Perttu Hyvärinen collected the last prize money and slammed the Tour de Ski — Finnish surprise is puzzled

Yle Sport followed the final day of the Tour de Ski.

Norwegian skiing star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo made history by winning the Tour de Ski overall for the fifth time — something no one else has done. Dario Cologna (Switzerland), Therese Johaug (Norway) and Justyna Kowalczyk (Poland) have each won four times.

On Sunday’s final stage, the 10 km mass‑start freestyle, Kläbo finished 12th on the stage. He had led the overall standings by 1 minute 23 seconds over countryman Lars Heggen when the stage began.

Kläbo did not panic on the final climb and arrived at the finish looking very strong. He won the Tour with a margin of about half a minute.

Norwegian Mattis Stenshagen finished second on the stage. The Norwegian escaped together with France’s Jules Lapierre in the final climb. Lapierre tried to break away at 9.2 kilometres, but Stenshagen would not let him go and was stronger in the final straight.

(The broadcast is not available outside Finland.)

Stenshagen won the final climb.

It was Stenshagen’s sixth World Cup podium and his second career victory. His first World Cup win came earlier in the Tour on the second stage, the classic 10 km.

Stenshagen beat Kläbo on the normal distance times on the Tour, but Kläbo had collected 60 bonus seconds from each of his two sprint wins.

This season’s Tour featured less than 50 kilometres of racing, so the bonus seconds from sprint wins played an unusually large role. Among skiers who suffered in this short Tour was Kerttu Niskanen.

Lapierre finished the uphill second. Emil Iversen surged in the last metres to take third and pushed the neutral‑status Russian Saveli Korosteljov off the podium.

Emil Iversen celebrated emotionally. For the experienced Iversen it was his first World Cup podium since last season’s Tour de Ski. (Photo: Getty Images)

Norway’s deep strength is illustrated again by the fact that even breakthrough rider Stenshagen (29) and veteran Iversen (34) are not yet certain of Olympic selection.

Neutral‑status Korosteljov debuted in the World Cup in Davos in December. Now he finished eighth overall on the Tour.

Petteri Koivisto made a statement

Petteri Koivisto even worked at times as a pacemaker for Kläbo in the final climb. He ultimately finished 14th — a clear career best in the World Cup for the 25‑year‑old.

Koivisto, who as a youngster suffered from severe overtraining and then rebuilt his career, has spoken frankly this season about an Olympic goal, but only on the Tour did he score his first World Cup top‑30 placings of his career.

Koivisto was 30th in the classic 10 km, 24th in the 20 km pursuit and now 14th in the final climb.

“I tried to take as many wheels as possible. A bit disappointed with the final sprint. Nothing to do — next time better,” Koivisto said from the top of Alpe Cermis.

He described his day and condition as so‑so.

“On the stadium it felt at times bad, but I knew that once the climb started things would work, no matter how I felt.”

Yle expert Ville Nousiainen would have liked to see Koivisto push harder on the stadium laps before moving to the final climb. Koivisto agreed that the criticism was fair, admitting he had been overly cautious on the fast descents in the crowded stadium because he feared damaging his equipment.

“I was too far back when we went into the climb.”

He said he was surprised at his result, but not by his own performance.

“It was easier than I expected. After all, it’s not that long a climb.”

The broadcast is not available outside Finland.

Johannes Høsflot Kläbo crossed the finish as overall Tour winner — with Petteri Koivisto the best Finn on the day in 14th.

Koivisto was 21st overall in the Tour. The outspoken skier called that an average result.

“My first distance race in Toblach went badly. I should have been at least half a minute faster. Considering that, this is middling.”

Hyvärinen blasted the boring Tour

Perttu Hyvärinen scored prize money. As the best Finnish man in the overall standings he was 20th — the last place that receives prize money. For Hyvärinen that position meant €1,500.

“I owe quite a bit, so I guess that’ll go to the bank,” Hyvärinen quipped before criticizing his Tour performances.

“I’m annoyed about this overall Tour. I lost in every second‑count battle. There’s been something left undone every day. The whole Tour has been rather weak. Overall a bad result.”

Hyvärinen also pointed out that the Tour was sprint‑weighted.

“Pretty easy. Short and easy. Italian tour. Boring.”

(The broadcast is not available outside Finland.)

Perttu Hyvärinen (28th), Joni Mäki (43rd) and Niilo Moilanen (59th) at the finish of the final climb.

Last season Hyvärinen’s year was wrecked by illness and injury. This season’s start was also tough until on the Tour in Toblach Hyvärinen was 12th in the 10 km classic.

“I’m happy I’m a bit better. For the future we’ll look for sharpness. Every race did me a lot of good.”

“Could be summarised as: better, but there’s still work to do towards possible Olympics?”

“Could be.”

Now Hyvärinen said he was heading home. The World Cup continues in Oberhof on 17–18 January.

“We’ll try to get some result this winter. These placings are so boring to ski.”

Finland’s head coach Teemu Pasanen signed off on Hyvärinen’s criticism. In Pasanen’s view the Tour has lost prestige because it has become so light‑weight.