- Harald Amundsen celebrates his next victory in the 4th stage of the Tour de Ski in Toblach (ITA).
- The Norwegian wins the 15 km pursuit race in a classic way, but loses time in the overall ranking.
- In the women’s category, Astrid Slind wins ahead of Therese Johaug. The two pass Jessie Diggins (USA) in the tour rankings.
On the last descent, the pursuit of the men over 15 km in Toblach suddenly became exciting again. Harald Amundsen (NOR), who was the first athlete to tackle the race thanks to his victory the day before, was around 22 seconds ahead of his compatriot and tour leader Johannes Kläbo and Edvin Anger (SWE) on the summit.
As hard as Kläbo had suffered in the last, long climb of the day, he showed himself just as quickly on the descent. The 28-year-old reduced the gap to around 5 seconds. Amundsen finally saved 2.5 seconds over Anger and 5.3 seconds over Kläbo.
Kläbo expands leadership
This meant that Kläbo was able to significantly expand his lead in the overall standings. Amundsen, who started 46 seconds ahead of the leader, lost more than 40 seconds over the 15 km and even fell behind Anger in the tour standings. Kläbo now leads 36 seconds ahead of the Swede and 57 seconds ahead of Amundsen.
The Swiss once again lagged behind the top ranks. Beda Klee was the 30th best Swiss, and Cyril Fähndrich was also in the top 40, 34th.
Johaug overtakes and distances Diggins
The women’s race became Therese Johaug’s big show. The Norwegian ran in the lead throughout the entire pursuit with previous day’s winner and compatriot Astrid Slind, and the two of them continuously and significantly increased their lead over the competition.
Slind ultimately won the race. Nevertheless, Johaug also celebrated when he reached the finish line. The 36-year-old made an exclamation mark in the fight for overall victory at the Tour de Ski. She distanced Jessie Diggins by more than 2 minutes, and in the overall standings Johaug is now 55 seconds ahead of the American. Slind has conquered the leader’s jersey for the time being. Johaug will be difficult to beat on the final stage to Alpe Cermis on Sunday.
As on Tuesday, the best Swiss woman was Marina Kälin, who finished 3:50 minutes behind in 22nd place. With Nadine Fähndrich (28th), the second Swiss woman was placed in the top 20.
This is how it continues
From Toblach, the cross-country skiing entourage now moves to Val di Fiemme, where the last three stages of the Tour de Ski will be completed. We continue on Friday with the classic sprints for men and women. From 2:35 p.m. you can watch it live on SRF two.
