Swedish cross country skiing star Andreas Hoegberg outran Norway's Sindre Hoff in a hotly disputed final of the 10th Vasaloppet China in Changchun. After 52.5k in sunny but cold conditions in Jingyue Park, Hoegberg had a gap of less than half a minute over Sindre. His victory in the biggest cross country skiing event in Asia also made Hoegberg the overall winner of the 2012 China Tour de Ski. 
Swedish cross country skiing star Andreas Hoegberg outran Norway’s Sindre Hoff in a hotly disputed final of the 10th Vasaloppet China in Changchun. After 52.5k in sunny but cold conditions in Jingyue Park, Hoegberg had a gap of less than half a minute over Sindre. His victory in the biggest cross country skiing event in Asia also made Hoegberg the overall winner of the 2012 China Tour de Ski. Third place on the podium went to Finland’s Kust Kittilae. Several thousands of participants lined up at the starting line at 9.30 a.m. for the big festival that keeps on growing. After one of three laps of 17.5km, a group of about ten skiers took the lead. Afterwards, one by one started to drop back as the distance began to make itself felt.
The women’s race was also a rather close call between France’s Elodie Bourgeois-Pin and Sweden’s Anna Svendsen. After two podium finishes in Xiwuqi, Bourgeois-Pin took the top prize in Changchun. The final step on the podium went to Solweig Andreassen from Norway. The winner of both previous Tour de Ski stages last week, Solweig Steinsland, finished fifth in the classic-style competition.
Earlier on the day,olympic champion Sven-Ake Lundback proved that even at age 63 he is still very quick on skis by comfortably winning the Blueberry Vasa of 17.5k, ahead of Kar-Johani Arponen. The fastest woman came from Russia: Zoia Telegina. She beat Elizabeth Hansson and Ana-Hassis Stabi.
Unofficial results
Women 52.5k
- 1 132 2:47:58 Bourgeois Pin Elodie 1345099 FRA
- 2 151 2:48:52 Svendsen Anna 3425381 NOR
- 3 152 2:51:34 Andreassen Solweig 3425547 NOR
- 4 110 2:53:14 Guin Mari Riseth 3425261 NOR
- 5 181 2:56:40 Steinsland Solweig 3425402 NOR
Men 52.5k
- 1 2 2:23:02 Hoegberg Anders 1238787 SWE
- 2 32 2:23:15 Hoff Sindre 3420739 NOR
- 3 10 2:26:59 Kittilae Kust 1344808 FIN
- 4 26 2:27:10 Harkonen Teemu 3180200 FIN
- 5 29 2:27:38 Caspersen Falla Marus 3420935 NOR
- 6 37 2:27:39 Norlen Samuel 3500325 NOR
- 7 19 2:27:40 Juursalu Timo 3390075 FIN
- 8 24 2:28:29 Jelonen Henri 3180345 FIN
- 9 22 2:29:43 Sellis Siim 3390055 EST
- 10 31 2:30:29 Resaland Mats Rudin 3420918 NOR
Women 17.5k
- 1 629 1:11:14 0 Telegina Zoia RUS
- 2 552 1:17:10 +5:56 Hansson Elisabeth SWE
- 3 333 1:18:50 +7:36 Hassis Stabi Anna SWE
- 4 628 1:20:29 +9:15 Ivanova Elena RUS
Men 17.5Km
- 1 502 1:02:26 0 Lundback Sven-Ake SWE
- 2 475 1:12:34 +10:08 Tuovinen Aki FIN
- 3 592 1:14:24 +11:58 Arponen Kari Juhani FIN
- 4 508 1:20:57 +18:31 Li Pi Wei CHN
More news and total official result to be found on special Vasaloppet China website.
photos courtesy of Tommy Nyhlen