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As we enter the second to last event in this year’s Tour de Ski—the 20 kilometer Skiathlon—there has been little movement at the top of the women’s Overall leader board. As the field continued to thin its ranks, yesterday’s Sprint results took on unusual outcomes which simply wouldn’t occur in a regular season World Cup Sprint. In a starting field with only 42 remaining skiers contesting the Sprints, there was an opportunity for more non-Sprinters to find their way into the heats to collect extra time bonuses. Qualifying for the Classic Sprint heats yesterday were Tour contenders Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR) and Heidi Weng (NOR), with Weng taking a podium. The last time Heidi Weng took a podium in a non-Tour Sprint was in Otepaa, Estonia in 2017. That’s how dramatic the effects of a thinning race field are.
The thinning of the Tour field continued today. The Tour began with 67 women contesting the first day of racing in Toblach. Today’s start list was down to 36 skiers, and before the race began another three skiers dropped out. If today’s race had been a Sprint, almost everyone would have qualified!
Going into the race, Slind remained in first place ahead of Johaug but by only 8 seconds, and she was 29 seconds in front of Kerttu Niskanen (SWE). Jessie Diggins—who finished 14th in yesterday’s Classic Sprint— was in fourth place exactly one minute behind Slind and 31 seconds off the podium behind Niskanen. But as is often the case, looks are very deceiving because while Johaug sat in second place, she was really in a commanding position, as the final day of racing on Sunday will be in an event which she has described as being “perfect for her”—the climb up Alpe Cermis.
For Diggins and the rest to have a real shot at the top of the podium, they would need to put a lot of time into Johaug today to build a substantial cushion before Sunday’s final. A more attainable task for Diggins would be to gain time on Niskanen, who has her own very strong history up Alpe Cermis.
At the race’s end, no one had an answer for Johaug who took the win beating Teresa Stadlober (AUT) and Slind by over thirty seconds. Slind finished third in a dramatic photo finish with Stadlober. The win put Johaug comfortably into the lead by 22 seconds with tomorrow’s climb being the only thing standing between her and a Tour de Ski victory. “It was amazing,” Johaug said after the race. “I need some races in my body, I’m old! Oh my God, it was a tough race. Felt really good in the skating in the beginning, but it was tough in the end. I had to push myself all the way to the finish line. I’m looking forward to Monday and not having to be so nervous anymore.”
It was revealed that Diggins has been dealing with plantar fasciitis which has been affecting her mostly on the Classic portions of races. But she was able to push through the pain today and do what she needed to reclaim an Overall podium position by finishing 1:11 ahead of Niskanen to put Diggins into third place Overall. “I feel lucky that I’m still racing with what’s happening with my foot right now,” Diggins observed. “It feels like a bonus just to be here. And, maybe sometimes that’s the attitude you need, I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m just going to go out there and go as hard as I can, and be grateful that it’s normal ski racing pain tomorrow, because I can skate. When I walk it’s like I’m practicing for when I’m 95 years old, but when I’m skiing, skating is ok.”
Entering the last day, the math for Diggins is very simple. After today’s race she is in third place overall, 40 seconds ahead of Niskanen. If she beats Niskanen up Alpe Cermis, or stays within 39 seconds of her, she will secure a place on the podium. She is 1:25 behind Slind for second, and it is probably asking too much for her to make up that much time on the climb to advance in the standings.
Julia Kern had a career best day of Distance skiing finishing seventh. She credited her achievement to her team. “Hats off hands down to the wax techs. Our team did an incredible job today. I had amazing kicking skis, bullet proof kick, and they were ripping fast both in Classic and in Skate. I was so stoked in the race, I had incredible skis and that’s always an extra confidence boost. It helps with skiing tactically, maybe conserving a little on the climb knowing you’ll catch people on the down hill. That was huge.” But not all the credit goes to the people who gave her fast skis. “I also just surprised myself this morning feeling really good, and I feel like the Tour is such a roller coaster, you never know what you’re going to get on any given day. My body was there, and my skis were there, and I just took advantage of the opportunity today.
Sophia Laukli was the only other American finisher, she was 20th. Laukli won the final stage up Alpe Cermis last year, but that was without Johaug in the field. Tomorrow promises to be an exciting race to see if Johaug can hold off the American upstart up Alpe Cermis.
The top Canadian finisher was Katherine Stewart-Jones in 15th, she was followed by Liliane Gagnon in 29th.
