Jessie Diggins secured her third overall title at the Tour de Ski in Italy. The American skier clinched the victory during the final stage in Val di Fiemme. This event wrapped up about a month before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Diggins entered the sixth and final stage with a strong advantage. She had a 79-second lead before the 10-kilometer race. The final stage featured a tough uphill finish on Mount Cermis.
Diggins finished second in the final leg. She was less than nine seconds behind the stage winner, Karoline Simpson-Larsen. This result was enough to secure the overall title for Diggins, who completed the Tour de Ski in a total time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 26.1 seconds.
She finished more than two minutes ahead of her closest competitor. Austria’s Teresa Stadlober took second overall. Stadlober finished 2 minutes and 17.7 seconds behind Diggins. Norway’s Heidi Weng came in third, finishing 2 minutes and 31.6 seconds back.
This season’s competition took place entirely in Italy. Val di Fiemme will also host Olympic cross-country skiing events next month. Diggins’ performance builds momentum as she heads into the Winter Games.
Diggins is from Afton, Minnesota, and she is 34 years old. Her Tour de Ski titles came in 2021, 2023, and now 2026. She has also finished third twice in this event. These achievements mark the only podium finishes by an American athlete in the Tour de Ski’s 20-year history.
On the men’s side, Norway dominated the standings. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo claimed his fifth Tour de Ski title, extending his record for the most career wins in the event.
Klaebo finished ahead of fellow Norwegian Mattis Stenshagen. Stenshagen won the final stage at Alpe Cermis but finished 30.1 seconds behind Klaebo overall. Harald Østberg Amundsen took third place, finishing 1 minute and 8.2 seconds behind Klaebo.
The results highlighted another Tour de Ski marked by Norwegian depth and Diggins’ ongoing success at the top of women’s cross-country skiing.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/tour-de-ski-diggins-klaebo-65ffb4951f3650e1b4bb42fb67be0dca
