New Zealander Nils Koons scored the first ever non-European stage victory in the China Tour de Ski at the Nalati Ski Arena near the border with Kazakhstan in China's Xinjiang region today. Koons finished well ahead of overall classification contenders Anders Hoegberg, Adam Steen and Viktor Gustafsson. Ida Lindkvist took her second consecutive stage win as she narrowly outsprinted last year's Nalati queen Lisa Svensson.
New Zealander Nils Koons scored the first ever non-European stage victory in the China Tour de Ski at the Nalati Ski Arena near the border with Kazakhstan in China’s Xinjiang region today. Koons finished well ahead of overall classification contenders Anders Hoegberg, Adam Steen and Viktor Gustafsson. Ida Lindkvist took her second consecutive stage win as she narrowly outsprinted last year’s Nalati queen Lisa Svensson.
Stage 5 of this year’s China Tour de Ski was a distance race over 5km and got underway without Lukas Johansson, putting him out of contention for the overall classification. Four skiers were clearly too fast for the others and Koons proved to be the best man of the day with an 8-second advantage over the
inevitable Hoegberg, who regains the lead in the overall ranking by a mere 14 points over Adam Steen. The final ski sprint tomorrow will thus be a very close battle between the two. Gustafsson ranks third but needs a miracle to still win the overall. Koons has moved up to fifth place and could still reach the podium tomorrow given his excellent form today.
Women’s overall leader Astrid Bruland did not feel very fit during the women’s distance race and could not do better than 8th place. She remains on top of the standings, but needs to be careful as Ida Lindkvist (-26 points) and defending champion Lisa Svensson (-57 points) are not too far behind anymore.
Results Stage 5: Nalati, Xinjiang – Distance freestyle
Men’s result 5km
Women’s result 2.5km
Overall top 10 after stage 5
Men
1. Anders Hoegberg (SWE) 314 points
2. Adam Steen (SWE) 300 points
3. Viktor Gustafsson (SWE) 242 points
4. Lukas Johansson (SWE) 204 points
5. Nils Koons (NZL) 187 points
6. Hallvard Moland Nydal(NOR) 168 points
7. Romain Claudon (FRA) 167 points
8. Johan Eriksson (SWE)153 points
9. Tim Reynolds (USA) 145 points
10.Bob Niemi Impola (SWE) 132 points
Women
1. Astrid Bruland (NOR) 372 points
2. Ida Lindkvist (SWE) 346 points
3. Lisa Svensson (SWE) 315 points
4. Ma Qinghua (CHN) 279 points
5. Chen Shuang (CHN) 214 points
6. Ida Eide (NOR) 180 points
7. Linnea Bjoern (SWE) 170 points
8. Oda Hammernest Pedersen (NOR) 167 points
9. Qu Ying (CHN) 139 points
10.Yang Liu(CHN) 138 points
Ida Lindkvist interviewed by the medias
Anders Hogberg has occupied a leading position in the first 2.5K
Koons being the new winner in Nalati stage