Sweden's Adam Steen turned the China Tour de Ski upside down this morning with as much convincing as surprising a win in the Xiwuqi Ski Sprint today. What's more, Steen saw overall leader Anders Hoegberg struggle to only 8th place and takes over as overall leader of the Tour! In the women's Isa Lindkvist rose to the occasion and outsprinted Lisa Svensson and Astrid Bruland.
Sweden’s Adam Steen turned the China Tour de Ski upside down this morning with as much convincing as surprising a win in the Xiwuqi Ski Sprint today. What’s more, Steen saw overall leader Anders Hoegberg struggle to only 8th place and takes over as overall leader of the Tour! In the women’s Isa Lindkvist rose to the occasion and outsprinted Lisa Svensson and Astrid Bruland.
Better weather conditions in Xiwuqi for the Ski sprint compared to yesterday’s distance race did not reveal a change in fortune for Adam Johansson. Last year’s overall winner had a late season start in Europe and was still chasing the facts today, although a 5th place signals an improvement in form. He could become a key figure in the final two stages in Nalati as his younger brother Lukas Johansson has turned into a serious challenger for the overall title. After his splendid stage victory yesterday, Lukas finished second again today behind the invincible Adam Steen.
Already in the morning, Steen was fastest in the qualifying round, and as the finish photo indicates he was clearly the best man of the day. In the standings, he jumps into the lead with an advantage of six points over Anders Hoegberg and 34 over Lukas Johansson. In fourth is stage 1 winner Viktor Gustafsson, who came in third today and keeps scoring points. Gustafsson is 48 points behind but not out of this one yet. Behind those four there is a more substantial gap to Johan Eriksson, Romain Claudon and Tim Reynolds. Adam Johansson is down in 12th place.
Isa Lindkvist was a new stage winner in the women’s, which puts her in second place overall behind Norway’s Astrid Bruland. The gap is nearly 100 points, however, and things have to go very badly wrong for Bruland in Nalati not to take the overall title. Nevertheless, Lisa Svensson is getting better and better again with second place today. Svensson dominated the two races in Nalati last season to come back from behind and claim the championship. China’s Ma Qinghua and Chen Shuang remain in contention for the podium as well.
Results Stage 4: Xiwuqi Ski Sprint -1.2km
Men
Women
Overall classification after stage 4
Men:
1. Adam Steen (SWE) 240 points
2. Anders Hoegberg (SWE) 234
3. Lukas Johansson (SWE) 204
4. Viktor Gustfasson (SWE) 192
5. Johan Eriksson (SWE) 142
6. Romain Claudon (FRA) 135
7. Tim Reynolds (USA) 131
8. Halvard Moiian Nydal (NOR) 123
9. Baptiste Noel (FRA) 119
10. Bob Niemi Impola (SWE) 114
11. Drew Goldsack (CAN) 91
12. Adam Johansson (SWE) 87
12. Nils Koons (NZL) 87
14. Zhao Dalong (CHN) 77
15. Lukas Weitgasser (AUT) 72
Women:
1. Astrid Bruland (NOR) 340 points
2. Ida Linkvist (SWE) 246
3. Lisa Svensson (SWE) 235
4. Ma Qinghua (CHN) 234
5. Chen Shuang (CHN) 198
6. Ida Eide (NOR) 158
7. Oda Harmmerness Pedersen (NOR) 127
8. Bjoern Linnea (SWE) 120
9. Yang Liu (CHN) 118
10. Qu Ying (CHN) 103
