Four-time winner Cologna (SUI): Tour de Ski will be season's highlight

As a four-time Tour de Ski winner, Dario Cologna feels right at home in Davos, the second of three venues in the 2023/24 edition. But the cross-country skiing legend has a reason to feel even more at home in the Swiss Alpine resort – it’s where he lives!

Cologna, who retired after the 2021/22 season, will be part of the TV coverage as Davos hosts Tour de Ski races - a Freestyle Sprint and a 20km Classic Pursuit – for the very first time. “It will be really cool to have such a short commute to work,” he says. “I can just walk to the stadium and do the commentating.”

Since hanging up his competitive skis, the four-time Olympic champion has swapped training twice a day for fatherhood. “For sure, having a little boy is harder than cross-country skiing!” he says. “He’s two years old so there’s a lot of action at the moment. But now I enjoy going doing a little bit of skiing for myself to keep in shape.

“I still know a lot of the active skiers and without a World Championships or Olympic Games this season, the Tour de Ski will be the highlight. It’s always exciting, especially with it happening just after Christmas.

“How different Christmas is depends on how strict you are. I was always like ‘I think it’s time to have a nice dinner with family’! But for most athletes it’s a bit different. For example, Johannes [Hoesflot] Klaebo was training here in Davos over Christmas – preparing at altitude.”

‘It's a shame Klaebo is missing’

Ah, Klaebo. The undisputed current king of cross-country served notice of his return to peak form and fitness with a clean sweep of three victories over three distances in Trondheim, Norway recently – and Cologna fully expected the Norwegian to equal his record of four overall Tour de Ski victories before Klaebo was forced to withdraw because of flu.

“For the Tour it's a pity that the biggest star is missing," Cologna says. "I think it's much more open now. Even last year's runner-up, Simen Hegstad Krüger, is missing. The Norwegians are still the favourites, though - probably Harald Østberg Amundsen and Pål Golberg.

"Let’s see, a lot can happen. It would be good if there were more nations on the top, like there is with the ladies."

Indeed, while all six men’s winners this season have come from Norway, six winners from four different countries – Norway, Sweden, USA and, most recently, Germany – have topped the women’s podium. “It’s nice to have a German victory, it’s very important for our sport,” Cologna’s says of Victoria Carl’s 10km gold in Trondheim – her first in 11 years of World Cup racing.

“She was always strong but has taken a step up this winter. Victory is very important for a skier’s confidence. I’ve always said: you need to learn how to win. And when that first victory comes, you know how it feels, you know you can beat everyone – and that helps you and the whole team a lot.

“I think the women’s Tour de Ski is really open. The favourites are maybe Jessie Diggins (USA) and Ebba Anderson (SWE) as they’re maybe a little bit stronger in the final climb [the 10km in Val di Fiemme].

“It can be that that the athletes choose top skip some races to be in shape for the Tour de Ski but, in a year without the Olympic and World Championships, if anything skiers will be ready earlier. We’ve seen most of them there from the start – it’s important for the sport to have the best athletes at every race if possible.”

‘Toblach will be a really good start’

The Tour de Ski is a test of durability and consistency as much as speed and skill, consisting of seven races in just nine days across three venues. “We know the venues very well as they have been on the World Cup calendar for many years,” Cologna says.

“Toblach (Italy, 30 December – 1 January) is a really experienced venue, the tracks are good for the sprint and the course from Toblach to Cortina for the 20km Freestyle Pursuit is amazing. It will be a really good start.

“Then Davos [3-4 January], the sprint will be at night, which is exciting, and the 20km Pursuit is on a totally new track which takes the skiers across two valleys on two 10km loops, so it will be a cool race.”

“Will the after-party at Davos be back at my place? Let’s see, yeah? We won’t have too much time because we have to go to Val di Fiemme. I won my world title there [the 30km Skiathlon] in 2013. I like the tracks – really hard with tough uphills. The final climb has a lot of history so it will be a great way to finish.”

“It’s at times like this that I miss competing the most, for sure. I enjoy having more time to spend with my family over Christmas but it’s also a special time for a cross-country skier, preparing over Christmas then competing with the best athletes. I love the Tour de Ski.”