Weng and Poltoranin take 6th stage of Tour de Ski

(Val di Fiemme, Italy) - The 6th Stage of the Tour de Ski brought some of the most exciting action seen on World Cup this season.  Norway's Heidi Weng put in a dominant performance in the ladies' 10 km classic mass start closing her teammate's almost one minute Tour lead down to just 1.8 seconds with one stage remaining.  Finland's Krista Parmakoski took second place on the day and leap frogged the USA's Jessie Diggins in the overall standings to now sit 3rd.  Completing the ladies' podium was Austria's Teresa Stadlober in third for her first ever World Cup podium.  Diggins crossed the line in 4th with Tour leader Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg in 5th.

On the men's side Tour leader Dario Cologna of Switzerland has built what should be an insurmountable lead heading into Sunday's climb up Alpe Cermis.  Despite coming in 4th on today's 15 km stage Cologna increased his lead over Russia's Sergey Ustiugov to 1:21.5.  Ustiugov struggled after going for the maximum bonus seconds on the course and in the end crossed the line +42.0 seconds behind in 14th place.

Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin won the 6th stage.  His first win since January 2016 and his third straight podium in a 15 km classic competition this season.  With his victory today he now sits second in the overall Tour +1:14.4 behind Cologna.  Canada's Alex Harvey got his first podium of the season and remains in 4th in the Tour standings but will start just +8.3 seconds behind Poltoranin and +1.2 seconds after Ustiugov.

The 12th Edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Le Gruyère AOP will conclude tomorrow atop Alpe Cermis.  The point to point final stage will see both ladies and men completing a 9 km course that ends with a more than 3 km climb up an alpine slope.

ATHLETE QUOTES

Heidi Weng (NOR)
It was a great race. I felt very good. I like Val di Fiemme very much.  Every time I compete here I have had a good one. It will be a hard race tomorrow.

Krista Parmakoski (FIN)
I had a very good race. It was a very tough fight with Teresa. I was able to be second. I had amazing skis as well.

Teresa Stadlober (AUT)
It was a hard race today. I was hoping for a podium during the Tour but I did not expect it today. The course here is really hard. I thought Ingvild would be strong. But then everybody got tired and I was strong enough to finish on the podium. It’s my 5th Final Climb so I know what to expect. It will be hard but I will try my best. I hope to gain some positions on the
uphill.

Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ)
It’s great to be on the podium again. It has been 2 years since I won a world Cup it is great to be second in the Tour de Ski overall.

Alex Harvey (CAN)
I’m really happy with my race today. I have been struggling with my classic this season. I went for more grip to have perfect kick. I knew the other guys had little bit faster skis. It is great to be in a podium battle with one stage left.

Andrey Larkov (RUS)
The courses were well prepared. The race started very fast and the pace was very high all the time. I managed to stay in the leading group. It is amazing to finally get my first ever World Cup podium.

OFFICIAL RESULTS - 10/15 km C Mass Start

LADIES

1. WENG Heidi 1991 NOR 29:07.9
2. PARMAKOSKI Krista 1990 FIN +7.6
3. STADLOBER Teresa 1993 AUT +8.6
4. DIGGINS Jessica 1991 USA +23.6
5. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad 1990 NOR +35.2

Complete RESULTS

MEN

1. POLTORANIN Alexey 1987 KAZ 38:40.3
2. LARKOV Andrey 1989 RUS +0.4
3. HARVEY Alex 1988 CAN +0.9
4. COLOGNA Dario 1986 SUI +2.3
5. BOLSHUNOV Alexander 1996 RUS +15.0

Complete RESULTS

OVERALL TOUR DE SKI STANDINGS

LADIES

1. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad NOR 1:48:43.2
2. WENG Heidi NOR +1.8 3
3. PARMAKOSKI Krista FIN +1:33.5
4. DIGGINS Jessica USA +1:43.1
5. STADLOBER Teresa AUT +2:29.9

Complete

MEN

COLOGNA Dario SUI 2:20:37.7
POLTORANIN Alexey KAZ +1:14.4
USTIUGOV Sergey RUS +1:21.5
HARVEY Alex CAN +1:22.7
BOLSHUNOV Alexander RUS +1:39.4

Complete