After her majestic triumph in yesterday’s distance race, Lisa Svensson did not lose control in the Nalati ski sprint today and crowned herself as the 2013 China Tour de Ski champion. Julia Jansson courageously took the fight to Svensson until the closing metres of the sprint final, but had to settle for second. Long-time Tour leader Frida Hallqvist was already eliminated in the quarterfinal.
Three women still had a solid chance to take the overall going into the seventh and final stage in Nalati (also called Narat). Frida Hallqvist, however, knew what was coming when she could only qualify 15th fastest in the morning and 15 seconds down on Svensson, who was flying already. In the next round Hallqvist was indeed sent packing, which left Julia Jansson as the sole challenger for Svensson. The 20-year-old queen of Tianshan Tianchi did not have easy runs at first neither, but got things together eventually and pushed her target all the way to the finish line. Svensson was overjoyed as she crossed it.
This year’s women’s Tour had quite a few faces. First, China’s Chen Shuang and Chi Chunxue surprisingly beat the European field in the 52.5km classic-style Changchun stage. The awfully cold conditions took a lot out of the young girls, however, and they seriously struggled in Xiwuqi, where their chances for the overall got jeopardised. Also because Sweden’s Frida Hallqvist very much looked the part at that time. Finland’s Jenni Hoylanen won the ski sprint in Xiwuqi and presented herself as a serious contender, but she could not repeat the same feat afterwards. Julia Jansson, meanwhile, got better and better and began her pursuit of Hallqvist and Lisa Svensson in the standings. Svensson had been consistently scoring a lot of points but seemed to lack that final bit to actually win a stage. Her star seemed to fade in the ski sprint at Tianshan Tianchi, where she failed to make it to the final four. Meanwhile, Jansson dominated stages 4 and 5 and entered the Nalati Ski arena as Hallqvist main opponent. Svensson, however, returned to the fore and pulled a superb downhill ski move to finally claim a stage victory in stage 6. The race was dramatic for Jansson (6th) and especially Hallqvist (only 11th): all of a sudden Svensson was heading the overall classification with just one ski sprint left on the schedule. Ultimately, the points difference reads 51. That is not nothing, so Lisa Svensson surely was the most regular performer among the women and a well-deserved China Tour de Ski champion!
Stage 7 – Nalati, Xinyuan, Xinjiang – Ski Sprint 1.2km – Women
1. Lisa Svensson (SWE)
2. Julia Jansson (SWE)
3. Astrid Bruland (NOR)
4. Chi Chunxue (CHN)
Full results are now available on the Nalati results page.
China Tour de Ski – Overall final classification – Women
1. Lisa Svensson (SWE)
2. Julia Jansson (SWE)
3. Frida Halqvist (SWE)
4. Chen Shuang (CHN)
Final podium of the women’s 2013 China Tour de Ski with Lisa Svensson in the middle.
Lisa Svensson was already the fastest in the qualifying heats in the morning by over 3 seconds
Chi Chunxue and Astrid Bruland took the best start in the final
Final descent: Lisa Svensson leads but Julia Jansson (fourth in this photo) still gets close
Astrid Bruland (3rd) and Chi Chunxue touch each other in the final U-turn and Jansson sneaks past to challenge Svensson