The Women’s 20 Kilometer Skiathlon
The women began the Skiathlon with the 10 kilometer Classic portion. Slind, Johaug and Nadine Faehndrich (SUI) went to the front of the race early with Niskanen and Jasmi Joensuu (FIN) right with them. Joensuu and Faehndrich were competing for the Sprint bib, so they surged to the front when the first Sprint bonus point was available at 3.3 kilometers. Faehndrich and Joensuu raced to the bonus line together with Faehndrich narrowly beating out Joensuu.
After the Sprint bonus, the Overall leaders quickly re-established themselves at the front with Johaug and Slind setting the pace. Johaug revealed after the race that she had a specific strategy for the Classic portion. “In the Classic I tried to focus on technique and not push so much until the last lap.” The two Norwegians were joined by veteran Krista Parmakoski (FIN) and Teresa Stadlober (AUT). When the pack hit the 4.6 kilometer mark a bit of a breakaway had formed with Johaug, Slind, Parmakoski, Stadlober, and Ebba Andersson (SWE) forming a lead group.
Diggins was now skiing in a chase group with Niskanen and H. Weng. It was somewhat surprising that Niskanen wasn’t in the lead group during the Classic portion of the race, but it was good news for Diggins who could now keep an eye on her podium competition.
At 6.8 kilometers the lead group of five was still intact with Parmakoski now struggling to stay with them, but Diggins had now moved to the front of her chase group along with Niskanen and they were trying to bridge the gap.
When the lead pack hit the eight kilometer mark Johaug continued to press the pace and dropped Parmakoski. The lead group was now down to Johaug, Andersson, Slind and Stadlober. Diggins had not been able to close the gap and now had drifted back over 28 seconds behind the leaders, but she was now skiing with her teammate Julia Kern. Kern’s presence in the top ten of the Classic portion of the race was a bit of a surprise, and she would continue to ski well the entire day.
As the skiers entered the stadium for the ski exchange the lead group of four was still together 28 seconds ahead of Parmakoski with Diggins 34 seconds behind. After the ski exchange Diggins was 37 seconds back and faced the unenviable task of trying to gain ground on the lead group in the Freestyle portion of the race. But the good news for Diggins was that Niskanen was right in front of her, only four seconds ahead, and Diggins had her strongest portion of the race ahead of her, while Niskanen’s was behind her.
But it was still Johaug setting the pace at the front trying to grind down the other three racers in her group. While Johaug was grinding, Diggins was closing on Niskanen and by the 11.2 kilometer mark she had managed to pass Niskanen who tried to hang onto Diggins’ coattails as Diggins passed her, but Niskanen didn’t have it in her.
As the lead group hit the 12.6 kilometer mark, Johaug made a concerted effort to press the pace up the steep hills. Doubtlessly, she didn’t want the race to come down to a sprint finish, and she began to edge away from Andersson, Slind, and Stadlober, slowly but surely beginning to create a growing gap with each passing kilometer. Diggins was now 45 seconds back of the leader but had put nine seconds between herself and Niskanen and continued to stretch her lead.
Johaug continued to pull away from her three chasers who didn’t appear to have an answer on the steep climbs, but were able to pull back a little time on the flat sections. Slind led the chasers, but no one could match Johaug up the hills and by the 14.6 kilometer mark Johaug had extended her lead to 13.9 seconds. It then appeared that Slind, Andersson, and Stadlober capitulated the race to Johaug and were now fighting for second. Meanwhile, Diggins was now skiing on her own having put 27 seconds on Niskanen but was 56 seconds behind the lead pack. However, if Diggins continued this pace, she would regain a podium spot at the end of the day. Diggins didn’t mind skiing on her own. “With all these down hills, I kind of preferred it. Because you never know what can happen, and I’m thinking the last thing I need on top of this foot injury is to crash. I actually appreciated having my own space.”
Johaug continued to grind, and at 18 kilometers the writing was on the wall as none of the chasers could mount any response. As long as Johaug could stay on her feet, she would take the day’s win and put herself into the Overall lead. The good news for Diggins was that as the race currently stood, she was back on the Overall podium having put 54 seconds into Niskanen so far and continued to pull away from the Finn.
As Johaug approached the stadium her lead had swelled to over 30 seconds, while Andersson, Stadlober, and Slind still skied together. Stadlober lead the trio into the stadium and a hectic three way sprint to the finish line ensued resulting in a photo finish. Stadlober ended up edging out Slind by a toe length with Andersson finishing fourth and Diggins finishing fifth, 55 seconds behind the leader, but more importantly 1:11 ahead of Niskanen putting Diggins in a great position to find the podium after tomorrow’s race.
Julia Kern finished seventh turning in a career best performance for a Distance race.
The day’s results put Johaug into the Overall lead with the only remaining stage being one of her best, the climb up Alpe Cermis.
Tour de Ski Women’s Skiathlon Results
