Cross-country skier Coletta Rydzek started the Tour de Ski with a strong result. The German reached the final in the sprint in Toblach. There she took second place.
The 28-year-old narrowly missed the second World Cup victory of her career. In a thrilling finish, Norwegian Kristine Stavaas Skistad was ahead by half a ski length or 0.24 seconds. Swede Maja Dahlqvist came third, crossing the finish line 0.35 seconds behind Skistad. With her second place, Rydzek took the first podium place for German cross-country skiers this winter.
Rydzek: “A dream”
“It was great. I watched from knockout round to knockout round and didn’t think about the final result. I’ve never had such a good prologue before”said the Oberstdorf native happily, emphasizing her second place in the morning’s prologue. Regarding her second place in the final she said: “I’m very happy that it turned out this way. It was a dream.” Sprinter Rydzek, who in previous years has always gone to Alpe Cermis before the Tour de Ski final, wants to run the entire tour this time: “I’ve never been to Val di Fiemme before. I hope I can make it there this time and see the Olympic routes.” The Olympic cross-country skiing competitions take place in Val die Fiemme in February.
Rydzek distances some of them Top athletes
In addition to her strong final run, Rydzek also showed her good form in the semi-finals. From last place, she started a race to catch up, which ended in second place – and thus with direct qualification for the final. Rydzek eliminated such prominent competitors as Nadine Fähndrich from Switzerland and the Swede Moa Ihlar.
Sixth World Cup podium for Rydzek
But the last sprint was also star-studded – with Mathilde Myrhrvold and Kristine Stavaas Skistad Skistadt from Norway, the Swedes Johanna Hagström and Maja Dahlqvist and the 2018 team sprint Olympic champion, Jessie Diggins from the USA. Rydzek was able to hold her own in this high-class field and celebrated the sixth World Cup podium finish of her career.
Krehl and Fink fail in the quarterfinals
For the other German starters, it was over in the quarterfinals at the latest. Sofie Krehl and Pia Fink each failed in fifth place in their quarterfinals. Theresa Fürstenberg (36th), Helen Hoffmann (45th) and Katharina Hennig Fotzler (46th) did not make it through the qualification.