12:53
Victory for Stenshagen!
Unsurprisingly, the day’s victory on the second stage of the Tour de Ski goes to Norway. But today Mattis Stenshagen burst out of the phalanx of extremely strong Scandinavians and won his first World Cup victory over the classic ten kilometers. From the second intermediate time onwards, the 29-year-old was ahead at all measuring points and at the finish relegated Johannes Høsflot Klæbo to second place by almost nine seconds. Emil Iversen completed the Norwegian podium. Only then did an athlete from another nation appear, the Finn Iivo Niskanen.
12:49
Jakob Moch satisfied
Jakob Moch recently finished and is currently ranked 47th. This is a decent result for Friedrich Moch’s brother.
12:46
Podium stands
Looking at the intermediate times, we can see that the ranking is in the front field. Mattis Stenshagen’s victory is no longer in doubt – just like the all-Norwegian podium.
12:45
Last starter
Only now the last runner, Anže Gros, takes to the track. The Slovenian wears starting number 119. By the way, six athletes decided not to start – including the Swiss Jason Rüesch and the Austrian Lukas Mrkonjic.
12:41
Stölben at the finish
Jan Stölben has now also finished his competition. Almost two minutes behind, the 24-year-old is right in front of Friedrich Moch. That means 50th place at the moment.
12:39
Klæbo crossed the finish line in second place
Now we await Johannes Høsflot Klæbo at the finish. As expected, the best time won’t work. In the end he was almost nine seconds short. This is second place in the daily ranking. The Norwegian will probably maintain the overall lead.
12:38
Moser strong tithe
Benjamin Moser delivers a strong race. The Austrian was able to surprisingly confirm his sprint result from yesterday and has just reached the finish line in tenth place. All attention!
12:36
Anger with increase
Edvin Anger improved and made gains in the second part of the route. Now the Swede reaches the finish line in fourth place – just half a minute behind. Shortly afterwards, Erik Valnes arrives, just behind Anger.
12:35
Klæbo not fast enough
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo doesn’t seem to be able to crack Stenshagen. The superstar comes through in second place in the intermediate times, but he is ten seconds short.
12:32
Amundsen not on the podium
Now Harald Østberg Amundsen throws himself at the finish. With a loss of just over half a minute, the 27-year-old is only the third-best Norwegian. And since third-placed Iivo Niskanen is ten seconds behind, it’s not even enough for the podium.
12:30
Like, way back at the finish
Even today, Friedrich Moch’s button doesn’t work. The tour runner-up from 2023/2024 lost two minutes on today’s ten kilometers and is therefore already outside the top 30.
12:28
Anger is not a candidate for victory
Of course we also look at Edvin Anger. The Swede is third at the first timing, but then loses ground. The next split time is five seconds away. And that’s not even enough for the top 15 anymore. And this trend cannot be stopped.
12:26
Valnes also wants to know
But of course we haven’t mentioned Erik Valnes’ name yet during the race. This Norwegian is in second place after three kilometers – just seven tenths behind Stenshagen.
12:24
Stenshagen waves to the podium
Then Mattis Stenshagen fights his way to victory and gains another ten seconds on the previously leading Emil Iversen. This is an announcement from the 29-year-old and claims to a podium finish are associated with it.
12:22
Klæbo gets involved
Now there is a first reliable interim period for the defending champion. After 1.7 kilometers, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is 2.3 seconds short of the top. Everything is still there.
12:21
Iversen with the best time at the finish
Now there is a new and clear best time in the Zeil. Emil Iversen is there and destroys Savelii Korostelev’s goal by half a minute.
12:18
Brugger at the finish
Meanwhile, Janosch Brugger, the second German, reached the finish and arrived there in seventh place – 35 seconds behind the leader. This puts the 28-year-old directly behind Florian Notz.
12:17
Amundsen also at the front debai
Harald Østberg Amundsen would also like to have a say. The 2023/2024 tour winner slides between his two Norwegian compatriots at kilometer three.
12:14
Stenshagen sets the tone
But the Norwegians are on the move. Emil Iversen sets interim best times, which are improved by Mattis Stenshagen. After five kilometers, the latter is seven seconds ahead. The Finn Iivo Niskanen is third at this point – eleven seconds behind.
12:13
Korostelev in front at the finish
Now Savelii Korostelev storms to the finish, surpassing Théo Schely by almost six seconds and also moving ahead of Perttu Hyvärinen, who has just arrived and only holds the best time for a brief moment.
12:10
Moch is behind
Friedrich Moch is now also on the move, but he cannot yet challenge Janosch Brugger’s status as the best German. At kilometer three the latter is 20th. Moch now comes through there in 24th place, almost 24 seconds behind the leader.
