On the final stage of the 2023-24 Tour de Ski, Jessie Diggins took sixth place in the Final Climb to secure third overall in the Tour de Ski.

After six grueling stages featuring new Olympic-style courses prepped for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games next season, the remaining six athletes from the Stifel U.S. Ski Team lined up for the mass start of the climb. The course, new to the Tour, led athletes through a lap of the Val di Fiemme course, then down the winding Marcialonga tourist track to the base of the alpine hill. The race concluded with a brutal 4k ascent up the alpine course of Alpe Cermis, featuring a steady gradient of 12%, with the steepest section averaging 28% – the same gradient as the Champions course that moguls athletes race on at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International presented by Stifel at Deer Valley.  

Diggins entered the final stage in the women's race ranked third in the overall standings and had to fight for every second to secure the overall podium position. Despite a strong push from Norway’s Therese Johaug, Diggins held on to finish sixth on the day, clinching the overall Tour de Ski podium in the process. 

“Oh man, I don’t think you’ve ever seen a happier third place than what you’re seeing now,” said Diggins. “It’s so awesome to finish this tour and an overall podium kind of happened against all odds! It was a really epic tour, in ways that I didn’t ask for. I learned to be tough in new ways and it was a huge thanks to the amazing team around me. I am definitely excited for some rest now but it was so great to fight out there today! I am so lucky that our alpine girls were out there cheering today, and also my husband! I and the team had so much support, it was awesome.”

Norwegian teammates Astrid Oeyre Slind and Heidi Weng finished second and third for the day, with Johaug first and Slind second overall in the Tour de Ski standings. It is Johaug’s fourth Tour de Ski win, equaling the record—a particularly impressive feat for the skier who took off the last two seasons from professional ski racing.

Sophia Laukli was 15th in the Final Climb with Julia Kern 19th. Last year, Laukli became the youngest American to win an individual cross country World Cup, when she won the Final Climb. Julia Kern was 19th.

Kern was the next American after Diggins in the overall, finishing in 17th, while Laukli was 21st.  

Ben Ogden, Zanden McMullen and Jack Young represented the remaining Stifel U.S. Ski Team Tour de Ski male athletes. Up the Alpe Cermis, Ogden and McMullen fought through the pain, skiing around the alpine gates to land in the top 20: McMullen in 19th and Ogden 20th. Young, whose finish marked his first-ever Tour de Ski – his 2024-25 season goal – crossed the finish line in 53rd. 

Going into the day, Ogden was ranked 15th in the Tour de Ski overall ranking and maintained his position. This was his second best finish in the Tour de Ski, finishing 13th overall two years ago. Ogden also secured seventh in the sprint standings. McMullen was 21st overall and Young 55th. 

The day's winner went to Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krueger, followed by Mika Vermeulen of Austria in second and Friedrich Moch of Germany in third.

With a remarkable 1:23.1 second lead and four victories out of seven stages, Norway’s Johannes Klaebo secured a record-equaling fourth Tour win. Vermeulen of Austria was second and Hugo Lapalus of France was third.

Cheering on the Stifel U.S. Ski Team racers were their alpine teammates Lindsey Vonn and Alison Molin. “This is a ski slope that is meant to go downhill!” said Vonn. “It’s counterintuitive to go up! But this is incredible.” 

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team women and men both finished fourth overall in the nation standings of the Tour de Ski. 

The cross country athletes will head to their respective recovery camp locations before the World Cup season continues in Les Rousses, France Jan. 17-19.

RESULTS
Women
Men

OVERALL RESULTS
Women
Men

CLIMBER
Women
Men

SPRINT
Women
Men

NATION
Women
Men

Katie Hensien was the stand-out athlete for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team on Sunday in the Kranjska Gora slalom, earning her first top 15 in a slalom World Cup, finishing 12th.

