Winter sports news on Saturday: Diggins continues to lead the Tour de Ski

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American Jessie Diggins has the best chance of her second overall victory in the Tour de Ski after 2021. The 32-year-old from the state of Minnesota withstood the attacks of the Swedes in the Val der Fiemme over 15 km with a classic mass start.

Jessie Diggins barely stayed in the leading group, in which Frida Karlsson sacrificed herself as a snow plow. The American only lost a few seconds. The margin for the final stage is around 50 seconds over a quartet that also includes last year’s winner Frida Karlsson.

The Swede is getting in better shape after recovering from corona in December. But this may not be enough to intercept the American. A year ago, Frida Karlsson arrived at the top of Alpe Cermis completely exhausted after tackling the climb too quickly. She had to receive medical attention at the finish and could not participate in the awards ceremony.

Heidi Weng, two-time winner of the classic in 2017 and 2018, is also within a minute of Jessie Diggins.

After Davos the field was thinned to just 32 runners, including Nadine Fähndrich, who was forced back by illness in December and decided not to travel to Trentino to build up solid form for the second half of the season. Désirée Steiner from Davos in 16th place and Nadja Kälin from St. Moritz in 21st place represented the Swiss colours.

The Swiss men did not benefit from the attractive starting position in pursuit of Oberhof. Despite only one penalty, Sebastian Stalder fell from 9th to 17th place, Niklas Hartweg slipped from 17th to 29th place. Jeremy Finello finished 47th after eight (!) penalty laps. The Norwegians took the first five places, 26-year-old Endre Strömsheim won the World Cup for the first time. (SDA)

Source : Blick