Federico Pellegrino cues the first stage of the Tour de Ski

Federico Pellegrino cues first stage of Tour de Ski

The 18th Tour de Ski opens in the sign of France’s Lucas Chanavat and Sweden’s Linn Svahn who sign the sprint in free technique in the Nordic Arena in Dobbiaco (Bolzano), the opening act of the seven stages that will conclude on Sunday, January 7 in Val di Fiemme.

The Puster sprint saw Michael Hellweger finish ninth, narrowly edging out Federico Pellegrino, 11th, in the second of two semifinals. A total of seven Italians made it past the qualifying cut, with Nicole Monsorno 18th and Caterina Ganz 29th in the women’s.

Chanavat played the dominant role from the preliminary round. In the final, the transalpine conceded nothing to the competition, finishing ahead of compatriot Jules Chappaz and American Ben Ogden at the finish line.

Third career success for him and first World Cup podium finishes instead for Chappaz and Ogden.

As mentioned, the second semifinal turned out to be fatal for the two Italians who were able to get through the first round. While Chappaz and Ogden went on to take the final, Hellweger and Pellegrino completed the round in fifth and sixth place while the batteries had offered the red light to Davide Graz (third for 15th place overall), Elia Barp (fourth, 20th in the final standings) and Alessandro Chiocchetti sixth for 29th place overall.

Earlier in the day, qualification had narrowly eluded Giacomo Gabrielli (36th) while further back in the rankings came rookie Martino Carollo (44th), Simone Daprà (59th), Francesco De Fabiani (72nd), Giandomenico Salvadori (80th), Dietmar Nöckler (87th) and Paolo Ventura (98th); among the others, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson did not make the cut.

A Swedish one-two in the women’s event, with 24-year-old Linn Svahn overtaking compatriot Jonna Sundling and Norway’s Kristine Stavaas Skistad in the final.

The path of Nicole Monsorno and Caterina Ganz was è interrupted in the battery. Fiemme’s Monsorno completed her battery in fourth place behind Germany’s Victoria Carl and the two Swedes Johann Hagström and Moa Ilar. Sixth place instead for Fassa Ganz in the second battery, signed by Sweden’s Linn Svahn over Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich.

In the morning, qualification had eluded by a nought for the two rookies Federica Cassol (32nd) and Iris De Martin Pinter (34th); further behind were Nadine Laurent (44th), Martina Di Centa (53rd), Federica Sanfilippo (54th) and Anna Comarella (60th).

Tomorrow the second act of the Dobbiaco stage will offer a 10-kilometer race in classic technique with an individual start: the women’s race è scheduled at 12:15 p.m., the men’s at 3 p.m.

Press Release FISI