Diggins Climbs To Third Overall Through Five Tour de Ski Stages

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied an all-out 10k pursuit to finish third and claw back valuable time on the leaders in stage 5 of the FIS Cross Country World Cup Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany, Thursday.

Diggins, as part of a trio that included Krista Parmakoski of Finland and Yulia Belorukova of Russia, did most of the work on the track and edged Beluorukova at the line by 0.1 seconds, and posted the fastest time of the day in the process. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway won the stage, followed by Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia in second.

“It was really fun working with Krista today, I love skiing with her because we share the work of leading and end up having a great race overall,” Diggins said. “It was so awesome getting the time of day win today and third in the tour in front of my parents and sister who came all the way over to cheer for the last three stages of the tour!”

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) was the only other U.S. starter and finished 11th for the day.

“Well, that’s a wrap for my Tour de Ski racing this season, signing out in 11th place,” Bjornsen said. “I decided to not complete the tour this year in order to get a good training block in without too much race fatigue. With my heart set on World Championships this year, my coach and I made a plan to only go through five stages. It’s one of the hardest things in the world to drop from the tour because it’s my favorite racing of the season, but I have big goals ahead in February.

On the men’s side, the only U.S. starter was Ben Lustgarten (Burlington, Vt.) moving up one spot and finishing 54th for the day. The day was won by Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov in second and Alexander Bolshunov also of Russia in third. Klaebo maintains the lead in the overall.

The Tour de Ski resumes with stage 6 Saturday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with a 10k mass start for the women and 15k mass start for the men. 

RESULTS
Men’s 15k pursuit
Women’s 10k pursuit

STANDINGS
Men’s overall (through 5 stages)
Women’s overall (through 5 stages)

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day delayed broadcast

Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, Jan. 5
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 women’s 10k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:10 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com &NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, Jan. 6
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 women’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
8:45 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV

Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming