Diggins Secures Podium at Tour de Ski; Leads Overall Standings
Jessie Diggins delivered a strong performance in the second stage of the Tour de Ski on Monday, skiing to third place in the women’s 10k classic and moving into the overall lead of both the Tour de Ski and continuing her lead in the overall World Cup standings.
Diggins finished behind Norway’s Astrid Øyre Slind, who claimed victory and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober in second. The podium marked the 83rd World Cup podium of Diggins’ career and her 13th career World Cup podium in Toblach, Italy, a venue that has been central to her success since her first win there in the 5k skate in 2016.
Conditions in Toblach evolved throughout the day. The men raced under warm, sunny skies in classic Toblach weather, while the women took to the course with the sun set behind the Italian mountains, leaving the track fully shaded.
Diggins, who favors individual start events due to the "race against the clock mentality," was aggressive from the opening gun, posting strong, steady splits through each checkpoint and keeping herself firmly in contention throughout the race. At the 2.1k time check, Diggins was 12.6 seconds out from the lead, sitting in fourth, behind Sweden's Frida Karlsson, Slind and Stadlober. Then, she turned on the jets. At the halfway mark, Diggins was sitting in third, decreasing the time back from the leader. With Karlsson's lead dwindling, it was now a fight between the American, Austrian and Norwegian. Over the final two kilometers, the effort intensified as she fought to the line. At each coaching zone, the U.S. tech team and support staff were in position, screaming at Diggins to just keep fighting. Fighting, she did.
She ultimately crossed the finish line in third, a result that proved decisive in the overall standings. Diggins now holds the Tour de Ski lead and remains atop the World Cup standings, a position she carried into the Tour. A two-time Tour de Ski champion, Diggins finished third overall last season and is racing her final Tour de Ski with a focus on both performance and enjoyment.
In a discipline Diggins never considered her strong suit, classic racing has started to really take form for her. Winning the classic event last year at the Tour — the first classic victory of her career — Diggins was surprised with how well she skied today.
"I was super surprised when I heard I was fighting for the podium," said Diggins when a reporter asked her if she was surprised by the result in a classic event. "I was like, 'no', but then realized I was one of the last starters, so I suppose it was true when my techs told me I was in the mix. But I was just trying to ski as smoothly as possible and try to put my best classic technique, so that I can retire liking classic!"
On the men’s side, Gus Schumacher led the U.S. team with a 17th-place finish in the 10k classic. JC Schoonmaker finished 42nd, Kevin Bolger 43rd, Ben Ogden 47th, Zak Ketterson 79th and Jack Young 93rd. Ketterson was fighting for a top-15 finish when a crash on the downhill took crucial seconds away. He is okay. For Ogden, an unfortunate pole break in a distant part of the course took away important seconds. Julia Kern placed 41st for the women.
The Tour de Ski pauses on Tuesday for a rest day before resuming on Wednesday, Dec. 31, with the third stage — a 5k skate featuring a heat-start format, a returning and still relatively new format for the Tour.
"I'm taking it one day at a time. You never know what is going to happen on the Tour, you just have to enjoy every day and do your best. And now, I am just going to eat a lot of pizza, rest a lot tomorrow and probably watch Netflix with Julia (Kern)."
Jessie Diggins
Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minnesota, is the #1-ranked cross-country skier in the world, four times over. A four-time overall World Cup champion, four-time Olympic medalist (two bronze, silver and gold), 7x World Championship medalist, Diggins is going out on top.