Lapalus makes history with first Climber title as Faehndrich claims 'career-best' Tour Sprint prize

Norway's Therese Johaug and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo were the main names of the 2024/2025 Tour de Ski, claiming the men's and women's overall titles as well as the men's Sprint prize (Klaebo) and the women's Best Climber (Johaug). 

The Tour however crowned two more champions; Nadine Faehndrich from Switzerland, who won the women's Sprint standings and France's Hugo Lapalus, who became the first man to triumph in the event-debuting Best Climber category.

"The prize of the best climber of Tour de Ski is very important for me," Lapalus said.

"Before Tour de Ski, I really wanted to fight for that. For the overall win too, but for the Best Climber also, because I love climbing."

The 26-year-old Frenchman said he had started his battle for the purple climber bib at the first distance stage of the Tour, the 15km Mass Start Classic in Toblach, Italy. Lapalus finished in 12th place but managed to pick up eight points towards the climbing standings.

"I tried to take a few points in each lap but I didn’t want to push too hard every time. I tried to stay in the top-five during the race and took a few points," he said.

In the Freestyle races, he was not just going for the purple bib but for the podium.

"I knew that if I went for the podium I'd for sure also go for the points in the top of the uphill," said Lapalus.

He finished fourth in the 10km Mass Start Free, also known as the infamous Final Climb, where skiers race up an Alpine ski slope in Alpe Cermis in Italian Val di Fiemme. As Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) won the race in a dominant fashion, sharing the podium with Mika Vermeulen (AUT) and Friedrich Moch (GER), Lapalus picked up 30 climber points.

That placed him four points ahead of Climber No.2 Krueger, who earned 45 points with his victory.

"The most important was for sure the last race in Alpe Cermis," Lapalus said.

"It was key to stay in the top-three, because it was really close with Mika and Simen."

It was the first time Lapalus climbed to the top of the podium in a Tour de Ski or World Cup.

"This title in my career is important for sure," Lapalus said.

"It’s like the overall Tour de Ski title – it’s important to always stay in the top-five in the races so I’m really happy and I love this purple bib, it is beautiful."

Lapalus said hard work and a light body was key to flying up the hills of Tour de Ski.

"I’m a good climber because I’m less muscular than for example Edvin Anger (SWE) or Erik Valnes (NOR). I love when it’s really hard and I love uphill," he said.

"When I train at home, the tracks are really hard, with lots of long uphills. I’m training there since 10 years back, so I think I have a good condition for that.

The celebrations of the historic victory will however have to wait, for Lapalus who is hoping for a podium position in the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, in February, as well as in the distance overall standings. That journey continues on home snow in Les Rousses, France, this weekend.

"It’s a good season at the moment but it’s not finished so I need to continue to work," Lapalus said.

"I want to fight for medals at the world championships so it’s important to stay in the race, stay focused and after that I will see. But it’s really nice to have this bib so I am really happy. It’s a good goal to achieve."

New bib 'worked really well', says Race Director

FIS Cross-Country Race Director Michael Lamplot said the new purple climber bib had been introduced "to offer a different kind of types of athletes success, promotion and visibility".

"Distance athletes are maybe not fighting for the win in the overall Tour de Ski standing but have something else to fight for with this bib," Lamplot said.

"We also wanted to have something that will animate the competitions. Some feature that will encourage athletes to a different race tactics and scenario, so that they ski fast, go for the bonus and maybe stretch out the field. So that there is some action during the race."

In the second stage of the women's Tour, comeback queen Johaug took the lead in the Climber standings and kept it until the end, finishing first first up the tough Alpe Cermis Final Climb.

In the men's Tour, the purple bib had three different owners; Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen, Great Britain's Andrew Musgrave and Lapalus, who held it for the last two stages.

"Especially on the men's side, where it was open until the last stage, we saw athletes who fought for the bib of the climber, so in that regard it worked really well," Lamplot said.

"Therese was so dominant that it was clear that she would win it, so there was not really an excitement until the end, but the general concept worked very well.”

Sprint success big boost for Faehndrich

It was the first time Faehndrich won the women’s sprint standings. She sees it as the "biggest" triumph of her career.

"It means a lot," the 29-year-old said.

"I am very proud to be the best sprinter in Tour de Ski 2024/2025."

She has two second places in the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup sprint standings to her name. Climbing on top of the podium after an intense Tour de Ski, however, is something else.

Key to the victory was an outstanding performance in the Women's Sprint Classic final, where Faehndrich crossed the finish line 0.04 of a second before Sweden's Linn Svahn as Norway's Heidi Weng claimed the third place.

"I was already a bit tired from the whole Tour and didn't know how that would affect me," said Faehndrich, who had made it to the finals with the fifth fastest qualification time.

"Heat by heat I felt better and better and in the end it was actually fun to race. That is the fun thing about the sprint format, things can always change. It was quite a journey that day."

In the week before, she had finished third in the Sprint Free in Toblach, Italy. The sprint victory on the Tour's last Friday was the fifth of her career, and the first World Cup triumph in more than two years.

"I missed it (standing on top of the podium) a lot," Faehndrich said.

Her last victory came in Val Mustair, Switzerland, in December 2022.

"Once you have been on a podium you want it even more. Last season was a bit of a rollercoaster to me after the successful 2022/2023 season," she said.

"The podium in Toblach was my first in a sprint in almost two years and that felt very good. And then winning in Val di Fiemme was extra special."

So what made the victory come now? Faehndrich said that she had come into the Tour with her "expectations in check", but that she had simply believed in herself, training hard until she got rewarded.

"I kept working continuously and hoped that the work would soon pay off," she said.

"Of course these podium finished give me confidence that I am on the right track with my training. They are a relief and a motivation for the rest of the season."

She said she has placed her trophy "with the others", but added that "I better find a special place for this one after the season".

The prize money of CHF 6,000 will also have to wait for the season to end to find its purpose.

"I will reserve it for my summer holidays, I love Sardegna (Italy) and there are so many nice things to do," Faehndrich said.

But first there is plenty left for Faehndrich to accomplish in the tracks this season, with seven World Cup stages and the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, coming up.

Faehndrich thinks that the Tour de Ski triumph can give her a boost for the rest of the season as she hopes to get back to the top of the podium.

"I will continue to work hard and enjoy what I do and then whatever happens, happens," she said.

Click here for overall results from Tour de Ski.

Click here for schedule and results from the Cross-Country World Cup stage in Les Rousses that starts on 17 January, and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.