INQUIRER Sports

PARIS?Polish champion Justyna Kowalczyk stunned cross country sprint queen Petra Majdic by winning the World Cup season opener in Kuusamo, Finland Saturday.

Kowalczyk, a surprise winner of the coveted overall World Cup title last season, beat Majdic with room to spare in the final to leave the Slovenian specialist finishing second ahead of Slovakia's Alena Prochazkova.

Majdic last season won an incredible nine World Cup races, eight of which from the sprint.

Kowalczyck's win means she leads the overall World Cup standings.