"It was very tough. I felt partway through the race that I just had to raise the stakes; I haven't trained too much lately," she told SVT.
Ebba Andersson was ultimately eight and a half minutes behind Norwegian winner Anikken Gjerde Alnæs, the overall leader of the long-distance cup.
Ebba Andersson became ill after her Olympic victory and missed last weekend's World Cup in Falun. This weekend she chose Ski Classics ahead of the World Cup in Lahti.
"I really wanted to try an individual 5,000m and challenge myself. But it probably would have had to be a little hillier and a little more up and down," she said.
Louise Lindström finished second, just over two minutes behind the winner.
