Harald Oestberg Amundsen wins maiden Tour de Ski, Jessie Diggins takes women's title for second time

BySportsbeat

Updated 07/01/2024 at 20:37 GMT

Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen and the USA's Jessie Diggins won the men's and women's Tour de Ski titles respectively, while Jules Lapierre and Sophia Laukli both earned their first ever cross-country World Cup victories during the final stage in Val di Fiemme, Italy. It was Amundsen's first Tour de Ski title of his career, while Diggins added to her triumph in 2021.

‘Great effort’ - Lapierre takes first Tour de Ski success at Alpe Cermis

Jules Lapierre claimed the first FIS Cross-Country World Cup win of his career in Val di Fiemme, Italy, as Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen took his maiden Tour de Ski title.

Later in the day, there was double American delight as Sophia Laukli claimed her first World Cup win, with compatriot Jessie Diggins clinching the overall Tour de Ski crown for the second time.

Facing a challenging 10km mass start to complete the week-long competition, Frenchman Lapierre made his move on the climb of the Alpe Cermis to take victory by 2.4 seconds.

Tour de Ski

‘Great effort’ - Lapierre takes first Tour de Ski success at Alpe Cermis

00:02:49

07/01/2024 at 15:24

Germany's Friedrich Moch was just behind in second place, with Hugo Lapalus taking third.

While Amundsen missed out on the podium, his fifth-placed finish ensured that he was never in danger of surrendering the overall title, finishing one minute 19.2 seconds clear of Moch. France's Lapalus completed the podium.

"It's an amazing day for the French team – Hugo was on the podium with me and he is also in the Tour de Ski podium, so, what else [could one wish for]," Lapierre said.

The women's mass start was incredibly tight coming into the final climb, with the top 10 split by less than four seconds.

But Laukli was a cut above, racing to victory by 17.1 seconds, with Norway's Heidi Weng second and Delphine Claudel of France in third.

"I don't know if I fully believe it," Laukli said. "I was really excited for today and after being third last year I was like 'there's not a lot of room for improvement but it would be super, super cool to win’, so I didn't want to have too high expectations but I really could not be happier for this."

Diggins finished in sixth place, enough to add a second Tour de Ski crown to the one she won in 2021.

She was joined on the overall podium by Weng and Finland's Kerttu Niskanen.

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