Taking off near the bottom of the Alpe Cermis climb, Alexander Legkov managed to ski smoothly up the mountain and over the plateau at the top, claiming Russia's first Tour de Ski title. Dario Cologna held on for second, while Maxim Vylgzhanin kept a suffering Petter Northug off the podium.
While Kikkan Randall slipped from seventh to 12th in the overall Tour de Ski standings, she said she was happy with her final place - but mostly "psyched" to see teammate Liz Stephen on the podium for the day. Stephen's second-fastest time on the climb moved her to 15th. Jessie Diggins was 21st and Holly Brooks 38th.
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – By the time most athletes arrived at the top of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday, in the final stage of the Tour de Ski, they were ready for a nap. Or a massage. Or a beer. Or all of the above. Not Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen, though. No fewer than eight hours after crossing the finish line here, they were already competing in another race: a team sprint on...
There were few participants in the Tour de Ski who were still standing after the finish of that race’s final stage, the brutal ascent up the Alpe Cermis in Italy. But an even more difficult challenge may await those athletes next season: the inaugural Uphill Trophy, a new competition format tentatively slotted into the World Cup calendar in Poland next February. The race packs a whopping 500 meters of climbing into its first four kilometers—nearly...