Maiden tour win for Kalvaa at 30, Crystal Globes for Tiril Udnes Weng and Niskanen
Mar 26, 2023·Cross-Country
There was no home win for Finland in the 20km classic in Lahti on Sunday but we still had a fairytale ending to the 2022/23 women’s World Cup. Three months short of her 31st birthday, in the 31st and final individual race of the season, Norway’s Anne Kjersti Kalvaa claimed her first tour win, having never stepped on the podium before this season.
Victory will be even sweeter for Kalvaa, after she was forced to withdraw from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and this year’s Tour de Ski after testing positive for Covid.
She did it the hard way on Sunday, too, holding off a classy leading pack of six that included three-time 20km winner this season, Frida Karlsson, double world champion (15km and 30km) Ebba Andersson (both Sweden) and Kerttu Niskanen (FIN). The home favourite led the World Cup distance standings by 22 points – from Jessie Diggins (USA) – going into the race, and sealed the Crystal Globe by picking up maximum points by going through the 7.5km and 12.5km checkpoints in first place.
But on a tough 5km course with 772 metres of climbs, these efforts arguably cost her a chance of winning the race. On the last of four laps, it was Andersson who attempted a breakaway, but Kalvaa seemed to have the perfect combination of grip and glide on her skis, and clawed the Swede back on the penultimate downhill.
The Norwegian made her move on the descent into the stadium, streaking away to finish 0.9 seconds ahead of sprint star Jonna Sundling (SWE), Katharina Hennig (GER) and Andersson, who were separated by just four tenths of a second.
“It was amazing,” Kalvaa said. “I felt so good today and I had amazing skis so I just had to believe in the process and give it all in the finish. It was amazing to finish first. It was a hard race – it was the last race of the season and everyone is tired so it goes a little but up and down. But I felt good.”
Tiril Udnes Weng (NOR) came 18th to seal the overall Crystal Globe, while Diggins was 22nd to finish second in the overall and distance standings.
Click here for the full results from the women’s 20k classic.
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