Petra Majdic won today’s 30K classic race in Trondheim, Norway. With this win Majdic continues to show that she is one of the best skiers in the world, also placing first in Thursday’s sprint. After a third place on Thursday, Polish skier Justyna Kowalcyz placed second behind Majdic’s time of 1:25:22 with a time of 1:25:33, in a close finish with Japan’s Ishida Masako in 1:25:34.
Majdic skied relatively slow throughout the race, falling to 10th place at the halfway point almost 34 seconds behind Kowalczyk, who lead almost the entire race. Norwegian Therese Johaug and Finn Aino Kaisa Saarinen were also in the mix chasing Kowalczyk early on, but falling to 7th and 9th to finish.
One can speculate that Finnish sprint and distance powerhouse Virpi Kuituten is still recovering from a sickness earlier this week, and so did not enter the race.
Of North American note, Canadian Sarah Renner gave a strong chase throughout, passing 9.3K in 13th before skiing consistently through the remaining checkpoints and finishing 18th in 1:27:26. American resident and Super Tour leader Kristina Strandberg (Saab/Solomon Factory Team), skiing for her native Sweden, placed 34th with a time of 1:31:31.
Petra Majdic currently leads the overall (as well as sprint) world cup standings with 1567 points. Justyna Kowalczyk is in second with 1476, and Aino Kaisa is in third with 1365.
