Diggins (USA) a skier for all distances as Christmas comes early in Ruka
Dec 01, 2024·Cross-Country
Reigning Crystal Globe champion Jessie Diggins put a difficult Friday and Saturday behind her to storm to victory in the 20km Freestyle Mass Start in Ruka on Sunday and end the 2024/25 season’s first weekend of World Cup racing on a high.
In near-perfect conditions in northern Finland on a new course layout that made a breakaway difficult, the 33-year-old took advantage of her improved sprinting prowess to eventually power clear of a stacked field. Diggins held off Swedish speedster Jonna Sundling and Norwegian veterans Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug in a four-way fight to the finish.
Just four seconds separated the next six racers, headed by German pair Victoria Carl and Katharina Hennig.
Last year’s winner of this race, Moa Ilar (SWE), would only manage 16th, despite saying before the race that her “body, mind and skis were feeling good”.
Frida Karlsson (SWE), Friday’s runaway 10km Classic winner, decided the strains of a 20km freestyle race were too much for her recently recovered foot injury, leaving the podium wide open.
And it was Johaug who made most of the running, leading the race after each of the first three laps, despite admitting beforehand that it was a course on which it would be “hard to go in front and get a gap”.
Even on the long, steep climb and ensuing descent coming out of the stadium, little could separate Johaug, Weng, Diggins and Sweden’s double world distance champion Ebba Andersson for the first half of the race.
Indeed, it was Diggins who appeared to be first to drop off the pace. After picking up a maximum 15 bonus points at the 8.8km mark and eight more at 12.8km, she was more than ten seconds back after three laps as the two Norwegians began to open up a lead.
“I was trying to be too cute with the draft and I got a little bit too far behind, and I thought ‘oh no, I’m might have messed this up a little bit’,” Diggins said. “But there was quite a draft, so I was trying to be smart, a little sneaky maybe in the back, and see what I could do."
She eventually recovered, working with the chasing pack to reel in the two Norwegians.
Sundling and Diggins, in particular, took advantage, their apparently superior speed on the final downhill enough to put them within striking distance. With 2km to go, the leading quartet seemed happy to bide their time, until Diggins and Sundling went again coming downhill into the stadium.
Johaug couldn’t respond, Weng tried. But it was Diggins, who just had the edge in freestyle technique over Sundling, who crossed the line 0.3 seconds ahead of the Swede in a time of 51 minutes, 19.3 seconds.
“In the last kilometre I was just thinking ‘save it up, save it up’ then trying to find a line. It played well in the end. And also, I had amazing skis today – the wax techs nailed it.”
Weng was happy with a 113th World Cup podium, despite missing out on victory in the sprint finish. “I felt that I was a little tired in the beginning, but then it just got better and better,” the 33-year-old said. “And then me and Therese got a gap and then I just yelled at her that ‘now we just need to go!” And it is not often that I hear that Therese is tired, but I was also tired at that time.
“The last lap, I wished I had a bit more power so I could have helped out a little more, especially in the long uphill. But my body is feeling good and I had a good day so I am happy.”
Sundling, after finishing fourth in Saturday’s sprints, heads the World Cup standings ahead of Diggins.
The FIS Cross-Country World Cup season continues on 6 December in Lillehammer, Norway with the Men’s and Women’s 10km Freestyle.
To watch all the action, click here
For the full results from Ruka, click here
Facts & figures
This was Jessie Diggins’ first victory in Ruka after she came second in the 20km last season. Heidi Weng claimed her fifth podium in Ruka where she has never won.
Therese Johaug will have to wait for her 83rd World Cup win. She is now three behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who won the men’s sprint on Saturday.
No woman made the podium more than once on the opening weekend with four different Swedish women and four from Norway finishing in the top three.
Norway’s men have claimed all but four of the 24 podium places available since the sprint in Lahti in March. Finland have claimed the other four, two each for Iivo Niskanen and Lauri Vuorinen.
The World Cup returns to Lillehammer on December 6 after not featuring on the calendar in 2023/24, replacing Trondheim, which will host the world championships in February/March.
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