Sophia Laukli dropped the field, then dropped the mic. Over the final kilometer of the epochal climb up Alpe Cermis that closes out the Tour de Ski, the pride of Yarmouth, Maine, skied away from her closest challenger, Heidi Weng, like she was standing still. She crossed the line in 38:16.5 with a 17-second lead, then effected an unmistakable mic drop with her right hand. She was wearing gloves, and ski poles, and had just destroyed an hors catégorie climb, and she still pulled it off. It ruled.
It is Laukli’s first career World Cup victory. She was third and fifth in this stage the last two years.
Laukli reflected on her victory in post-race comments. “It feels really insanely good,” she said. “Super fun to get my first victory but it also feels great to have one of the best races of my life, feelings-wise and tactics, and how everything just played out. This is really motivating for the rest of the season, and future seasons in general, and trying to do this thing in more than just the hill climb. I’m feeling really motivated for skiing in general!”
Not long after, Jessie Diggins finished sixth, 48.5 seconds back, to easily claim her second career Tour de Ski victory. Diggins came into the day 1:03 ahead of Weng and :44 up on Frida Karlsson, who won the Tour last season; her overall win seemed likely secure, but if a real challenge was going to come, those two athletes were likely to mount it. Weng ultimately put 31.4 seconds into Diggins on the day with her final push into second, but ultimately finished 31.6 seconds back in the overall standings.
“That was really painful,” said Diggins in comments provided by USSS; she had battled injuries over the second half of the Tour following some falls. “Breathing hurts. But I am so happy and relieved to be done, and also, I’m excited to go back and celebrate with my team, because this is their victory too.”
The hillclimb podium for today was Laukli in first, Weng in second, and Delphine Claudel of France in third.
Diggins, who also won the Tour de Ski in 2021, joins Weng of Norway and Virpi Kuitunen of Finland as two-time winners on the women’s side. Her lead in the overall World Cup standings is now approximately one million points (okay, 308, which, only halfway through the season, damn). Rosie Brennan remains third in the overall standings after today, 23 points back of Linn Svahn of Sweden in second.
There were also other Americans in today’s race! For the women, Laukli was first today and Diggins was sixth, as noted. Brennan was 12th (+1:35.9). Sammy Smith was 23rd (+3:16.9), ably meeting her goal of finishing the Tour and making it to the top of Alpe Cermis. In the overall Tour standings, Brennan finished 12th, Laukli 14th, and Smith 26th.
For the men, a pair of stalwart Alaskans made it through the final stage. Zanden McMullen was 36th today (+3:03.8), and Scott Patterson 42nd (+3:24.0). It is the first Tour finish for McMullen. Patterson finished 26th in the overall Tour standings, and McMullen 36th.
McMullen was perhaps underwhelmed by his Tour de Ski experience as a whole, but was also able to treat it as a learning experience. “The Tour as a whole wasn’t great,” McMullen candidly told Nordic Insights. “Very fun, but not the performances I was hoping for. My biggest goals were accomplished though; finish the Tour and learn as much as I can about how it flows and functions. Definitely weird only finishing with one other American man, but excited to see what we can do for the rest of the season!”
In the points competition aspect of the Tour de Ski (basically the sprinter’s bib of previous Tours, but with some additional chances to score points in distance races this year), Lucas Chavanat (FRA) kept his silver bib to the finish. He won the points competition with 80 points, 21 ahead of his countryman Lucas Chappaz (FRA), who took second with 59 points. Rounding out the points podium was Edvin Anger (SWE) with 54 points.
Linn Svahn (SWE) kept the silver bib for the entire Tour, asserting her dominance as the sprint leader with 71 points. Close behind her, with a deficit of just 9 points, was Jessie Diggins (USA), with 62 points. In third position was Frida Karlsson (SWE), with 55 points.
Results: women today | men today | women overall | men overall
— Gavin Kentch and Máximo Steverlynck
