Vasaloppet China

Swedish cross country skiing star Andreas Hoegberg outran Norway's Sindre Hoff in a hotly disputed final of the 10th Vasaloppet China in Changchun. After 52.5k in sunny but cold conditions in Jingyue Park, Hoegberg had a gap of less than half a minute over Sindre.

Estonian skier Siim Sellis narrowly outsprinted Finland's Kusti Kittilae in the final of the second stage of China Tour de Ski in Xiwuqi, Inner Mongolia. Sellis looked very strong throughout the preliminary rounds all day, and also immediately seemed to take control of the final 1.3k race. But in the ultimate metres Kittilae still came dangerously close to beating him on the line. Third place went to yesterday's winner Anders Hoegberg.

The 2012 China Tour de Ski started this afternoon, 28 December, in Xiwuqi, Inner Mongolia with the traditional mass start 5.7km race for men and women. Sweden's Anders Hoegberg (photo)immediately proved he is once again in great shape coming to China with a sprint win today over Finland's Kusti Kitttilae. Six seconds later, Philipp Bachl from Austria completed the podium.

Yesterday, 24 December, the Vasaloppet skiing week started with the traditional Vasa Student Ski. About 500 students from several Changchun universities took part in the competition. Some students finished in amazingly fast times, but the emphasis was of course very much on 'fun' and 'experience'.