Klaebo gets 'perfect' start to Tour with sprint triumph in Toblach

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) and Jessie Diggins (USA) started the 2024/2025 Tour de Ski in the best way possible, winning the Men's and Women’s Sprint Free finals in Toblach, Italy, on Saturday.

Klaebo had missed last season’s Tour due to illness, losing out on points that could have been crucial in the chase of the overall Crystal Globe.

This year, the 28-year-old Norwegian got a "perfect" start to the Tour that he has won three times as he beat his training partner Lucas Chanavat (FRA) by 0.42 of a second. Janik Riebli from Switzerland finished third.

"It's two years since I did a Tour so it’s good to be back and good to be back here in Toblach,” Klaebo said.

"It’s always good to get a good start and I feel like the track here in Toblach is really difficult. There are a lot of turns and things that can happen.

"At the end I’m really satisfied with being first here today."

It was a dramatic men’s final, where Ben Ogden (USA) and Valerie Grond (SUI) got tangled into other skiers and lost their chance to battle for the top spots, Ogden breaking a pole and Grond falling to the ground in the later part of the sprint.

Klaebo and Chanavat came into the last stretch of the race side by side but when the Klaebo accelerated, Chanavat had no answer to it and the only Norwegian in the final even had time to look back and slow down before crossing the finish line to collect his fourth individual sprint victory this winter. 

”I really do (like it in Toblach)," Klaebo said.

"It’s difficult and, like you saw in the final, there’s always something happening here, but at the end I’m really satisfied and it’s a perfect way to start the Tour."

After such a statement in the first event, some may wonder if Klaebo will cling onto the leader's bib all the way to equal Dario Cologna’s (SUI) record of four overall Tour de Ski victories.

For the man himself, however, the gruesome Final Climb in Val di Fiemme is still very far away.

"There are still six races left and it’s a long tour where a lot of things can happen. We will just take one day at the time and we will see at the end," Klaebo said.

Chanavat will have to keep chasing Klaebo for that first place.

"Unfortunately, I finish second behind Johannes again, it’s been several times now," Chanavat said.

"I’m happy for the second place but I’m always aiming for the first one."

Riebli, who clinched the third place 0.49 second behind Klaebo, had a wide smile on his face as he climbed onto the second individual World Cup podium of his career.

"It’s crazy, it’s amazing," said Riebli, who was one of a total of four Swiss skiers in the men's and women's finals.

"I had really good skis, it was a really good team effort today so it was amazing."

Richard Jouve made it two times France in the top-four.

Diggins 'surprised' by sprint win

Diggins pushed past Finland’s Jasmi Joensuu in the final stretch of the race to claim her second victory this Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup season as Switzerland’s Nadine Faehndrich completed the podium.

"This was a huge surprise," Diggins said.

"I'm so thankful to our wax techs, they've been working so hard and they really smashed it today. It was just so fun to be here, we’ve had some amazing fans. So many family members of the US team out there and lots of awesome fans so thank you everyone for all the love."

Two of the main obstacles on Diggins’s path towards a third overall Tour de Ski title – Norway’s Therese Johaug and Sweden’s Ebba Andersson – had failed to qualify to the heats.

Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist had been the strong sprint nation’s only representative in the semifinals and won her semifinal but broke her pole early into the final, having to throw in the towel.

Diggins and Joensuu stayed in the front, the Finn taking the lead with 40 seconds left to race as Diggins looked comfortable in second place. Coming into the home straight, the USA skier made a last push that Joensuu could not respond to and clinched the win by a margin of 0.31 of a second.

It was the fifth victory for Diggins in Toblach, where had her first World Cup triumph in January 2016.

”This is a really fun place for me and Toblach is so special, this is where I had my first podium a long time ago, during the Tour de Ski,” the 33-year-old said.

There was plenty to smile about for the Minnesota skier, whose victory increased her lead in the overall World Cup standings. At 708 points in total, Diggins is 143 points ahead of runner-up Victoria Carl (GER), as Sweden’s Jonna Sundling in third place does not compete in the Tour de Ski.

For 28-year-old Joensuu, who had been fifth twice and fourth once, the second place was a career-first individual World Cup podium.

"It was really, really good," Joensuu said.

"I was super nervous in the morning because I've had some tough days, but I'm extremely happy that my shape is good here and I'm proud of myself that I was able to do this."

In the strong day for Switzerland, Faehndrich crossed the finish line less than half a second behind the winner to take her first individual podium this season.

"It was good," Faehndrich said.

"In the beginning, I didn’t feel that good in the prologue but I hoped that it would get better and better in every heat and this happened so I’m very, very happy.

"I hope to have more of the same now. I think I can do good distance races so I’m really looking forward to doing the distance races here, I like the track."

The Tour continues on Sunday with the Men’s and Women’s 15km Mass Start Classic.

Click here for full results from the Women’s Sprint Final Free and here for full results from the Men’s event.

Follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube here.