Italy - Virpi Kuitunen of Finland won the women's 10-kilometre mass start Saturday to recapture the overall lead in the Tour de Ski cross-country series.

Kuitunen, the 2007 winner and 2008 runner-up, clocked 30 minutes 10.3 seconds to win the penultimate stage in Val di Fiemme and go ahead of compatriot Aino Kaisa Saarinen in the overall standings.

Kuitunen was 13.8 seconds ahead of Slovenia's Petra Majdic, with Saarinen 20.5 seconds behind in third place.

The Tour de Ski reaches its climax with the last of the seven stages - a 9km freestyle - in Val di Fiemme on Sunday.

A men's 20km mass start in the Tour de Ski event is due later. (dpa)