Justyna Kowalczyk could celebrate her third straight win of Tour de Ski today. Starting 11 seconds ahead of Marit Bjoergen, the Polish lady had no interest of finishing second, and made an amazing race up the steep Alpe Cermis. Finishing strongly, Kowalczyk came to the finish line more than half a minute in front of Bjoergen. Therese Johaug completed the podium, who had taken more than 40 seconds to the two strong girls.
Bjoergen caught up with Kowalczyk around 1.5 km, and the two girls skied together for the first part of the race. Starting on the final climb, Kowalczyk showed that there’s a reason for why she has won the three last editions of Tour de Ski. By steady skiing uphill, Bjoergen had to let go and lost several seconds on the last kilometres. Getting stiffer and stiffer, Bjoergen had to see her biggest contender take the win, and cheer for a second spot. Her dream of becoming the first Norwegian winner of Tour de Ski didn’t come true. With thousands of spectators cheering for the athletes on the final climb, the last stage of Tour de Ski will be remembered as a great success. Despite the big group of Norwegians the crowd were cheering for Kowalczyk and you could hear “Justyna, Justyna” far down the course.
Therese Johaug who started third, 4:49 minutes behind Kowalczyk was never any threat of the two girls up front in today’s stage. Although she skied fast and took more than 40 seconds, she finished third and could celebrate yet another great Tour performance. Krista Lahteenmaki showed great performance by taking 4th spot, having a great speed up the final climb. Marthe Kristoffersen finished 5th and could thereby be satisfied with her performance, as she wanted to improve from her 7th spot last year.
Tour de Ski has had its last stage, and we congratulate Kowalczyk with a great win. She is now the queen of Tour de Ski, and we already look forward to the next edition!
The men’s race start at 14:30.
