Tour de Ski race hots up after Svahn secures Davos double

There were fireworks on and off the track in Davos on Wednesday as the 2023/24 FIS Tour de Ski rolled into the Swiss Alps for the crucial fourth stage.

It was here that Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) – the undisputed king of cross-country skiing over the shorter distance – contracted flu while training at altitude in preparation for the Tour, ruling him out of this season’s seven-race showpiece.

This allowed the other sprint stars to step into the limelight – and they duly obliged. Racing under floodlights with trackside pyrotechnics and a noisy post-work crowd boosting the atmosphere, Linn Svahn (SWE) and Lucas Chanavat (FRA) each made it two sprint victories in a row.

And while the Frenchman will focus on winning the World Cup sprint title, leaving the race for the men’s yellow bib wide open, Svahn’s win leaves her very much in contention for the women’s crown.

It was another Swede, Jonna Sundling, who posted the fastest time in women’s afternoon qualifying, but after being beaten by Svahn at the finish line in Toblach, Italy on Thursday, the Olympic and double World Champion failed to make it to the semi-finals here, with fellow sprint stars Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR) and Emma Ribom (SWE) edging her out in the first of the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, it was Ribom’s turn to suffer some misfortune. The 26-year-old – winner of two sprint classics in this season’s World Cup – crashed on an increasingly icy final corner, allowing Skistad through.

There were no such problems for Svahn, who hit the front in each of the knockout rounds. And there she stayed, including in the final, despite the presence of fellow front runners Skistad and Jessie Diggins (USA). The 24-year-old, whose first World Cup victory came at this venue in 2019 when she had just turned 20, looked a class apart throughout.

She said: “My plan was to go hard on the second [lap] climb if had the energy left so when I came to the top in a good position I just pushed over the hill and felt pretty strong in the final straight also, so it was a nice feeling.”

Svahn crossed the line in 2 minutes 32.35 seconds, 1.3 seconds ahead of Skistad who, despite her reputation as a strong finisher, was again left for dead by the speedy Swede, as she was in Toblach.

It was a good day too for Diggins, who praised the “positive energy” in the US team after she stayed out of trouble to take third in 2:34.08. She retains her lead at the top of the Tour standings – 33 seconds ahead of Svahn – and extends her overall World Cup advantage.

Pellegrino poised to strike after Chanavat wins again

Like Svahn, Chanavat was in a league of his own in the men’s event. The sprint specialist was a controversial inclusion in Wednesday’s race after the Jury allowed him to continue the Tour despite his overall time being well beyond the cut-off point that rules normally permit.

And the 29-year-old took full advantage of the absence of Klaebo and teammate Jules Chappaz, who failed to make it past afternoon qualifying, to dominate every round.

Edvin Anger (SWE) and Federico Pellegrino (ITA) were the other big winners from day one in Davos.

At 21, the giant Swede’s potential is no secret and he started to make good on it with a first individual World Cup podium, finishing 0.25s behind Chanavat.

Pellegrino, meanwhile, has flown somewhat under the radar after a quiet start to the season, and looked like a spent force after the sprints in Toblach. And although the veteran Italian never looked like repeating his heroics of last year, when he beat Klaebo in Davos, third place this time puts him just 25 seconds off the men’s Tour lead.

That belongs to Harald Østberg Amundsen (NOR) who had a mixed day. In the first quarter-final, he crashed out on the final corner of the first lap after a clash of skis with Austrian Benjamin Moser. “I was a little close in that curve, and then I felt the back of my skis move,” Amundsen, who threw his poles to the ground in disgust, said. “I was thinking a lot of words that are not okay to say at the moment."

Those vibes would have improved a little when Erik Valnes (NOR), his closest challenger for the Tour title and clearly feeling the effects of two distance races in Toblach, failed to take advantage of Amundsen’s misfortune. The sprint specialist trailed in well off the pace in the second semi-final, leaving his compatriot with an 11-second lead heading into Thursday’s 20km Classic Pursuit.

Click here for the full results from Davos.