Kristine Skistad and Johannes Klæbo dominate Tour de Ski opener

Tour de Ski opened on Sunday in Toblach, Italy, with a freestyle sprint.

Women’s sprint final - Winner: Kristine Stavås Skistad (NOR) - 2nd: Coletta Rydzek (GER) - 3rd: Maja Dahlqvist (SWE)

Finland’s Jasmi Joensuu was 11th and Jasmin Kähärä missed the semifinals by one hundredth, finishing 18th.

Men’s sprint final - Winner: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) in 2:28.82 - 2nd: Lars Heggen (NOR) +0.13 (first World Cup podium) - 3rd: Oskar Opstad Vike (NOR) +0.80 - 4th: Valerio Grond (SUI) +1.28 - 5th: Lucas Chanavat (FRA) +2.52 - 6th: Janik Riebli (SUI) +10.43

Klæbo attacked on the final climb to secure his 102nd World Cup victory, leading a Norwegian sweep with Heggen and Vike. Finland’s top man was Joni Mäki in 20th; Niilo Moilanen was 29th. In qualifying-only Finns: Lauri Vuorinen 31st, Petteri Koivisto 67th, Perttu Hyvärinen 79th, Ristomatti Hakola 85th, Niko Anttola 89th, Iivo Niskanen 91st.

Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold crashed in the women’s final, dislocating her shoulder. After hospital imaging, the joint was reset; she withdrew from the Tour de Ski.

Finnish reactions - Jasmin Kähärä lamented the one‑hundredth elimination, saying overtaking was difficult on the course but vowed to reset quickly before the upcoming classic sprint on the Olympic course next weekend. - Jasmi Joensuu, puzzled by losing speed on a downhill in the semifinal, planned a constructive discussion with service staff about skis and emphasized the long Tour ahead.

Other winter sports notes in the live blog - Alpine skiing (not Nordic): Mikaela Shiffrin won the Semmering slalom after starting the second run from fourth; the race was marked by an unusually high number of DNFs due to a bumpy course. - Ski jumping: Four Hills Tournament qualifying in Oberstdorf—Finns Niko Kytösaho (26th), Antti Aalto (28th), and Eetu Nousiainen (50th) advanced; Vilho Palosaari was out. Top 3: Domen Prevc (SLO), Philipp Raimund (GER), Daniel Tschofenig (AUT).