Austria’s Mika Vermeulen pulls out of Tour de Ski after illness – last year’s runner-up

Austrian star Mika Vermeulen will not start the Tour de Ski that begins this week, Austrian outlet Krone Zeitung reports and Yle confirms.

Vermeulen, 26, who placed second overall in last season’s Tour de Ski, has been dealing with a mild flu since the Davos World Cup and will skip the multi-stage event to avoid setbacks ahead of the Milano–Cortina 2026 Olympics.

“I don’t want to take the risk of training too hard too soon, even though the Tour only starts on Sunday. There’s a real danger my condition would only get worse,” Vermeulen said in explaining his decision.

Vermeulen opened the World Cup season strongly with a podium in Ruka and is regarded—alongside Finland’s Iivo Niskanen—as one of the few distance skiers capable of challenging Norway’s dominance.

Last season’s Tour de Ski was won by Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo by 1:23, with Vermeulen second and France’s Hugo Lapalus third. The 2025–26 Tour de Ski is scheduled to start on Sunday, 28 December.