Hensien started the day seeded in bib 36 and hung on to a top-30 finish in her first run to give her her first chance of scoring slalom points so far in 2024-25. Having not finished her first runs or not qualified for a second run in every slalom so far this season, Hensien blew her expectations for Sunday out of the water when she skied the fifth fastest run of the day in the second run, got some time in the leader's chair and ended the day with a personal best in the slalom.

Her second run was less than seven-tenths behind the day's winner, Croatia's Zrinka Lutjic, and half a second behind second-place finisher Switzerland's Wendy Holdener. In fact, she beat third-place finisher Anna Swenn-Larsson of Sweden in her second run.

"I've shown some fast skiing this season, and it's nice to put two together finally," said Hensien. "[My result] reassures me that I have been skiing fast all season, and it's nice to have that confidence now after an unlucky streak in the beginning. It shows that my speed has always been there, and I'm excited for what's to come."

Teammate AJ Hurt was the fastest American in the first run, squeezing into 11th wearing bib 27. She came into the second run guns-a-blazing and was leading the field by over a second as she skied into the third split and crossed the tips of her skis, causing her to ski out of the course and clock a DNF.

Paula Moltzan was the only other American to score points on Sunday, finishing 20th overall. Nina O'Brien did not qualify for a second run.

The next on the women's tech schedule is a night slalom in Flachau, Austria, on Jan. 14, 2025. In the meantime, the women's team will head back to the Stifel U.S. Ski Team headquarters in Toblach for training and squeeze in a few days at Kronplatz before the giant slalom there on Jan. 21. The women's speed team races next weekend in St. Anton, Austria.

RESULTS
Women's slalom

The Tour de Ski continued in Val di Fiemme, Italy with the sixth stage of the grueling series—the 20k skiathlon, which saw Jessie Diggins in fifth and Julia Kern in a career-best distance result in seventh.

Today's race marked the second race in Val di Fiemme, a venue preparing to host the world’s best athletes at the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games next year. It also delivered standout performances from the remaining six athletes on the Stifel U.S. Ski Team's Tour de Ski roster. The new course tested the field with 10k of classic skiing followed by 10k of skate skiing, with a ski change at the halfway point of the six-lap course. This format demands physical endurance and tactical precision, as it features some highly challenging descents met with steep climbs. 

The men’s race started the day with Zanden McMullen powering to a strong 17th place result and Ben Ogden following closely in 21st. At this point in the Tour, athletes are mentally and physically fatigued from racing six times in eight days. Only 61 athletes remained on the start list in the day's first race, but McMullen, Ogden and Jack Young put the hammer down. Throughout the six laps, McMullen and Ogden were in and out of the lead and chase pack, fighting for position in the ripping descents, hairpin turns and steep climbs.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo continued his streak, winning the race and leading in the overall Tour de Ski rankings, with Italian Federico Pellegrino in second and Jan Thomas Jenssen of Norway in third. 

For the women, a field reduced to just 36 competitors due to illness made for an even tighter race. Diggins and Kern were in the mix, fighting for top positions from the start. After the ski change, Norway’s Therese Johaug established a gap, but Diggins and Kern kept pushing, sometimes skiing solo or within a pack, to secure top results. Kern, mere seconds behind, delivered a breakout performance and put her name on the map for World Cup distance races. After a less-than-desirable result and race for Kern the day prior, the 20K result showed how never giving up works out.

"I've had a lot of bad luck so far this season and just not all the pieces coming together on the right day all of the time," said Kern. "I knew there was a lot more potential today and I hadn't really shown my best yet in distance racing, or sprints, so I really believe that there's a lot more to give into show. And today, I had incredible skis that helped me do that and my body was responding well to my surprise! I just bounced back today, and I kept believing that there's so much more potential. I'm really excited for what's to come!"

"I was just looking forward to changing to skate," said Diggins, laughing. Diggins is currently dealing with a foot injury that makes classic skiing painful, yet she can still race. "And skating just gives me the normal amount of hurting - and I know how to handle that. So I just put my head down and fought for every second and was just trying to ski my own race. I am really proud! And really proud of our team." 

