Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was unstoppable on the men’s side, claiming a record-breaking fifth Tour de Ski title. Among the women, Jessie Diggins crowned her final Tour de Ski appearance with an overall victory.
This year’s edition began in Toblach. Compared to last season, both the event and several race distances were shortened: the skiathlon was removed, while the 20 km freestyle was reduced to 5 km. Toblach hosted four stages, while Val di Fiemme featured the final two races.
Women
Sprint (Toblach): Skistad wins, Finnish disappointment
Not all top contenders chose to start the Tour de Ski. Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, one of the strongest sprinters this season, skipped the event to focus on Olympic preparation.
The Tour opened with a sprint and the Finns already had to face unpleasant results during the qualifying round. Krista Parmakoski did not even make it into the top 40, and has not managed to finish in the top 30 in a sprint event this year. However, according to the data, the last time she finished so far behind in a sprint event was in 2018. Kerttu Niskanen also failed to reach the top 30.
The sprint was won by Norway’s Kristine Stavås Skistad, ahead of Germany’s Coletta Rydzek and Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist. For Rydzek, it was her first podium of the season, while Dahlqvist secured her second. Norway also suffered a setback as Mathilde Myhrvold sustained an injury, forcing her to abandon the Tour de Ski.
10 km Classic: Slind wins, Diggins takes the overall lead
The following day featured a 10 km individual start classic race. Frida Karlsson started strongest, posting the fastest times through the first three kilometers, but lost nearly 20 seconds over the next two kilometers.
At halfway, Astrid Øyre Slind moved into the lead and never relinquished it. Teresa Stadlober finished second, earning her first podium of the season and showing clear improvement compared to pre-Christmas races. Jessie Diggins completed the podium, and thanks to her sprint result, took over the overall lead.
Kerttu Niskanen finished fourth — her best result of the season — while Karlsson faded to fifth, over 30 seconds back.
5 km Freestyle: Diggins’ power display
One of the season’s innovations was the 5 km freestyle races, split into four separate heats. Organizers ensured the top contenders were spread across different heats, which proved crucial.
Diggins won the stage with a massive acceleration over the final 400 meters. Notably, the top eight overall finishers all came from the same heat. Emma Ribom finished second and Moa Ilar third.
Despite winning her own heat, Nadja Kälin placed only 22nd overall.
20 km Pursuit: Diggins in full control
The final Toblach race, held on January 1, was a 20 km pursuit. Diggins entered with a comfortable advantage after Slind withdrew due to illness. Emma Ribom, sixth overall, also abandoned the Tour due to sickness.
Diggins extended her lead in the first half of the race, after which Ilar and Stadlober maintained the gap behind her. Heidi Weng recorded the fastest time of the day, just two seconds quicker than Diggins, and moved up to fifth overall. Jasmi Joensuu also performed solidly, closing in on the top three.
Sprint (Val di Fiemme): Joensuu’s first World Cup win
After a rest day, the Tour moved to Val di Fiemme. Kerttu Niskanen and Kristine Skistad were both unable to start the sprint due to illness — a particular blow for Skistad, who had been leading the sprint standings.
The sprint delivered a breakthrough moment as Jasmi Joensuu claimed her first-ever World Cup victory, ahead of Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich and Sweden’s Märta Hagström. Overall leader Diggins finished seventh.
Mass Start: Simpson-Larsen surprises, Diggins second
The Tour concluded with the traditional Alpe Cermis climb. Diggins started with a large advantage and raced conservatively. It was announced earlier that Frida Karlsson would not start due to a leg injury.
The field stayed together until the base of the climb, then gradually split apart. After 8 km, a five-woman lead group formed, led by Simpson-Larsen. Later, Heidi Weng and Simpson-Larsen broke away, while Diggins and Andersson appeared set to battle for third — until Stadlober produced a remarkable late surge.
In the final meters, Weng faded badly, allowing Simpson-Larsen to secure her second career World Cup victory. Diggins overtook Weng to finish second, with Stadlober fourth.
Diggins won the overall by a massive margin. Joensuu and Ilar, who had started the final stage on the podium, finished far back and dropped several positions. Stadlober secured second overall, over two minutes behind Diggins, while Weng finished third.
The sprint globe went to Maja Dahlqvist.
