Lucky 13 for Skistad with Sprint success in Toblach
Dec 28, 2025·Cross-Country
Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR) took advantage of the absence of her big rival, Jonna Sundling (SWE), to claim her second victory of the FIS Cross-Country Skiing 2025/26 World Cup season in the Sprint Freestyle in Toblach on Sunday.
The tall Norwegian looked in ominous form a month out from the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games 2026 to claim her 13th individual World Cup victory and just her third in the Alps, the other two coming in Les Rousses, France.
Perfect conditions greeted the sprinters near Italy’s border with Austria for the first race of the traditional mid-winter Tour de Ski on a course that is anything but generous. Over two laps of the 1.4km loop, there are two main climbs and very little opportunity to rest for the skiers. Positioning is also vital, with the circuitous nature of the course meaning the athletes can see their fellow racers at all times.
With almost unrivalled power, Skistad’s tactics are nearly always to fly out of the starting gates, establish prime position at the front of the field, then slow the pace and rely on her sprint finish.
But with Sundling missing, the world silver medallist rarely needed to hit the afterburners on Sunday. She led her quarter-final and semi-final final from start to finish and from the moment Johanna Hagstroem (SWE) – who was the fastest woman in morning qualifying by two seconds – broke a ski pole at the start of the final, there was only going to be one winner.
“It was a hard final but I was faster than the rest,” Skistad, 26, said. “It feels good to be back here and on top of the podium. It feels good to be in the gold bib [as leader of the Tour de Ski].”
With Hagstroem out of contention, there was quite a fight for the other podium places, with Coletta Rydzek (GER) battling with Jessie Diggins (USA), Maja Dahlqvist (SWE) and Mathilde Myhrvold (NOR).
The Norwegian fell at the top of the final climb – a worrying-looking hand injury perhaps putting her Olympic hopes in Jeopardy – leaving three to contend for the two remaining medal positions.
Rydzek, who was unsure if she would feel well enough to take part in Sunday’s sprint, put in a late burst – as she had done in the semi-final – to finish second in a photo finish with Dahlqvist (third) and Diggins (fourth).
“It was great,” Rydzek said after claiming just her third World Cup podium. “I went heat by heat, never thinking about the result, so I’m just happy that it ended like this. It was more than a dreamed of. I’m looking forward to Val di Fiemme [next week] and seeing the Olympic track that is coming in February.”
Dahlqvist, a double World Cup sprint champion and the Olympic silver medallist, said she “felt better and better every heat” after claiming her first individual podium of the season and fifth of 2026.
“It was a fun day and I’m glad to have ended up on the podium. I’ve been getting better results and I’m just glad to keep it going.”
The action continues in Toblach on Monday with the Men’s and Women’s 10km Interval Start Classic.
For all the results from Toblach, click here
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