Jessie Diggins opens Tour de Ski with first dash win in three years

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Jessie Diggins opens Tour de Ski with first dash win in three years

Jessie Diggins launched her bid for a 3rd Tour de Ski title with a dramatic victory on Saturday within the opening 1.4km freestyle dash in Toblach, Italy.

“This was an enormous shock,” Diggins mentioned after her first World Cup dash win in three years, a triumph that left the three-time Olympic medalist elated and stunned. “I form of thought I used to be getting outdated and never able to have one other dash victory, so this was wonderful.”

The win was notably particular for Diggins, as Toblach was the place she earned her first profession podium throughout a earlier Tour de Ski.

Diggins timed her push to perfection, overtaking Finland’s Jasmi Joensuu by 0.31sec within the closing meters. Switzerland’s Nadine Faehndrich completed third.

The win provides Diggins a seven-second lead heading into Sunday’s 15km traditional mass begin, the second stage of the Tour. She additionally earned the dash chief bib alongside her yellow bib as the present total World Cup chief.

The US cross-country ski staff confirmed depth with eight athletes advancing to the dash heats. On the lads’s facet, Ben Ogden impressed with a sixth-place end regardless of breaking a pole within the closing.

Jessie Diggins of the US competes on Saturday in Toblach Hochpustertal, Italy. {Photograph}: Federico Modica/NordicFocus/Getty Photos

“This course has reminiscences for me,” Ogden mentioned, reflecting on final 12 months’s podium end in Toblach. “I skied good, dealt with the nerves, and stayed assured.”

Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, looking for a record-tying fourth Tour de Ski title, dominated the lads’s dash, successful by 0.4sec. France’s Lucas Chanavat and Switzerland’s Janik Riebli rounded out the rostrum.

The Tour de Ski, a seven-stage, nine-day collection of races modeled after the Tour de France that straddles the New 12 months, continues Sunday.


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