Sophia Laukli, despite falling and breaking a pole on the first lap, continued the fight, and in the five laps that followed her fall, Laukli continued to pick off athlete-by-athlete, charging the uphills as the strong climber she is to finish 20th.

The women's race resulted in Johaug taking home the win, Teresa Stadlober of Austria in second and Astrid Oeyre Slind of Norway in third. 

Tomorrow, all eyes are on the iconic Final Climb—a brutal 8-kilometer uphill battle up the Alpe Cermis alpine hill. Last year, Laukli etched her name into the history books with a commanding victory on the climb, becoming the youngest American to win a World Cup race. With Laukli’s history on this course, all eyes will be on her as she looks to repeat that feat. Diggins has moved into third place in the Tour de Ski standings, including third in the sprint standings, positioning herself as a serious contender heading into the finale, with Ben Ogden leading the men in 13th overall. 

RESULTS
Women 
Men

OVERALL TOUR DE SKI RESULTS
Women
Men

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team kicked off 2025 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Saturday, Jan. 4, with AJ Hurt leading the way in 10th and Nina O'Brien .24 seconds behind her in 11th. 

Sweden's Sara Hector was both victorious and untouchable, throwing down two aggressive runs that put her 1.42 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lara Colturi of Albania. New Zealand's Alice Robinson finished third, 1.52 seconds off Hector's winning pace.

For Hurt, the result is a step in the right direction. In her return to the World Cup just one week prior in Semmering, Austria, Hurt struggled to find the speed she was looking for in giant slalom and finished 27th. Her form improved in the slalom that followed when she skied to 18th. However, she wasn't fully satisfied. Given her results from last season, she felt like she was leaving a lot on the table.

Saturday's skiing in Kranjska Gora felt more like herself, she said.

"It felt like I could find that feeling and that rhythm that I've been wanting and hoping for, and it feels really good to be back in the mix and not feel the 'injured athlete' coming back," commented Hurt. "Like I was supposed to be happy with my results last week, but I knew I wanted to and could do more, and it's nice to be able to really be a contender again and show myself that I'm more than just my injury."

O'Brien had been leading for the Americans after the first run in the sixth, 1.88 off Hector's pace, but a more attainable of 0.78 seconds behind Colturi in second. O'Brien is still hunting for her first World Cup podium and wanted it badly on Saturday. However, being on the edge on the second run didn't translate into the clean, aggressive skiing she had hoped for.

O'Brien used one word to describe her second run – chaos.

"I was trying to push because I really wanted to go for it, and I definitely did that, but it was a little sloppy," O'Brien chuckled. "I had three moments where I fell over and felt like I was about to ski out, and after the third time, I was finally like, 'Okay, you gotta pull yourself together for the bottom.' So I'm not totally satisfied with the second run, but overall, I had a good attitude and still showed some good skiing today."

Katie Hensien rounded out point-scoring results for the team in 27th.

The three other American competitors, Paula Moltzan, Elisabeth Bocock and Mary Bocock, did not finish their first run. Thankfully, each athlete avoided a crash and skied out of the course safely with no injuries.

Sunday, Jan. 5, Hurt, O'Brien, Hensien, and Moltzan will start for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team in the Kranjska Gora slalom. The first run begins at 4:00 a.m. ET and can be streamed live or on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live.

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom

HOW TO WATCH
4:30 a.m. ET - women's slalom, run 1, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live/on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live
7:00 a.m. ET - women's slalom, run 2, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live/on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the 12 athletes who have qualified to represent the United States in moguls skiing at the 2025 FIS Freestyle Junior Ski World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Jan. 7-9, 2025. 

