Second place in Toblach was Moa Ilar's fifth podium finish in the World Cup this winter, after third place in the five-kilometer race on Wednesday, and she remains in second place behind American Jessie Diggins in the overall World Cup standings.
It's incredible, it's so fun that it's going this well. Even if I have a harder day, it goes a long way; it's motivating going forward, says Ilar.
Diggins won the pursuit race and has a big lead in the Tour de Ski. Moa Ilar was 1.35 minutes behind and Austrian Teresa Stadlober came in third after a sprint battle with Ilar. Stadlober joined Ilar early in the race.
It was terribly hard today, tough from the first pole move and all the way to the finish. I'm glad Stadlober caught up and I was able to bite in. She had good speed uphill and I had such great skis. That was the saving grace today, that I had such good skis, says Ilar.
It was mentally tough knowing that you had to go up the hill five times. I had to struggle from the start. I'm incredibly proud of the race.
Two more Swedes were in the top ten - Ebba Andersson in eighth place and Frida Karlsson in tenth place.
Ahead of the end of the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, with a sprint on Saturday and the climb up the slalom slope on Sunday, Diggins has a 1.36 minute lead over Ilar and Stadlober.
"I'm just thinking day by day, because it's hard now. Sprinting is good when your head is tired," says Ilar about the next race in the Tour de Ski.
