Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was once again in a class of his own. © ANSA / ANDREA SOLERO

Before the final: Tour de Ski practically decided

After the race in Toblach, the penultimate stage of the Tour de Ski was on the program: a classic sprint in Val di Fiemme on the Olympic cross-country ski trails in February. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo once again impressed.

03 January 2026

From: dl

In the final, the Norwegian gave his already battered competitors no chance, pulling away early and winning decisively. This marked Klæbo's 62nd World Cup sprint victory and his 104th World Cup win overall. At the finish line, his lead was more than three seconds over Frenchman Jules Chappaz and Swede Anton Grahn.

Klæbo's starting position before the Tour's final challenge is particularly impressive: With a lead of 1 minute and 45 seconds, he will start the 10-kilometer climb up Alpe Cermis on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The best Italian rider on Saturday was Federico Pellegrino, who finished tenth and thus still has a chance of securing a podium finish in the overall Tour de France standings. Simone Mocellini (11th) and Elia Barp (12th) also advanced to the semifinals on Saturday on their home course.

First victory for the women

Jasmi Joensuu achieved a first in the women's race: The Finn won the classic sprint, celebrating her first World Cup victory. Nadine Fähndrich of Switzerland and Johanna Hagström of Sweden took the other podium places. The best Italian was Iris Pinter De Martin in twelfth place. The overall Tour leader, Jessie Diggins, narrowly missed qualifying for the final, finishing seventh, but goes into the final climb to Alpe Cermis (starting Sunday at 3:30 pm) with a comfortable lead of 1:19 minutes over Joensuu.