First mass start without Therese Johaug.
Then it looked like it usually does when the men drive.
A large cluster where it is very difficult to break away.
Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson made their attempts but the track in Lillehammer did not allow anyone to score.
On the downhills, those behind slipped to catch up very easily.
But finally on the last lap the opportunity came.
Frida Karlsson put in an extra gear inside the stadium, not on an uphill, and no one had the energy to engage.
But Karlsson couldn't keep up the pace and the German Katharina Hennig and Ebba Andersson caught up on the uphill with 2 km to go.
It looked like there would be a fight between the three, but at the crest of an uphill hill with just over a kilometer to go, the German put his own stick on his boot and went for it alone.
She was forced to change rods and lost a lot of time.
Instead, it was the Swedish duo Karlsson and Andersson who looked to be heading for victory.
But the drama was not over.
Finnish Kertu Niskanen and Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng fought back and the whole thing was not decided until the riot inside the stadium.
There, Karlsson was strongest with a rock-hard stake where the Norwegian was broken with a few hundred meters to go.
Ebba Andersson was passed by Udnes Weng and finished third.