Kuusamo XC: Ronning, Kuitunen tops in classical

Eldar Ronning of Norway won the men’s 15-kilometer classic-style cross-country race Sunday to increase his lead in the overall World Cup standings. The top American on the day was Kris Freeman, who finished 33rd in the men’s race. Freeman finished in 40:28.4. American Kikkan Randall was 68th in the women’s race.

KUUSAMO, Finland — Eldar Ronning of Norway won the men’s 15-kilometer classic-style cross-country race Sunday to increase his lead in the overall World Cup standings. The top American on the day was Kris Freeman, who finished 33rd in the men’s race. Freeman finished in 40:28.4. American Kikkan Randall was 68th in the women’s race.
    Virpi Kuitunen of Finland won the women’s 10 km, also held in the classic style, to move into second place in the overall standings.
    Ronning covered the men’s race in 38 minutes, 35.2 seconds. Vincent Vittoz of France was second, 15.9 seconds behind.
    “With three [kilometers] to go I heard I was one second down,” Ronning said. “I started to fight, but then I heard he [Vittoz] fell. This was my best race.”
    Vittoz fell on a downhill stretch with less than two kilometers [1 mile] to go.
    “I don’t know if I lost it here,” Vittoz said. “The whole thing went fast. I tried to close the gap, but he had a good finish.”
    Anders Sodergren was third, and Mathias Fredriksson took fourth.
    Ronning leads the overall standings with 232 points after four events, followed by Tor Arne Hetland with 156 and Jens Arne Svartedal with 128.
    Kuitunen, who was second in the women’s sprint on Saturday, beat Marit Bjoergen of Norway by 44.1 seconds, finishing in 28:01.2.
    Kristina Smigun of Estonia was third, followed by Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic.
    Bjoergen, the defending champion, leads the overall standings with 300 points. Kuitunen is next with 222 points, and Petra Majdic of Slovenia is third with 194.
    “It rained really hard early on — through the women’s race and then stopped, but conditions were really soft for the guys, very wet snow,” head coach Pete Vordenberg said. “It was a disappointing day, for sure, but we’re not going to panic. Kris skied hard; he struck to the game plan — start conservatively and then pick it up, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. It was disappointing, for sure, but we’re not going to panic; it’s early — we’re not through the first month of the season, and we’re pressing on.”
    The cross-country schedule now has nearly a two-week break before resuming in snow-troubled central Europe with freestyle technique sprints Dec. 8 in Aosta, Italy.

Kuusamo XC results
KUUSAMO, Finland —  Results Sunday from a World Cup cross-country ski meet:

Men
15 kilometers classical
1. Eldar Ronning, Norway, 38 minutes, 35.2 seconds.
2. Vincent Vittoz, France, 38:51.1.
3. Anders Sodergren, Sweden, 38:53.5.
4. Mathias Fredriksson, Sweden, 39:02.7.
5. Jaak Mae, Estonia, 39:04.7.
6. Lukas Bauer, Czech Republic, 39:06.3.
7. Tor Arne Hetland, Norway, 39:07.4.
8. Sami Jauhojarvi, Finland, 39:12.5.
9. Jens Filbrich, Germany, 39:25.8.
10. Anders Aukland, Norway, 39:29.8.
11. Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset, Norway, 39:30.6.
12. Alexander Legkow, Russia, 39:38.1.
13. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 39:38.3.
14. Martin Larsson, Sweden, 39:47.4.
15. Jean Marc Gaillard, France, 39:48.0.
U.S. athletes
33. Kris Freeman, Andover, NH, 4028.4
68. Andrew Johnson, Greensboro, VT, 41:44.5
70. Dave Chamberlain, Bethel, Maine, 41:52.4

Overall standings
After 4 of 27 races
1. Eldar Ronning, Norway, 232 points.
2. Tor Arne Hetland, Norway, 156.
3. Jens Arne Svartedal, Norway, 128.
4. Oystein Pettersen, Norway, 109.
5. Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset, Norway, 104.
6. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 102.
7. Ole Einar Bjorndalen, Norway, 100.
8. Lukas Bauer, Czech Republic, 90.
9. Vincent Vittoz, France, 81.
10. Tore Ruud Hofstad, Njorway, 80.

Women
10 kilometers classical
1. Virpi Kuitunen, Finland, 28:01.2.
2. Marit Bjoergen, Norway, 28:45.3.
3. Kristina Smigun, Estonia, 28:50.4.
4. Katarina Neumannova, Czech Republic, 28:52.5.
5. Vibeke Skofterud, Norway, 28:58.9.
6. Valentina Shevchenko, Ukraine, 29:04.4.
7. Petra Majdic, Slovenia, 29:09.1
8. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Finland, 29:12.9.
9. Betty-Ann Bjerkreim Nilsen, Norway, 29:17.2
(tie) Hilde G.Pedersen, Norway, 29:17.2.
11. Laurence Rochat, Switzerland, 29:18.7.
12. Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Finland, 29:22.1.
13. Viola Bauer, Germany, 29:24.9.
14. Ella Gjomle, Norway, 29:25.9.
15. Olga Savialova, Russia, 29:46.6.

Overall standings
After 4 of 27 races
1. Marit Bjoergen, Norway, 300 points.
2. Virpi Kuitunen, Finland, 222.
3. Petra Majdic, Slovenia, 194.
4. Katerina Neumannova, Czech Republic, 157.
5. Kristina Smigun, Estonia, 140.
6. Ella Gjomle, Norway, 119.
7. Vibeke Skofterus, Norway, 94.
8. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Finland, 92.
9. Valentina Shevchenko, Ukraine, 90.
10. Natalia Matveeva, Russia, 88.