h for men. After the races, all the overall Prize Giving Ceremonies will take place.

Men

1. Vincent Vittoz (Fra) 51:27.5
2. Lukas Bauer (Cze) 51:45.8
3. Tord Asle Gjerdalen (Nor) 52:19.6
4. Valerio Checchi (Ita) 52:33.2
5. Simen Oestensen (Nor) 52:48.0

20. Devon Kershaw (Can) 54:26.4

Women

1. Virpi Kuitunen (Fin) 30:52.0
2. Justyna Kowalczyk (Pol) 30:52.6
3. Marit Bjoergen (Nor) 30:55.0
4. Marianna Longa (Ita) 30:58.8
5. Claudia Nystad (Ger) 31:18.0

Full results women.

Full results men.