The Swiss Aebersold has not been worse than second in any race in the World Cup this season. In Thursday's long distance, it was a second place, she was only beaten by a superior Tove Alexandersson.
The Swede has won the World Cup nine times in a row and is now 83 points behind Aebersold. Alexandersson can theoretically take home the total with a new victory in the concluding middle distance on Saturday.
But I hope Simona wins because she leads so big, says Tove Alexandersson in the victory interview on SVT's broadcast.
If she doesn't win the total, she must make a really big mistake and I really hope not. She deserves the victory this year. But I hope to win the middle distance anyway.
The World Cup final is decided in Kuopio, eastern Finland. In addition to Saturday's middle distance, a mixed relay remains, which rounds off the season on Sunday.