Start of the new year at the Tour de Ski in Val Müstair (SUI)

FIS Tour de Ski pre-competition facts  1st January 2019

Preview ladies

• Stina Nilsson won the first sprint freestyle in this season's Tour de Ski and she could join Petra Majdic (2010/11) and Arianna Follis (2008/09) as only women to win two sprint events in a single Tour de Ski season.

• Nilsson can become the fourth woman to win a record three sprint events in total in the Tour de Ski, after Majdic, Follis and Marit Bjørgen.

• Nilsson has won five stages in the Tour de Ski in all disciplines, one behind Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (6) and Majdic (6) in joint-fifth place all-time.

• Nilsson (14) can become the fifth woman to win at least 15 World Cup sprint events, after Bjørgen (40), Majdic (20), Bente Skari (17) and Maiken Caspersen Falla (16).

• The last three ladies' individual sprint World Cup events have been won by Swedish athletes: Jonna Sundling in Lillehammer on 30 November and Nilsson in Davos on 15 December and in Toblach on 29 December.

• Natalia Nepryaeva won the 10km freestyle in Toblach to claim her first World Cup win. Her only other podium finish in a World Cup event was a second place in the 10km classic style in Lahti in March 2018.

• Nepryaeva's best result in a World Cup sprint event was a fourth place, in Davos (freestyle) on 15 December 2018, in Drammen (classic) in March 2018 and in Lenzerheide during the Tour de Ski in December 2017. She was ranked eighth in the first sprint event in this season's Tour de Ski.

• Ingvild Flugstad Østberg finished second in Sunday's 10km freestyle to become the only athlete to have recorded at least one top-three stage finish in each of the last seven editions of the Tour de Ski.

• Østberg has won three sprint World Cup races but not since Otepää (classic) in January 2015.

• Østberg has won one sprint event in the Tour de Ski - in Lenzerheide on 31 December 2013.

• Jessica Diggins is tied with Kikkan Randall on most stage wins for USA in the ladies' Tour de Ski, two victories each.

Preview men

• Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won the sprint freestyle event in Toblach on 29 December 2018. He has won nine of the 14 individual sprint World Cup events (classic and free) since the start of last season.

• Only Sergey Ustiugov in 2016/17 (sprint free) and Lukáš Bauer in 2007/08 (4.5km classic) won the opening stage of the Tour de Ski and then went on to claim the overall title.

• Klæbo could become the first skier to win two sprint events in a single Tour de Ski season.

• Ustiugov could become the first man to win three sprint stages in the Tour de Ski.

• Ustiugov won the 15km free on Sunday to join Dario Cologna and Martin Johnsrud Sundby on seven stage wins in the Tour de Ski. Only Petter Northug (13) has won more stages.

• Federico Pellegrino has won 12 men's individual sprint World Cup events (classic and free). Only Emil Jönsson (16) and Ola Vigen Hattestad (13) have won more.

• Alexander Bolshunov won the first sprint World Cup event of the season, in Ruka (classic style) on 24 November. Bolshunov can become the fifth skier from Russia with multiple individual sprint World Cup wins after Ustiugov (5), Nikita Kriukov (5), Alexey Petukhov (3) and Nikolay Morilov (3).

• Richard Jouve (2nd in the sprint in Toblach) and Lucas Chavanat (3rd in the sprint in Toblach) could become the first French skiers to win a sprint event in the Tour de Ski.