Friedrich Moch has preserved his chances of a podium place at the Tour de Ski. At the penultimate stage in Val di Fiemme on Saturday (January 6th, 2023) he came into the top five. This meant he moved up a bit in the overall standings. The day’s victory went to Scandinavia.
The Norwegian Erik Valnes secured victory on the penultimate day section of the Tour de Ski. The sprinter won in the final sprint after 15 kilometers on a deep route and prevailed with a lead of 0.9 seconds over William Poromaa (Sweden) and Cyril Fähndrich (Switzerland/+1.1 seconds). The two remaining German starters Friedrich Moch and Lucas Bögl came in fifth (+7.5 seconds) and 25th (+15.1 seconds).
In the overall ranking, the Norwegian Harald Östberg Amundsen retained his clear lead heading into the final stage. On Sunday he goes into the final climb to Alpe Cermis in 1:34 minutes. Moch is tied for fourth place, the podium is just five seconds away.
Tactical race until the last lap
In very difficult conditions with a lot of snowfall, apart from a few minor falls or pole breaks due to the narrow field, not much really happened for a long time. Nobody wanted to exhaust themselves too early on the slow route. This led to the unusual situation that the Spaniard Imanol Rojo, whose best placement in the World Cup was 18th place, led the race at times.
From kilometer eleven onwards things got a little faster at the front because the Norwegians were now pushing the pace. At the end of the field the first athletes had to pull away, but Moch and Bögl were still right in the middle of the action. Bögl was unlucky on the penultimate descent when an opponent fell while fighting for the best position in the field and he had to avoid him. So he lost a few seconds to the leading group.
Valnes passes on the home straight
The actual race began and was decided a little later on the last climb. There Porooma fired up the turbo, only Fähndrich and Valnes were able to keep up. So it was clear that these three would make up the day’s podium among themselves.
Sprinter Valnes had the best cards on the home straight and played them out, easily overtaking his two opponents and celebrating his first stage success in the Tour de Ski. Third place was also a complete success for Fähndrich; it was his first podium in the World Cup.
Behind him, Moch only had to admit defeat to Pal Golberg from Norway in the fight for the other places, but was once again very satisfied with his performance. Bögl crossed the finish line with the next large group.
Alpe Cermis demands the last reserves of strength
Everything is now set for the final day of the Tour de Ski. The mass start takes place again over ten kilometers to Alpe Cermis. The final decisions of the 18th edition of the Tour de Ski are made on the dreaded final climb.
Friedrich Moch then hopes to be able to improve on his strong eighth place in the overall ranking from last year. Maybe he’ll even manage to make it onto the podium.