Madshus Marathon Team racer Susanne Nyström (SWE) showed that she’s got what it takes, also in a head to head duel with the national team women. Saturday, Nyström won the TjejVasan, the women’s race in the Vasaloppet lineup, by a 5-meter margin to Sofia Bleckur (SWE) in a sprint finish.
The 30K classic race from Oxberg to Mora in Sweden quickly became a one on one race between Susanne Nyström (Madshus) and Sofia Bleckur from the Swedish national team.
Nytröm, who has dominate the FIS Ski Classics marathon cup this season, was surprised that she won TjejVasan. “It was a little unexpected. I decided to race without kick wax, but it went quite well,” Nyström said to Swedish television after the race.
Just as the two women entered the home stretch into the finish line, it was dead even between Nyström and Bleckur. But Nyström managed to work up a small gap and won by one second. Nyström posted 1:20:34 for the win, while Bleckur crossed the finish line in 1:20:35.
Anna Haag, who is also on the Swedish national team and was one of the favorites coming into the race, was fifth overall.
Madshus racer Laila Kveli was the top Norwegian, in sixth place, posting a finish time of 1:22:52.
This year, more 9,700 women were signed up for TjejVasan, and nearly 8,000 completed the race. The organizers increased the number of entries by 2,000 from last year, due to increased demand and improved infrastructure at the venue. Despite the increase, the 2012 race was still sold out months earlier than for the 2011 event.