Justyna Kowalczyk wins, leads Tour de Ski
Tour de Ski
Sun, Jan 2, 2011 - By FIS
Justyna Kowalczyk confirmed she's in great shape by winning today's second stage of the Tour de Ski with clear dominance.
Kowalczyk claimed victory with 27.5 seconds ahead of the surprise of the day: Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) and 30.5 seconds ahead of Marianna Longa (ITA). The Tour favourites are now compact among the first ten with Aino Kaisa Saaringen (FIN, 4th), Petra Majdic (SLO, 5th) Riitta Lisa Roponen (FIN,6th), Charlotte Kalla (SWE, 7th ) and Arianna Follis on the 8th place.
Kowalczyk showed a great performance and attacked from the beginning to increase her lead of 6,5 seconds. Not even the light snowfall prevented her from this goal. Until the end, Kowalczyk made a total gap of 27,5 seconds and is now leading the Tour thanks to additional 15 bonus seconds with 32,5 seconds ahead of Krista Lahteenmaki.
In the Tour sprint ranking Kowalczyk is leading with a total of 30 points. Kirsta Lahteemaki (FIN) and Charlotte Kalla (SWE) share the second place.
Third stage of thr Tour with a classical sprint is on tomorrows schedule in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Weather conditions: -4 degrees, light snow
Snow conditions: hard packed snow
Spectators: 4500
Quotes:
Justyna Kowalczyk:
"My tactic was to go very fast in the start, and to finish first. The tracks were really good as well as the snow, it is all I need for skiing well. My service men did a good job, my skis were great both in up and downhill. My goal for tomorrow is to have a good race. I remember Oberstdorf have really good tracks and I look forward to continue the Tour. Toblach will be my hardest race during the Tour. Charlotte Kalla is right when she says that there she has the best possibilities to beat me. It is important for me to stay concentrated and healthy in order to win the Tour, so the Tour is not over yet.”