Rybinsk, Russia - Pirjo Muranen of Finland ended a long winning drought while Italy's Renato Pasini denied hosts Russia with sprint victories in the cross-country skiing World Cup on Saturday.
Muranen won the women's freestyle race from Italians Arianna Follis and Magda Genuin to capture her fifth career win, but the first in more than six years since December 2002. Muranen was a sprint world champion under her maiden name Manninen in 2001.
Pasini captured his second career win in the men's race when he outlasted the Russian challenge of Alexey Petukhov and Anton Gafarov. He had also claimed his first win in Rybinsk, in January 2007.
Rybinsk, Russia - Marianna Longa claimed her first career World Cup win ahead of Arianna Follis in an Italian one-two finish on Friday in a women's mass start cross-country ski race.