Men
Sprint (Toblach): Klæbo strikes early
There were also some notable absentees among the men. One was Austrian Mika Vermeulen, who was unable to compete in this year’s race due to illness, while Norway’s Martin Loewstroem Nyenget also did not start. The qualifying round was very close for the men in the sprint. The last qualifying place went to Spain’s Pueyo, who finished just 5.36 seconds behind. We saw several competitors at the back of the field who we don’t usually see in sprint races, such as Norway’s Krüger, who finished the qualifying round in 94th place. Klaebo ultimately won the sprint ahead of Heggen and Vike. Italian Pellegrino still hasn’t found his form, finishing in only 12th place.
10 km Classic: Stenshagen wins, Klæbo on the podium
In the 10-kilometer race, a Russian competitor, Korostelev, got off to the best start at the first checkpoint, and even at the 2-kilometer mark, he was only tenths of a second behind the leader. However, Stenshagen took the lead there and did not let it slip. Behind him, Klaebo came in second and Iversen third. Two more competitors finished within half a minute, one of them being Niskanen, who came in fourth, while Sweden’s Anger finished fifth. Russia’s Korostelev fell further behind in the second half of the race and eventually finished in ninth place, almost 40 seconds behind. Pellegrino had his best distance race of the season, finishing in tenth place.
Mass Start: Schumacher’s breakthrough
As with the women, one heat dominated the results. Gus Schumacher won his second career World Cup race, ahead of Moser and Heggen. It marked Moser’s first career podium.
Despite winning his own heat, Klæbo finished only 12th, while Italy’s Barp placed 19th. Schumacher’s victory, combined with Diggins’ win earlier that day, marked the first time American skiers won both men’s and women’s World Cup races on the same day.
20 km Pursuit: Klæbo controls the race
Klaebo started the 20-kilometer classic pursuit race with a 45-second lead over Heggen. Amundsen and Moser were also within a minute of him. Stenshagen, who started in fifth place, quickly climbed to second place. A large group followed Klaebo until the 13-kilometer mark, when Stenshagen made a move that they were unable to follow. Klaebo won the race without any major problems, Stenshagen finished second, 51 seconds behind, followed by Sweden’s Anger and Italy’s Pellegrino, who were still within a minute. Anger was the fastest in the race, Krüger was second and Ree was third.
Sprint (Val di Fiemme): Klæbo dominant
Klæbo claimed another commanding sprint victory, beating France’s Chappaz and Sweden’s Grahn by over three seconds. For Grahn, it was his first career World Cup podium.
Final Mass Start: Stenshagen wins, Klæbo seals history
Klaebo was able to start the final stage in calm conditions, as he had a lead of almost a minute and a half. The real competition began at 8 kilometers, as until then, 14 competitors were within 10 seconds of Korostelev in first place. Then Stenshagen pulled away, and only Lapierre was able to keep up with him. Korostelev skied alone in third place for a while, but Iversen launched an attack behind him, caught up with him, and shook off the others. Klaebo fell far behind, and after 9 kilometers he was well behind the top 10, but his overall lead was still secure. However, 200-300 meters before the finish line, Korostelev managed to break away from Iversen again, and it looked like he would easily finish in third place. The fate of first place was decided in the last 100 meters, when Stenshagen’s sprint left the Frenchman with no chance. Behind Lapierre, however, it was not Korostelev who finished third, but Iversen, who made a huge sprint, while the Russian competitor completely ran out of his energy and finished fourth. Klaebo managed to overtake a few competitors at the end, but still finished in 12th place.
Klæbo won the overall by nearly 30 seconds ahead of Stenshagen, with Amundsen third. Stenshagen’s second place marked a remarkable debut Tour. Pellegrino finished fourth overall for the fourth time in his career.
Klæbo also claimed his sixth sprint globe.
Power balance after the Tour de Ski
In the WC points competition, Jessie Diggins has a lead of nearly 200 points over Moa Ilar, with Andersson in third place, more than 200 points behind Ilar. With this victory, Jessie Diggins ends her career with three Tour de Ski successes. The question now is how the balance of power will develop. Diggins is in good form and Stadlober has also improved since the start of the season. Slind, who was the best Norwegian this year, was unable to compete in many races, so we will have to keep an eye on her form in Oberhof, as well as that of the Swedes, as some of them did not even start and quite a few did not compete in the entire Tour this year.
In the men’s competition, Klaebo’s lead is close to 250 points, which seems convincing enough for the rest of the season. Amundsen and Stenshagen are still on the podium, so it will be a serious headache for the Norwegians to decide who to start in the races at the Olympics. Thanks to his improving form, Pellegrino is in 4th place, while Sweden’s Anger is in 5th.
The World Cup resumes in two weeks in Oberhof, featuring a sprint and a 10 km classic race.
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