This year’s team comprises top U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes from clubs nationwide, including some of the best junior athletes in the world. Abby McLarnon, Jiah Cohen and Porter Huff all represented the United States at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, where they brought home five medals (one gold, one silver, three bronze). Reese Chapdelaine and Jack Petrone are returning for their second Junior World Championships, each earning top 15 finishes prior. With a history of strong results at the junior level, this year's Junior World Championships are sure to excite. 

2025 FIS FREESTYLE JUNIOR SKI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

(Hometown; Club; Birthdate)

Women

• Anabel Ayad (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 9/1/2005)
• Reese Chapdelaine (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 9/3/2005)
• Katie Dreitlein (Montrose, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 2/21/2008)
• Jessica Duda (Brownsville, PA; Wasatch Freestyle; 12/12/2005)
• Eden Kruger (Hopewell Junction, NY; Killington Mountain School; 11/10/2009)
• Abby McLarnon (Steamboat Springs, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 10/16/2006)

Men

• Jiah Cohen (Minturn, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 05/28/2006)
• Nate Gendron (Park City, UT; Wasatch Freestyle; 8/25/2006)
• Porter Huff (Winter Park, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 4/2/2008)
• Chase Littlefield (Yarmouth, ME; Wasatch Freestyle; 3/9/2006)
• Freddie Mickel (Durango, CO; Wasatch Freestyle; 7/10/2006)
• Jack Petrone (Glastonbury, CT; Wasatch Freestyle; 2/2/2005)

STAFF

Ann Battelle -  Lead U.S. Coach (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)
David Dreitlein – Medical Lead
Freddy Mooney – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
Emerson Smith - Wasatch Freestyle

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN 2025 COMPETITION SCHEDULE

Jan. 7 // Moguls
Jan. 8 // Dual moguls
Jan. 9 // Dual moguls team 

The third stage of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, delivered an exciting day for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. On the challenging 20k skate course, Ben Ogden achieved a career-best ninth-place finish in distance racing, securing third overall in the Tour standings and Jessie Diggins, Sophia Laukli and Julia Kern all finished within the top 15. 

The men started off the day's races, with the 20k skate featuring a brand new course ahead of them. The course, starting in Toblach Stadium and stretching out toward the Tre Cime mountain range in the Dolomites, challenged the athletes with its lack of rest points - it was all out from the start. Strong gliders and powerful skiers thrived on this “working” course, which demanded consistent effort.

For the men, Ogden, Gus Schumacher, JC Schoonmaker, Jack Young and Zanden McMullen were representing the U.S. At the same time, the women were led by the overall leader, Diggins, then Laukli, Kern, Rosie Brennan and Alayna Sonnesyn. 

Often used as a "tourist track," this course is narrow and unrelenting. Appearing flat, it was anything but that - racers had to put the hammer down from start to finish. It was the sunniest part of the day for the men when the start gun went off. With 91 skiers on the roster and a new course in front of them, it was truly anyone's game. Through the checkpoints, Schumacher and Ogden were showing impressive splits. At the top of the climb, racers did a horseshoe to turn around and come back down, with the Tre Cime towering overhead in the distance. There, Ogden was sitting just outside the top 10, in 11th, with just the downhill. At 15.6k, the final checkpoint, Ogden was solidly in the top 10 and into the finish, he put down the hammer to cross the line in ninth - this was the best skate distance result of his World Cup career. 

"Today will absolutely go down as my best distance race ever!" said Ogden. "Really pumped with that and with the progress I've made lately."

With the men's race wrapped, Ogden was ninth, Schumacher 34th, McMullen 52nd, Schoonmaker 53rd and Young 71st. Norwegians Harald Amundsen was first, Simen Krueger second and Great Britain's Andrew Musgrave in third.  

For the women, all eyes were on Diggins, as this race not only played to her strengths but she's coming off two back-to-back wins the days previous. 

