Moa Ilar on the podium in the pursuit — second place in Toblach

Moa Ilar’s strong form continued.

The 28-year-old secured another podium when she finished second in the 20 km pursuit in Toblach. It was her fifth World Cup podium of the season.

“I felt it coming — I wasn’t going to back down,” Ilar said. She had earlier taken a podium the previous day with third place in the 5 km mass start.

“Right now I’m very happy. It was a challenging race. I had fantastic skis today and that decided it. I struggled from the start but I dug in and I’m glad it was enough,” the 28-year-old added.

Nobody could stop Jessie Diggins, who won the race and is storming toward the Tour de Ski overall victory. The American leads the Tour by 1:36 over Ilar and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober with two stages left this weekend (a sprint on Saturday and the final climb on Sunday).

Results (top three, pursuit, Toblach):

• 1 Jessie Diggins (USA)
• 2 Moa Ilar (SWE)
• 3 Teresa Stadlober (AUT)

The article also notes related Swedish performances in the Tour de Ski, mentions other Swedish skiers (including Kristine Stavås Skistad, Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson, Edvin Anger, William Poromaa and others) and links to clips and interviews with several athletes from the event.