Stadlober seals Tour Climber prize and Overall podium: ‘A perfect week’
Jan 06, 2026·Cross-Country)
Austria's Teresa Stadlober had "the perfect week" at the 2025/26 Tour de Ski as she won the Best Climber prize and claimed second place in the Women's Overall standings.
The 32-year-old crowned her best Tour with a strong performance in the Final Climb on Sunday to reach a career highlight only matched by her Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Skiathlon bronze medal.
"It's unbelievable, it was the perfect week for me," said Stadlober, who was only beaten by Jessie Diggins (USA) in the Overall standings.
Before finishing fourth in the concluding 10km Mass Start Free event in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Stadlober had already made it to two podiums in the Tour; the 10km Interval Start and the 20km Pursuit, both in Classic style and in Toblach, Italy.
"Already in the two Classic races, I was so happy with two times on the podium, and it's like all that comes next is on top of that," Stadlober said.
She had come into the last event of the Tour, which ends with a tough climb up the Alpine slopes of Alpe Cermis, in fifth place in the Overall standings. And she was exhausted, making her sixth start in eight days.
"My body was really tired on Saturday and I tried not to think about the podium on the next day but rather to just focus on my skiing," Stadlober said.
Many other skiers, however, seemed to have plenty of energy at the start of the final Mass Start, which took Stadlober by surprise. At the 3.3km mark, she was in 23rd place.
"I had a really bad start. I had a good starting position but then I lost so many places in the stadium loop," she said.
After 7.4km, at the bottom of the Alpine slope, Stadlober was in 20th place, 25.3 seconds behind the leader.
"I said to myself, 'I have to try'. So I was fighting for every second and every place," she said.
"Then I saw the leading group; Diggins and Ebba (Andersson, from Sweden) and just tried to catch them."
She described an "amazing" feeling when she went for it – and realized that she was getting closer to the Overall Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup leader Diggins and the rest of the front group.
"I knew that I'm really good in climbing and I knew that I wanted to finish the week of Tour de Ski well, and maybe I had saved a little bit of extra energy from the beginning," said Stadlober, who picked up another 20 Climber bonus points at the 10.1km mark, only beaten by Norwegians Karoline Simpson-Larsen and Heidi Weng at that checkpoint.
"I wanted to have this (Best Climber) bib, because at that time I didn't know what place I would take in the Overall, so I was really happy about getting that bib," she said.
Stadlober thinks that it could have benefited her to not have been part of the front group coming into the long, steep hill.
"I was a little more behind, and I think that was better for my speed and my tempo, to not overpace it early on," she said.
"I always saw the leading group and wanted to catch them. I thought, 'they're not going that much faster', because we had about the same speed in the end, and I was thinking that maybe I could reach them. I had really good skis, my body was feeling really good. I just tried it, and it felt good.
"When I caught up with Diggins and Ebba, it was amazing. I heard from the coaches on the side that 'anything between place three and five in the Overall is possible'. When you hear this, and you hear the crowd and have a good feeling in your body, you just give it all that you have, so that's what I did."
Finishing in fourth place, 17.5 seconds behind winner Simpson-Larsen, Stadlober felt many things at the same time.
"When you cross the finish line at Alpe Cermis, I think that every athlete is thinking the same thing; 'thank God, it's over'. Because Tour de Ski is always so tough with so many races," she said.
"The body has to be strong every day, but you also have to be strong mentally. It's so hard to focus and race every day, it takes so much energy. So the first thought is always 'it's over and now I've got some days off’."
Then she heard the announcer saying she had been fourth in the race.
"When I had crossed the finish line and was lying in the snow, I didn't know which place I got in the Overall," she said.
Told about her Overall and Best Climber success, the Austrian first refused to accept it.
"I didn't believe it. I went outside to the finish area and changed clothes and then I had to ask someone else if it was really true that I was second in the Overall. I didn't expect it at all," she said.
"I'm no sprinter at all, so before the Tour I was like 'this Tour is not for me, it's too much sprinting and too many bonus seconds for the sprinters, so the Overall will be tough for me and I will focus on the Distance races'. Then I go home and am second in the Overall. This is unbelievable."
She rates her achievement "pretty high" up there among her best.
In a month, she will be back in Val di Fiemme chasing more glory at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, with a "big, big confidence" after her Tour de Ski performance.
"Now I know my shape is good, my training is good, but we still have one month until the Olympics so now I will take a good rest and then do good training sessions, and I'm really looking forward to the Olympics," she said.
One year after her FIS Nordic World Ski Championships debut, she returned to Val di Fiemme to earn her first World Cup points. It was also in the Dolomites valley that she claimed her first World Cup podium, in 2018. Last year, she finished second in the Val di Fiemme 20km Skiathlon and this year, she came back to reach a career milestone in her favorite venue.
"I had really good memories from Val di Fiemme and I'm really looking forward to competing there at the Olympics," she said.
Stadlober thinks that her strong climbing is down to ”genetics" – and could suit her extra well at the venue where the Milano Cortina 2026 Cross-Country will take place between 7 and 22 February.
"I don't have any fast fibres for sprinting," she said.
Diggins, who will retire after this season, was happy to have done the last Final Climb of her career as she finished second in the race to seal her third Tour de Ski title. Many skiers have nightmares of the "monster hill", but Stadlober is not one of them.
"It's always like this; when you're in shape and have a good day, then skiing up is super," she said.
"But when you're already tired and not having your best day, then it's your biggest enemy. I'm lightweight though, so for me it's OK to ski up. And I have to say that I like Alpe Cermis."
Before the last event, Stadlober had been in second place in the Climb standings, with 25 points. Sweden's Frida Karlsson, in first place with 26 points, had dropped out of the Tour, but Diggins, in third place with 23 points, was a threat to the title. After the last stage, Stadlober won the Climb title with 45 points, with Diggins second on 39 as Simpson-Larsen completed the Climb podium on 35.
"This is also unbelievable for me," Stadlober said.
"Jessie was really tight behind me and she had such a strong Tour de Ski so first I thought, 'it will be tough to beat Jessie and get it'. But then, when I caught them, it showed that it was possible for me, so I tried and I got it. I'm really happy about this bonus."
Between earning the mountain jersey or finishing second best Overall, the latter weighs heavier for Stadlober.
"The Overall is the biggest for me, because it's also the biggest surprise," she said.
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