Ebba Andersson finishes fourth in Johaug's victory

Therese Johaug was completely dominant but Ebba Andersson was in contention for the podium places for much of the skiathlon event in Lillehammer. In the end, she claimed fourth place.

"I couldn't keep up with them at all," Andersson told SVT Sport.

As the race approached the last stretch, Ebba was overtaken by Heidi Weng and Jessie Diggins.

As the race was progressing, Johaug started pulling away towards the end of the classic half of the race. Andersson reflected, "It was a bit disappointing that she managed to get ahead by a few valuable meters, but at the same time, one knew that the skate section was coming, so I didn’t want to completely exhaust myself."

Despite finishing fourth, this was the best result for the 27-year-old in this season's World Cup series so far.

"Now I at least have some hope that I can be more competitive in the future and challenge better," she remarked.

Andersson plans to take a break for training and will skip the competitions in Davos next weekend. "I choose to skip Davos and instead focus on valuable training days at home to prepare for the tour in the best way possible," she added.

Results for Swedish skiers in the skiathlon (20 km, Lillehammer):
1. Therese Johaug 2. Heidi Weng 3. Jessie Diggins 4. Ebba Andersson +47 seconds 6. Jonna Sundling +1:36
24. Moa Ilar +3:45
25. Emma Ribom +3:46

Link to the full results list.