Celebration After Tour Coup — Stadlober: “Mega! I never imagined this”

With an unexpected second place overall in the Tour de Ski, Teresa Stadlober has gained a major boost ahead of the season’s highlight, the Winter Olympics. The 32‑year‑old from Salzburg celebrated in Val di Fiemme five weeks before the Olympic races, marking a milestone in her career. After two podiums in the stage race she had to give way only to Jessie Diggins, and she said the result gives her a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

“I never imagined that as a distance specialist I would ever stand on the Tour podium,” Stadlober said on the return trip. Because the Tour is often sprint‑heavy with many bonus seconds favoring fast sprinters, she had not expected much as an endurance skier with limited sprint speed. But things turned out very differently. “I complained about the Tour beforehand, but I had a perfect week — three times on the podium, that’s already mega.”

The strong final stage on the Alpe Cermis — where a powerful closing effort brought her fourth on the climb and secured the overall podium — makes the result especially valuable in her eyes. “This is worth a lot because you have to deliver consistent performance for a whole week. So of course I’m really happy,” said the World Championships fourth‑place finisher from last year. She placed the Tour achievement as the second biggest success of her career, behind only her Olympic bronze in the skiathlon at Beijing 2022. “The Olympics only come every four years; you have to perform at your best on that one day.”

In a few weeks the Winter Games will begin, and Stadlober feels even better prepared after her Tour performance. “Such successes naturally give a lot of confidence.” Val di Fiemme has once again proved to be one of her favourite venues. “That venue really suits me — I feel very comfortable there, I like the stadium and the tracks; they are very tough, even tougher than in Peking.”

Before she returns to the Olympic courses, Stadlober will first rest and then rebuild her form. She plans two days off from training to process what has happened and recover from the Tour effort. “So much has hit me in the last days that I have to process it first.” She intends to resume training in the middle of the week.

She also revealed her early competition plans: in two weeks she wants to start the next World Cup 10 km race in Oberhof, but she will skip the subsequent World Cup stop in Goms, Switzerland, to optimise her preparation for the season’s big goal.

Read also: “Stadlober climbs to 2nd at Tour finale” (04.01.2026).

Source: krone Sport (EPA/Andrea Solero photo)