Wearing the yellow bib marking her as the overall Tour de Ski leader, Diggins started right behind teammate Kern. In their favor, this course was made easier if you had someone to work with - whether drafting, taking turns leading, or just fighting the up and downhill together. That is just what Kern and Diggins did. For Laukli, the sentiment was the same. However, she was working alongside Germany's Victoria Karl, who ended the day just off the podium tied for fourth. With the teamwork, Laukli finished the day 10th, a big step forward in her Tour de Ski results, giving her more confidence going into the final stages. Kern and Diggins skied the entire course together and crossed the line together, with Diggins in sixth and Kern in 13th. Brennan was 37th and Sonnesyn 51st, respectively. Norwegians Astrid Oeyre Slind led the podium in first, Therese Johaug in second and Kerttu Niskanen of Finland in fourth. 

"It was so hard - but it was also so cool," said Diggins. "The best part was that I got to ski with my teammate Julia, whom I trained with all summer. We had a plan that if we caught together, we would work together. On the downhill, we had amazing communication and collaboration. Without her, it would have been a really tough time for me - because you either got lucky to ski with someone or didn't. That's ski racing!"

"This is the type of race that you go through a lot of emotions!" Said Laukli. "I was in a dark hole after the past two races and didn't know if I wanted to keep going but I really want to fulfill the Tour and I want to keep going!"

With three stages completed, the Tour heads to stage four tomorrow before moving to Val di Fiemme, Italy, for the final three stages. Diggins remains the overall leader, while Ogden’s strong position in third makes the Stifel U.S. Ski Team one to watch as the Tour continues.

RESULTS 
Men
Women

On Sunday's super-G in Bormio, Italy three Stifel U.S. Ski Team men found their way into the top 30. The team was led by Kyle Negomir in 21st, Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 22nd and Jared Goldberg in 29th. 

“Bormio is tough because it's always a fight,” said Negomir. 

It was the end of a relatively heavy week and weekend at the future Olympic site. A week riddled with injuries. Most notably French ski star Cyprien Sarrazin had a bad crash on the second training run day that left him with a head injury. Over the course of the weekend three more large crashes would follow. 

The conditions were what the athletes describe as classic Bormio: “icy, dark and bumpy.” On Saturday’s downhill Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Ryan Cochran-Siegle was one to make it out of the weekend in one piece after he had a scary crash. Cochran-Siegle was leading the downhill run, poised to claim a podium spot until he caught an edge and tumbled over a gate. Luckily he would walk away with no injuries. 

On Sunday it was still dark and bumpy for the men yet they had to fight through the mental challenge and put their best foot forward. Negomir looked poised under pressure as he skied solidly to land just outside the top 20 and ahead of his teammate Cochran-Siegle. Regardless of scoring points, the men know they are capable of much more and look forward to finding that next gear in January. 

“It will be nice to go home and have a mental reset. I think some time at home will be good and then a little training block will get us some confidence and have us ready to push into the heavy month of January,” said Negomir.

RESULTS
men's super-G

Jessie Diggins added another milestone to her career today in Toblach, Italy, winning the second stage of the Tour de Ski in a thrilling and... unexpected finish. In what was her first-ever World Cup victory in classic skiing, Diggins crossed the line victorious on the same course where she secured her first-ever World Cup win 14 years ago, in the Tour de Ski, during the 5k skate. This win came over 340 World Cup starts later, cementing her place as one of the greatest cross country skiers ever, and one that can win in any distance, in either discipline. 

Meanwhile, Gus Schumacher continued his impressive performance at the Tour, crossing the line in seventh place in today’s 15k classic mass start. His consistency throughout the Tour sees him sitting seventh overall in the standings, while Ben Ogden remains fifth in the Tour de Ski standings after another strong showing.

The day dawned sunny in Toblach, with fast classic tracks and eager athletes ready to tackle the 15k mass start. Diggins lined up with 63 other competitors, taking the lead early in a tactical, fast and hilly race. Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern, Sophia Laukli, and Alayna Sonnesyn joined Diggins on the USA start list. 

