Tour de Ski pre-competition facts Toblach (ITA)
Dec 30, 2019·Cross-Country
Tuesday, 31st December 2019
MEN'S 15KM F
Last Saturday, Sergey Ustiugov (2016-2019) became the third male athlete to win a Tour de Ski stage in four consecutive seasons, after Petter Northug (8, 2008-2015) and Alexey Poltoranin (4, 2013-2016).
Ustiugov won two of the three 15km freestyle events in the Tour de Ski. Besides his win last Saturday, he also won the event in Toblach last season. Emil Iversen won the first 15km freestyle event in the Tour de Ski in 2017/18.
Only Northug (13) has won more stages in the men's Tour de Ski than Ustiugov (8). He surpassed Sundby and Cologna (both 7) with his win on Saturday.
Ustiugov has reached the overall Tour de Ski podium in three of his four appearances, with a "DNF" in 2017/18 as the only exception.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is the current leader in the Tour de Ski in both the overall standings and in the points standings.
Defending champion Klæbo can become only the second athlete to win the men's Tour de Ski in consecutive seasons, after Dario Cologna in 2010/11 and 2011/12.
With 32 World Cup wins, Klæbo is in fourth place all-time among men (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins). Only Petter Northug (47), Bjørn Dæhlie (46) and Sundby (44) have won more World Cup events.
Only seven of Klæbo's 32 World Cup wins were in distance events. His last distance World Cup victory was in the 15km classic in Quebec on 23 March 2019 (World Cup Final).
Alexander Bolshunov is second in the overall standings. He finished third in the opening stage and eighth in the second.
Bolshunov, first in this season's distance World Cup standings, has won eight World Cup events (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins). Six of his eight wins came in distance events.
No male athlete has won more distance World Cup events since the start of the 2017/18 season than Bolshunov (6, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo also 6).
WOMEN'S 10KM F
On 28 December, Therese Johaug won the opening stage of the 2019/20 Tour de Ski: the 10km freestyle in Lenzerheide. Johaug finished in 23rd place in the second stage on 29 December, the sprint freestyle in Lenzerheide.
In the previous four seasons, only one woman won the opening two distance stages in a Tour de Ski: Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in 2017/18.
Johaug and Heidi Weng have both claimed 26 stage podium finishes in the women's Tour de Ski. Only Kowalczyk (28) has claimed more.
Since the start of last season, Johaug has won 15 of the 16 individual distance World Cup events in which she participated. The only exception was the 10km classic in the World Cup Final in Quebec on 23 March, when she finished second behind Stina Nilsson.
Natalia Nepryaeva is leading the overall Tour de Ski standings coming into the third stage, after finishing sixth in the 10km freestyle and third in the sprint freestyle in Lenzerheide.
No Russian skier has won the women's Tour de Ski. Nepryaeva is the only Russian female skier to finish on the podium of the Tour de Ski, finishing second in 2018/19. She was also leading the overall standings coming into stage 3 last season.
Nepryaeva is the most recent Russian skier to win a women's World Cup race, as she won the 10km freestyle in the Tour de Ski in Toblach last season (30 December 2018). It is Nepryaeva's only World Cup win to date.
Heidi Weng has finished on the podium of all four women's individual distance World Cup events in December 2019, including a second place behind Therese Johaug in the 10km freestyle in the Tour de Ski.
Weng has won four stages in the Tour de Ski, most recently the 9km pursuit freestyle in Val di Fiemme on 7 January 2018.
Weng has claimed 26 podium finishes in women's Tour de Ski stages, second-most all-time alongside Johaug. Only Justyna Kowalczyk (28) has claimed more podium finishes in the Tour de Ski.
Anamarija Lampic won the second stage in the 2019/20 Tour de Ski, the sprint freestyle in Lenzerheide. Her best result in an individual distance World Cup event was an eighth place in the 10km classic in the Tour de Ski (Val di Fiemme) on 5 January 2019.
Jessica Diggins has won two stages in the Tour de Ski, both 5km freestyle events in Toblach, in 2015/16 and in 2016/17.
Ebba Andersson finished third in the 10km freestyle in Lenzerheide. It was her 11th podium finish in a World Cup race, but she has yet to win for the first time.
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg has won 10 stages in the women's Tour de Ski, fourth-most all-time behind Kowalczyk (14), Therese Johaug (12) and Bjørgen (11).
Wednesday, 1st January 2020
WOMEN'S 10KM C PURSUIT
The winner of the first pursuit stage managed to reach the overall Tour de Ski podium on all previous 13 occasions. Nine of the 13 winners even went on to claim the overall title.
This will be the first pursuit stage in classic style in the Tour de Ski since 2014/15.
Last season, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg won the first pursuit in the Tour de Ski, the 10km freestyle in Oberstdorf on 3 January 2019. She went on to win the overall Tour de Ski title after also winning the last race, the 9km pursuit freestyle in Val di Fiemme.
Flugstad Østberg could become the first skier to win three consecutive women's pursuit races in the Tour de Ski.
Johaug's last victory in a Tour de Ski pursuit was on 10 January 2016, when she won the 9km pursuit freestyle in Val di Fiemme. That victory meant Johaug won the overall Tour de Ski standings.
Athletes from Norway have won 13 of the last 14 Tour de Ski pursuit stages, the only exception in that run Stina Nilsson's victory in the 10km pursuit in Oberstdorf on 4 January 2017.
Jessica Diggins could become the first non-European winner of a Tour de Ski pursuit race. She finished in third place in three of the last four pursuit races in the Tour de Ski.
No Russian skier has ever won a women's pursuit race in the Tour de Ski. The best result was a second place by Natalia Nepryaeva in Oberstdorf on 2 January 2019.
MEN'S 15KM C PURSUIT
Since 2013/14, the winner of the first pursuit stage also managed to win the overall Tour de Ski title: Martin Johnsrud Sundby in 2013/14, Petter Northug in 2014/15, Sundby in 2015/16, Sergey Ustiugov in 2016/17, Dario Cologna in 2017/18 and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in 2018/19.
This is the first pursuit in classic style in the Tour de Ski since 2014/15 when Petter Northug won ahead of Alex Harvey and Calle Halfvarsson in Oberstdorf.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won two World Cup pursuit races in his career. He won the 15km pursuit (freestyle) in the Tour de Ski last year and the 15km classic style in Toblach in 2017.
The last three pursuits in the Tour de Ski have been won by Norwegians (all freestyle). Sjur Røthe won the 9km in the last stage last year, Klæbo won the 15km three days earlier and Martin Johnsrud Sundby won the final pursuit in 2017/18 (9km).
Dario Cologna has won five pursuits in the Tour de Ski, joint-most all-time among men along with Northug (classic and free). Lukáš Bauer (2) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (4) are the only other athletes with multiple pursuit wins in the competition.
Sergey Ustiugov has won one pursuit race in the Tour de Ski: the 15km freestyle in Oberstdorf on 4 January 2017.
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