Canadians Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova hung tough and charged late to pick up their first podium of the season, notching third in Sunday's classic team sprint at the Sochi World Cup. Finland's Mona-Liisa Malvalehto and Anne Kyllönen skied away from Russia for the victory, winning by more than five seconds.
It took Finland’s Mona-Liisa Malvalehto 67 World Cup starts to achieve her first podium, but she did it in winning fashion Saturday in the classic sprint, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Maiken Caspersen Falla and Dasha Gaiazova. A mother with a musical background and reality show title, Malvalehto won the first of two sprints in Liberec, Czech Republic.
Justyna Kowalczyk didn’t have to say a word. Marit Bjørgen knew it was on. Kowalczyk, the three-time defending Tour de Ski champion from Poland, had spent the better part of the last two weeks recovering from her most recent Tour victory. Bjørgen, the Tour de Ski runner-up, had done the same, skipping last weekend’s races in Milan, Italy, to prepare for Otepää, Estonia. While the two rivals didn’t face off until the final of Saturday’s...