Diggins led, forming a tight lead group alongside Norwegian stars Therese Johaug and Astrid Øyre Slind and Finnish standout Kerttu Niskanen. Brennan and Kern worked hard in the chase pack alongside the massive pack of skiers on the tight course. 

The stakes grew higher with each lap and Diggins refused to let up. Approaching the final climb, she dug deep, refusing to yield to her competitors. In a post-race interview, she reflected, “I never gave up. I’ve dreamed of a classic victory for so long, and today it finally happened.” Crossing the finish line with a fist pump and tears in her eyes, Diggins collapsed in Diggins fashion but did something in the process that she thought was impossible.

"Honestly, I'm really emotional," said Diggins, post-race, when asked what this meant to her. "We finally did it. I say we, because I'm looking at my coach right now too. This summer I put in so much work on my double poll and classic skiing, and to be able to sprint like that yesterday and finish like that today - that was something that I didn't know if I had in me. I had to work really hard to get here, and I got a lot of help from a lot of people. It's honestly super emotional - it's really cool." 

Diggins took home her second Tour de Ski victory in two races; Brennan was in the top 20 again in 14th, Kern in 31st, Laukli in 46th, and Sonnesyn in 50th. Second place went to Niskanen of Finland, and Slind of Norway. 

With Diggins’ victory setting the tone, the American men approached their 15k race with renewed energy. Ben Ogden, Gus Schumacher, JC Schoonmaker, Zanden McMullen, and Jack Young represented the stars and stripes. The variable conditions on the course—chopped-up snow and icy patches—required strategic precision and smart skiing by the men - nothing they couldn't handle.

Ogden and Schumacher positioned themselves in the lead pack early, with McMullen and Schoonmaker not far behind. Schumacher made a decisive move on the penultimate climb as the race progressed, making a spot for himself in the top five going into the final curve. Despite losing a couple of places in the finishing stretch, Schumacher's move showed he knows what needs to be done going into Tuesday's 20k to maintain that podium position. Reflecting on his race, Schumacher said, “I knew I had to do something big. I pushed hard, got into position, and went for it. I didn’t have the legs to hold it at the end, but I’m proud of how I raced.”

Schumacher’s efforts earned him seventh place, while McMullen impressed with a 17th-place finish. Ogden ended the day in 26th, maintaining his strong overall Tour position in fifth. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo dominated once again, claiming his second consecutive Tour stage victory, followed by Erik Valnes and Håvard Moseby in second and third.

With Diggins’ historic win and the men's continued rise in the ranks, the Stifel U.S. Ski Team is making a statement in this year’s Tour de Ski. As the Tour progresses, the momentum is undeniable and the athletes are determined to deliver standout performances. Tomorrow is a rest day and then the team is back at it on Tuesday. 

RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN

OVERALL TOUR DE SKI STANDINGS
MEN
WOMEN

AJ Hurt's first weekend back on the World Cup circuit was a success. On Sunday in the Semmering slalom, she was the only American athlete to put down two runs, finishing the day in 18th.

Believe it or not, Hurt's result in Semmering is only the fourth time she's ever finished two runs of a slalom World Cup.

Hurt, who considers herself to be more of a giant slalom specialist, surprised herself in the Kranjska Gora slalom in early January last season when she earned a career-first podium and a career-best slalom, finishing third, and hasn't scored points in the discipline since.

Known for her gutsy skiing and carefree attitude, Hurt isn't one to hold back on a slalom course to make it down to the finish. In both of her runs on Sunday, Hurt made up for lost time on the last pitch, skiing the sixth fastest second run overall to move her up the ranks nine positions.

"The first run, I was definitely just trying to get back into it," reflected Hurt. "The second run felt much more like my type of skiing, where I could ski fast, so I'm happy with it. I only finished two slaloms last year, so it feels good to be already halfway on track to besting my season last year, and I'm going to keep trying my best to keep pushing and get back to where I was."

