Simona Aebersold goes into Saturday's final (sprint) competition at the World Cup final in Kuopio, Finland, as the clear overall leader.
The 26-year-old skier from Zealand finished 2nd behind Tove Alexandersson in the long-distance race on Thursday and will therefore go into the decision with a 77-point cushion over the Swede. There are 100 points for a victory.
Alexandersson distanced Aebersold by a good four minutes over the 11.7 km. The rest of the competition lost more than six minutes to the eleven-time world champion. Natalia Gemperle, who had to concede second place overall to Alexandersson, finished eighth.
Fabian Aebersold and Martin Hubmann finished 5th and 7th in the men's race, with the Norwegian Kasper Fosser leading the overall standings ahead of two Swedes.
SDA