Keystone
Astrid Slind and Therese Johaug overtake Jessie Diggins, the overall leader in the Tour de Ski. Marina Kälin does well again in 22nd place, the Swiss men disappoint.
After finishing 17th in the skating race on New Year’s Eve, Marina Kälin also skied very well in the 15 km classic pursuit in Dobbiaco. The 21-year-old from the Engadin lost 3:50 minutes to the winner Astrid Slind.
“The end of last year was great,” said last year’s U23 world champion over 20 km with mass start in an interview with SRF. “It’s nice that it went on like this.” She had to fight a little on the climbs, but was able to keep up well with the group on the flat. Now she wants to finish her first Tour de Ski. Nadine Fähndrich lost over five minutes in 28th place and will once again not be able to fulfill her dream of a top ten finish.
Klee without feeling and strength
The Swiss men were disappointing. Beda Klee, who finished a brilliant fifth overall last year, is not in top form after suffering from coronavirus before Christmas and told SRF that he had “no good feeling and no strength” and also “didn’t run well technically”. With a 2:13-minute deficit and 30th place, the Toggenburg native was nevertheless the best Swiss athlete. Four places behind him was Cyril Fähndrich.
Jason Rüesch, who would have been the most promising Swiss-Ski athlete in 21st place, had to withdraw from the race at short notice due to back problems.
In the first competition of the new year, World Cup leader Harald Amundsen was both the winner and the loser. Starting with a good 21-second lead from the skating race the day before, the Norwegian had to run all alone at the front and saved 2.5 seconds on the strong Swede Edvin Anger at the finish.
However, he lost time in the overall standings and dropped back to 3rd place behind Anger. Johannes Klaebo defended his lead as third on the day and after four of seven stages is 36 seconds ahead of Anger and 57 seconds ahead of Amundsen.
Slind and Johaug with a preliminary decision
In the women’s race, the Norwegians Astrid Slind and Therese Johaug have probably made a preliminary decision. The overall victory should only go through them. They took more than two minutes off the previous leader and last year’s winner Jessie Diggins and are now almost equal in the lead. The American is already almost a minute behind and, based on experience, should go into the final stage on Sunday with the climb up the Alpe Cermis with a lead. The sprint for the day’s victory was clearly won by Slind over Johaug.
After a rest day on Friday in Val di Fiemme, the race continues with a classic sprint on next year’s Olympic course. After their final places in the first sprint of the tour, hopes are once again pinned on Janik Riebli and Valerio Grond as well as Nadine Fähndrich and Anja Weber.