Unfortunately, teammates Paula Moltzan, Katie Hensien and Nina O'Brien did not get a second run. However, all three athletes stuck around to support Hurt in her World Cup slalom return before heading off to Toblach for a brief training block in preparation for World Cups in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, next weekend. Moltzan was pushing hard at the beginning of her first run but straddled and did not finish.

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic led Sunday's podium. She won her first World Cup by 1.75 seconds, followed by Germany's Lena Duerr in second and Austria's Katharina Leinsberger in third. Ljutic was the first Croatian woman to win a World Cup in over 18 years.

In Kranjska Gora, the women open 2025 with a giant slalom on Saturday and a slalom on Sunday.

RESULTS
Women's slalom

HOW TO WATCH

Jan. 4, 2024
3:30 a.m. ET - women's giant slalom, run 1, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live
6:45 a.m. ET - women's giant slalom, run 2, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live

Jan. 5, 2024 
4:00 a.m. ET - women's slalom, run 1, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live
7:00 a.m. ET - women's slalom, run 2, Kranjska Gora, SLO - live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live

The 2024-25 Tour de Ski began today in Toblach, Italy, with a strong showing from the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. Wearing the yellow bib as the current leader in the overall World Cup standings, Jessie Diggins led the Americans into the highly anticipated opening sprint stage with a win in the skate sprint. Eight U.S. athletes advanced to the sprint heats—four men and four women—highlighting the depth of the team and landing 80% of the team in the top 30 at the end of the day. 

For the men, Ben Ogden, JC Schoonmaker, Gus Schumacher and Jack Young qualified for the sprint heats. Young, in particular, made an impressive debut in his first Tour de Ski appearance. On the women's side, Diggins, Rosie Brennan and Alayna Sonnesyn joined Diggins in advancing to the heats, setting the stage for an exciting day of sprinting.

Diggins, Schumacher and Ogden stood out as the races progressed by advancing through to the semifinals. Schumacher and Ogden won their respective quarterfinal heats, setting the tone. Toblach holds a special place for Ogden, as last winter, he skied to his first career podium in the same race. Despite battling nerves and breaking a pole in the final, Ogden finished an impressive sixth on the day and is hungry for more. 

"Most proud of my confidence today," said Ogden, post race. "I was more nervous today than I've been in awhile - because I have some memories here. But I handled it well, I skied really smart. Unfortunate way to end it with all that work but what can you do? That's part of the deal." 

Meanwhile, Diggins strongly returned to the top of the podium in the skate sprint, securing her first win in this format since 2021. Her victory marked a strong start to the 2024-25 Tour de Ski, earning her the overall and sprint leader bib. "Can I wear two bibs?" she said, laughing after the race. 

"I'm excited to build through it like I’ve been able to in the past!" said Schumacher. "It’s been a while since I strung together a good full tour and I’m hoping that this is my year to get better every day."

The podium for the men was led by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, Lucas Chavanat of France, and Janik Riebli of Switzerland. Diggins was on top for the women, led by Jasmi Joensuu of Finland–first career podium– and Nadine Feindrich of Switzerland. For the U.S., Kern was the second American, in 14th, Sonnesyn in 19th, a career-best result, and Brennan in 29th. Sophia Laukli was 63rd. For the men, Ogden was sixth, Schumacher was 10th, Schoonmaker was 14th, Young 17th, and McMullen 36th, respectively.

"This was a huge surprise!" said Diggins. "It was so fun to be here, we had amazing fans, amazing skis! Toblach is so special, this is where I had my first podium, a long time ago during the Tour de Ski... so, this victory is an amazing surprise!"

The Tour de Ski remains one of the premier events on the FIS World Cup calendar, and this year, it attracted a strong field despite being a World Championships year. The momentum is building and the fun doesn't stop here - six more races are on deck, along with tomorrow's 15k classic mass start. The event starts at 6:30 a.m. ET for the women and 8:45 a.m. ET for the men. Watch live and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Men
Women