Diggins Sixth in Tour de Ski With One Stage Remaining

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) limited her loses in Saturday’s sixth stage of the FIS Ski World Cup Tour de Ski, a 10k classic in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Oestburg, who leads the Tour, went out strong and led the entire race Saturday for her third stage win.

“I was really proud of how I raced today,” said Diggins, who finished seventh, one minute, 19 seconds off Oestburg’s winning time. “My body just totally ran out of gas on me but I never gave up and never stopped pushing myself as hard as I could go. My skis were really competitive and I’m so proud of our team for working so hard. This far into the tour you never know how your body will react, but all you can do is race as hard as possible, and that’s my plan going into tomorrow.”

Russians Natalia Nepryaeva was second and Anastasia Sedova was third.

“Today was definitely not the day we were hoping for, but not a disaster,” said U.S. Cross Country Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb. “Every day this late in the Tour is a wildcard. Jessie did everything she could to limit her losses, but in the end, she dropped in the overall to sixth. One thing to know about Jessie is she never puts a limit on what she can do. We are all looking forward to Sunday’s hill climb.”

The men’s race was won by Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, in second was Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani with Alexander Bolshunov of Russia in third. Klaebo continues to lead the Tour.

The Tour wraps up on Sunday with the grueling 9k hill climb up the famed Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme.

RESULTS
Men’s 15k
Women’s 10k

STANDINGS
Men’s Overall (through 6 stages)
Women’s Overall (through 6 stages)

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 5
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