Heidi Weng wins 11th FIS Tour de Ski

Norway's Heidi Weng has won the 11th edition of the FIS Tour de Ski.  To do so she recorded the fastest time of the day by 38 seconds ahead of the USA's Liz Stephen.  This was the first stage win of this Tour for Weng and she is now the only female winner of the Tour de Ski with less than two stage victories in a single Tour.  In the battle for the final Tour podium Weng - starting with bib 2 - was able to erase her 19.2 second deficit to Sweden's Stina Nilsson by the bottom of Alpe Cermis and powered away for a clear victory in a time of 33:34.3.  Finland's Krista Paramoski who was 3-times a 4th place finisher in the Tour de Ski also caught Nilsson roughly three quarters of the way up Alpe Cermis to finish in second place +1:37.0 behind Weng.  Nilsson who looked to be struggling and possibly at risk of also being caught by Norway's Ingvild Flugstad hung on for 3rd place +1:54.4 back from the lead.  Oestberg crossed the line just 10 seconds later.

In the race for Fastest of the Day which counts for World Cup points it was Weng ahead of Stephen with Finland's Kerttu Niskanen in third +46.0.  Austria's Teresa Stadlober was just 3.7 seconds behind Niskanen for 4th with yesterday's second place finisher Anne Kylloenen in 5th +1:00.1.  Nilsson ended up with the 18th (+2:13.6)  fastest time of the day, with Oestberg in 6th (+1:00.2) and Parmakoski 7th (+1:02.3).

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ATHLETE QUOTES

Heidi Weng (NOR)
This is just amazing, I tried really hard. I caught Stina at the bottom and I wanted to sprint away right away.

Krista Parmakoski (FIN)
I had really good day. I have been many times 4th so it is great to be on the podium. Today I felt great and surprisingly fast on the climb.

Stina Nilsson (SWE)
The Final Climb was as hard as I expected. It was no surprise for me Heidi caught in the bottom of the hill. She was too fast for me to follow. My main goal was to stay focused on my pace. When Krista passed me I had to fight hard for third place.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS

TOUR DE SKI - Final standings

1. WENG Heidi 1991 NOR 33:34.3
2. PARMAKOSKI Krista 1990 FIN +1:37.0
3. NILSSON Stina 1993 SWE +1:54.4
4. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad 1990 NOR +2:04.3
5. DIGGINS Jessica 1991 USA +3:09.0

Complete final standings are available HERE.

FASTEST OF THE DAY

1. WENG Heidi 1991 NOR 33:34.3
2. STEPHEN Elizabeth 1987 USA +38.2
3. NISKANEN Kerttu 1988 FIN +46.0
4. STADLOBER Teresa 1993 AUT +49.7
5. KYLLOENEN Anne 1987 FIN +1:00.1

Complete results are available .