Diggins Celebrates the New Year with a World Cup Victory

If there is any place on the World Cup circuit that feels more like home for Jessie Diggins, outside of Minneapolis, MN, it's Toblach, Italy. Today, on her final day of racing in Toblach for the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski, Diggins did what she does best - win.

In her 14th Tour de Ski, Diggins is walking away from her favorite course on the circuit with her 32nd victory and 85th podium. Of those 85 podiums and 32 wins, 15 of them have been right here in Toblach and eight of those have been victories. Toblach was the first place Diggins has ever won a race, dating back to 2016. Today, she did just that, for the second time in two days. 

"Honestly, it's the year of dreams coming true. This venue is so special to me and a place of so many amazing memories since my first Tour in 2012. It's really cool, and I am so thankful to everyone here. It was a hard race, it was a lonely race, but I was pushing hard and wanting to leave it all out on the course and fight for every second while remaining efficient."

Today's race format did not favor Diggins. Due to the nature of the pursuit race, each athlete pursues the leader of the Tour, which happens to be Diggins. Meaning she started 1 minute and 10 seconds ahead of the second-place start, Moa Ilar of Sweden. The entire race, Diggins was alone. 

Behind her, Sweden’s Ilar and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober emerged as the primary chasers. The pair worked together to manage the gap, sharing the workload across the flats and climbs, but the deficit continued to grow. Midway through the race, Diggins had stretched her lead well beyond a minute, with the rest of the field trailing even farther back as sunlight settled over the Toblach course.

"You know, every Tour i've done, there is always one day where I go, 'this is the day you have to be so gritty... if you want to win the Tour, you have to make it happen now.' And so I went in with that mindset. Sometimes I don't like how it feels to feel that much pressure but I know I perform well under it, so I just said to myself , ‘If you want to win the Tour, today is your day to be gritty." 

"I believed in my team, my skis were perfect, I would change nothing with the skis, and so a huge kudos to them. This was a win for the truck and the coaches and really the credit goes to them, because to have a good race on this course where you have to have really good kick and fast glide, you have to have the best of both worlds."

Going into Val di Fiemme and the final two races, Diggins has a sizable lead in the Tour de Ski standings, with 1 minute and 30 seconds ahead of Ilar of Sweden. With Norway's Astrid Slind, who was second in the overall standings, dropping out of the Tour due to sickness, Diggins' path is more straightforward as we enter the next two stages. 

"I am taking it day by day. But I am excited because it's going to be the Olympic courses, it's a new sprint course, new for everyone, and the thing for me is learning learning learning. I am here to learn, take notes, improve, get in lifetime reps, and just see this as a growth opportunity. And that plan has not changed. Tour lead or no Tour lead. That's the mindset I have going into Val di Fiemme." 

Off the race course, there was a moment after the win that marked something even more meaningful for Diggins. A place that has followed her journey from breakthrough athlete to one of the sport’s all-time greats, Diggins was honored after the race by having one of the bridges on the course named after her. "Jessie Bridge" is officially a part of the Toblach World Cup venue. 

The eventual podium for the women's race was led by Diggins, with Ilar in second and Austria's Stadlober in third. Julia Kern was 18th. 

For the men, Gus Schumacher shone once again. After his victory in yesterday's 5k skate, he was among a strong chase group behind the Tour leader, and eventual winner of the day, Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo. Schumacher played the game today, trading off leading the group, then falling behind to take on the draft on the high-speed downhills. It was a race of tactics, and Schumacher played it well. Into the stadium, it was an all-out sprint to the finish. Across the line, he was in a photo-finish for fourth, fifth and sixth, but ultimately was placed sixth. He now sits third overall in the Tour de Ski standings, going into stage five in Val di Fiemme. The day was won by Klaebo, with second place going to Norway's Mattis Stenshagen and third was Sweden's Edvin Anger. Ben Ogden was the next American finisher in 29th. 

Tomorrow, the athletes will check out the Olympic Winter Games venue and the updated sprint course, with the fifth stage, the classic sprint going down on Jan. 3. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

TOUR DE SKI STANDINGS
Women
Men