Madshus March 1st:
Virpi Kuitunen led Finland to a first-leg lead which they never relinquished to take the 4X5 classic relay gold medal at the world championships in Sapporo, Japan on Thursday.
Germany's Evi Sachenbacher Stehle overtook newly crowned sprint world champion Astrid Jacobsen in the last 500 metres to strip Norway of the silver medal in the final stretch.
Bolstered by two strong early legs Finland won in a time of 54 minutes and 18.6 seconds.
Germany took the silver medal at 11.9 seconds off pace, with Norway holding onto the bronze 3.8 seconds behind the Germans and a full 16 seconds in front of fourth-place Sweden.
Kuitunen, who also led Finland to gold in the team sprint event, cruised to an early lead of 21.9 seconds over Norwegian rival Vibeke Skofterud.
Finnish second leg Aino Kaisa Saarinen then crushed twice-defending World Cup champion Marit Bjoergen to build the Finns a sizable 48.8-second lead.
In the two last laps Riita Liisa Raponen and Pirjo Manninen only needed to hold onto the comfortable margin, which they easily did to secure the victory.