We again  saw exciting races yesterday, especially in the men's race because all competitors came together quite early on in the race. The attack by Matti Heikkinen at about km 5 was very good for the attraction of the race; it made it interesting. Also Maxim Vylegzhanin's attack was very good, and I think it was at the right time for winning the race. Both of them tried their best to beat the "killer" Petter Northug but as we can see in the end, it was still not enough.

For the overall ranking, nothing is decided as we still have 26 athletes within 30 seconds.

In the ladies race, Kowalczyk, Saarinen and Steira were clearly the best yesterday. Since Kowalczyk had an advantage from the start compared with Steira and Saarinen, she also had more strength at the end and claimed victory. In the ladies' race, it is clearer in the overall ranking. I guess only the top 15 from yesterday still have some chance to get on the podium on Alpe Cermis.

Yesterday's race was not the best for our team. The classical technique is not our favored one, especially in this kind of snow conditions. Just Jean Marc Gaillard could keep in the right pace but he, too, fell back in the last lap.