After five exciting stages at three locations in northern China, Swedish skiers Emil Johansson and Lisa Svensson have crowned themselves as this year’s China Tour de Ski champions in Xiwuqi, Inner Mongolia. Both athletes kept their nearest rivals in check during the ski sprint, and Johansson even took his third stage win.
Three stage wins in five races, there is no doubt who was number 1 in the men’s competition this year. Czech skier Daniel Maca tried his best and scored several podium finishes, and even narrowed the points gap down the minimum in yesterday’s distance race in Xiwuqi, but ultimately Johansson had to much sprinting power. Maca could only manage 8th place today. In fact, it was Norway’s Martin Hammer who sprinted to second place, ahead of yesterday’s stage winner Lukas Johansson and Seb Olsson.
Lisa Svensson had more pressure as she got eliminated in the semi final today, and Terese Andersson made it through to the final four. No gifts were handed out, though, as Mimi Bjoern and Holly Brooks proceeded to beat Andersson into third place. Chen Shuang came fourth, and Svensson – based on time – was ranked fifth, which is just enough to retain her points lead in the general classification and therefore win her second China Tour de Ski title since 2013.
Stage 5 Ski Sprint 1.2km results – Men
Stage 5 Ski Sprint 1.2km results – Women