Kikkan Randall (USA) finished 37th, an improvement on last week's 44th in the same event. More importantly, Randall went from 3:22 behind the winner to 1:59 back. Randall, who has seen significant international success as a sprinter, is showing she could develop into a competitive distance skier as well.
Finland's Virpi Kuitunen, who has not raced since the opening weekend in October due to illness, showed no ill effects due to the long lay-off. She posted an 11 second victory over Norway's Vibeke Skofterud. Skofterud held the advantage at 6.6km, but Kuitunen showed the form that allowed her to dominate the women's circuit last season, putting an impressive 22 seconds on the Norweigan over the last 3.4 kilometers. A tie for third added both another Finn and Norweigan to the podium. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) and Kristin Stoermer Steria (NOR) finished with an identical time of 27:50.8 – 23.5 seconds behind the Kuitunen.
Said Kuitunen, “I started slowly but I felt good. I’m very, very satisfied with my victory, because I didn’t know where I was after my illness. It is amazing to come back with a victory. ”
Skofterud blamed a mental lapse for losing her lead – “I felt that I started slow but that I had good technique. That was my goal – to have continuously good technique. The last kilometer, I think, it was more mental that I lost so many seconds to Virpi. But I’m very happy to be the leader of the distance World Cup ranking.”
 (Photo Credit: Fischer Skis)</font></center></p></div></div></div><div class=)