12:09
Schely at the finish
Then Petteri Koivisto and Théo Schely reach the goal at the same time. In the end, the Frenchman took half a minute off the Finn and set the first fastest time
12:07
Almost done
Meanwhile, the trio that has dominated for a long time is already approaching its goal. It looks like Korostelev and Schely will be fighting hard for the best time, it’s going to be close.
12:05
The next Norwegian
And then the next Norwegian follows suit. Mattis Stenshagen takes the lead after 1.7 kilometers. With Elia Barp, another Italian is also at the forefront.
12:03
First Norwegian statement
But of course the current interim rankings won’t last much longer. The Canadian Antoine Cyr is doing well – as is the Italian Davide Ganz. The new best time at kilometer 2.1 now goes to the Norwegian Emil Iversen.
11:59
Korostelev in front at half time
Meanwhile, the first runners have completed half the distance. After one lap, Savelii Korostelev has just set the best time – 1.6 seconds ahead of Perttu Hyvärinen and 2.4 seconds ahead of Théo Schely. It remains with the names already mentioned.
11:58
Schely continues to do well
As the race progressed, Théo Schely set the benchmarks and was now a touch faster than Savelii Korostelev at kilometer three. Perttu Hyvärinen is breathing down their necks.
11:56
First German times
In the meantime, Florian Notz is also on the move and has made it through two measuring points, but has the red lantern there in each case. Things are going better for Janosch Brugger, who starts things in fifth place – 3.3 seconds behind the leaders.
11:53
More fast athletes
The next times will be taken after 1.7 kilometers. Petteri Koivisto lost out there and was outplayed here by Finnish compatriot Perttu Hyvärinen, among others. But the Frenchman Théo Schely is also faster.
11:51
New intermediate best time
Then Koivisto is trumped by Savelii Korostelev. The Russian is allowed to compete as a neutral athlete and is 1.4 seconds faster.
11:49
First intermediate times
Consequently, Petteri Koivisto also gives us the first intermediate time. And this initially held true when other athletes got through the timing after 200 meters.
11:46
sunshine
In Toblach there are the best conditions. The sun shines from the blue sky. When there is significant frost, the route is excellently prepared.
11:45
start
Petteri Koivisto has just opened the competition. The 25-year-old Finn is the first to go onto the groomed trail.
11:36
Favorites
This year, too, the tour is only about the Norwegians and especially about Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. When the four-time overall winner and defending champion starts a cross-country ski race, he is always considered a candidate for victory. The biggest competition comes from our own team – for example with Erik Valnes and Harald Østberg Amundsen. To bring another nation into play, let’s mention the Swede Edvin Anger.
11:27
Seven Confederates
For Switzerland, two athletes were in the top 10 yesterday and showed off their sprinting qualities – fourth-placed Valerio Grond (start number 50) and sixth-placed Janik Riebli (42). The quite large Swiss squad also includes Roman Alder (89), Noe Näff (81), his brother Isai Näff (85), Jason Rüesch (22) and Nicola Wigger (71).
11:18
Moser is currently eighth
Austria’s greatest hope Mika Vermeulen is not at the start of this year’s tour. Last year’s runner-up overall caught the flu before Christmas and decided to take radical action. The Styrian is withdrawing completely and from now on is focusing even more on the 50s at the Olympic Games. So from the ÖSV’s perspective there are almost no expectations. After all, there are five Austrians there. And Benjamin Moser (start number 60) is listed in eighth place after the sprint, a good half a minute behind – a snapshot. In addition, Lukas Mrkonjic (117), Michael Föttinger (93), Erik Engel (92) and Tobias Ganner (55) are at the start today.
11:09
German sextet
Of the six German men, Jan Stölben proved to be the best at the start of yesterday’s sprint, but in 22nd place he is already almost a minute behind the leader. Today the 24-year-old goes on the journey with start number 59. The gap is already beyond a minute for Anian Sossau-Daubermann (start number 65), Jakob Moch (74) and Janosch Brugger (20). Friedrich Moch (36), Tour runner-up in 2023/2024, lost 1:13 minutes in the sprint and is only ranked 82nd. Florian Notz (13) is still six seconds further behind.
11:00
Daily task
Ahead of the athletes is a 5,146 meter long lap that has to be completed twice. Strictly speaking, this brings us to 10,292 competition kilometers. 119 athletes from 32 nations want to take on this task. It will take pretty much an hour to get all the cross-country skiers out on the course in interval starts with 30-second intervals.
10:50
Welcome
Welcome to the 20th Tour de Ski! The second stage is on the program for the first highlight of the season for cross-country skiers. We are still in Dobbiaco. There the men are looking forward to ten classic kilometers at 11:45 a.m.