Finnish 1-2 victory accompanies Virpi Kuitunen’s rise to number one position at Tour de Ski

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Finland’s Virpi Kuitunen has taken the lead in the women’s Tour de Ski event as the cross-country skiing tournament migrates from the Czech Republic to Italy.
      From the Finnish point of view, the fifth leg of the tournament ended on a positive note when Aino-Kaisa Saarinen snatched the women’s classical technique 10 kilometre race, 2.6 seconds ahead of Kuitunen, who came home in second.
      Additional bonus seconds were awarded to the three fastest skiers at the 2.2 kilometre control point as well as at the finish line.
      Since Saarinen and Kuitunen were one and two also at the 2.2 kilometre point, Saarinen took home the full 30 seconds and Kuitunen 20 bonus seconds from the event.
      "The waxing of Aino-Kaisa’s skis could not have been better. On the second round, I was only a second behind her on top of the big climb, but at the bottom of the hill the difference was already ten seconds in Aino-Kaisa’s favour. I tried my best. I wasn’t beaten by a bad skier either", Kuitunen summarised her sentiments.
     
Saarinen has not succeeded as hoped in the tour’s free technique events. Hence, she is currently only sixth in the overall standings. The present number two is Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla, now 25 seconds behind Kuitunen. Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk is third, 42.1 seconds behind the leader.
      Finland’s Riitta-Liisa Roponen, who came in 22nd on Wednesday, is 13th overall. Another Finn, Pirjo Muranen, finished 15th in the fifth race, and continues the tour in 21st place.
      Kuitunen won the inaugural Tour de Ski, raced over eight events and culminating in a terrifying 3.7 km hill-climb at Val di Fiemme in Italy, when it was introduced to the FIS programme last year.
In the men’s events the Finnish duo Ville Nousiainen and Sami Jauhojärvi continue their uphill struggle. On Wednesday they finished 20th and 35th respectively, entitling them to overall tour standings of 18th and 28th.
      Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic is already in an overwhelming lead, over two minutes ahead of his nearest rivals.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Winter Sports: Virpi Kuitunen wins Tour de Ski in fine style (8.1.2007)

Links:
  FIS Tour de Ski

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