FIS Cross-Country World Cup – Tour de ski - Toblach, Italy
The Tour de Ski rarely begins gently — and in Toblach it never does. High in the Dolomites, the four opening stages of the 20th edition became the moment when the Tour stops being a series and turns into a story.
Right from the first meters of the skate sprint, Kristine Skistad delivered a tactical masterclass. Leading from the start and never allowing a pass, she controlled the race all the way to the finish and was the first overall leader of the Tour. Moments later the men’s Tour found its own authority: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo returned to the top and immediately took over the yellow bib, while in the same race four-time Junior World Champion Lars Heggen reached his first World Cup podium after only five starts.
The distance races in stage 2 quickly added new names to the narrative. In the 10 km classic interval start, Mattis Stenshagen dominated the course with composed technique and powerful pacing to secure his first World Cup victory. On the women’s side Astrid Øyre Slind, second overall last year, stepped straight back into contender status with a confident return to winning form in Toblach.
The new 5 km skate mass-start format brought fireworks. Gus Schumacher attacked decisively to claim his second career World Cup win, while Austria’s Benjamin Moser continued a breakthrough racing in Toblach - after his best distance result in stage 2, now with a first World Cup podium. Jessie Diggins was skiing with relentless energy, as most of the time, to take a decisive mass-start victory and immediately shape the overall standings.
Stage four — the classic pursuit — confirmed the hierarchy. Klæbo produced a perfectly timed solo effort to extend his overall Tour lead, and Diggins followed with total control of the women’s race, stretching her advantage and leaving Toblach as the clear skier to beat heading deeper into the Tour.
