Ristomatti Hakola withdraws from the Tour de Ski after the first stage

Finnish national team cross-country skier Ristomatti Hakola, 34, has withdrawn from this season’s Tour de Ski after the very first stage. In an Instagram update, he explained that he fell ill after the Davos World Cup and that his subsequent training camp in Davos was largely spoiled. With another bout of the flu now, he decided to stop his Tour early.

In Sunday’s Tour de Ski opener, Hakola placed 85th in the sprint qualifier, 13.08 seconds behind Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who topped qualifying. Hakola missed advancement to the heats by just under eight seconds.

Hakola is a three-time World Championships silver medallist—two in the team sprint and one in the men’s relay. Most recently, he took silver in spring 2025 in the classic team sprint in Trondheim together with Lauri Vuorinen.

The Tour de Ski continues today, Monday, in Toblach, Italy, with a 10 km classic individual start.