TOUR DE SKI !
The Salomon family wants to give you a warm welcome to the year 2023! New Years Eve shot off one of the biggest championship events of the winter, the famous Tour de Ski! This nine day event included seven races touring the beautiful European Alps. The locations honored with hosting were Val Mustair (Switzerland), Oberstdorf (Germany), and Val di Fiemme (Italy).
On December 31st in Val Müstair, Switzerland, racers got back to competing! The Tour de Ski started off with the Skate Sprint where Nadine Faehndrich of Switzerland controlled the day by winning the qualifier and finishing 1st overall! She was followed by Maja Dahlqvist of Sweden who qualified 13th and skied her way to 2nd!
On the mens side of the sprint, Michal Novak and Richard Jouve finished back to back in 4th and 5th place overall. Racers got to spend their first day of 2023 competing in a 10km Classic Pursuit before moving on to the second stage of the Tour de Ski.
After a day break, the third stage brought racers to Oberstdorf (GER) where the snow was scarce. Many images showed competitors skiing on a fine line of snow surrounded by green fields. Some were joking that they warmed up for their events by playing football! Both men and women competed in a 10km Classic Individual Start on the 3rd and a 20km Skate Pursuit on the 4th. Sjur Roethe of Norway had a great day during the pursuit, skiing his way to 5th place.
After another day break in the tour, skiers made their way to the final location of the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy. With tempuratuers averaging way above normal, Val di Fiemme also saw a lack of snow sadly but that didn’t limit the performances of athletes! On the 6th was the Men’s and Women's Classic Sprint where Antoine Cyr of Canada had a career best finishing 6th in the final! The next day, on the 7th, was the Men’s and Women’s 15km Classic Mass Start where Antoine Cyr bested himself with another career best by finishing 4th right behind Fancesco De Fabiani in 3rd!
On Sunday the 8th was the final climb, the event that many athletes dread. It is a 10km Freestyle Mass Start race with the first section being flat and the remainder of the course climbing up an alpine resort! Delphine Claudel took charge of the climb like it was nothing, skiing her way to her first ever World Cup win! She was followed by Jessie Diggins who climbed her way to 5th place.
On the men’s side, Jules Lapierre and Sjur Roethe crossed the finish line at the top of the course back to back in 3rd and 4th!
After a successful 2023 Tour de Ski, with many personal bests and first time World Cup wins, athletes get a much deserved two week break! A huge congratulations from the Salomon family to all those who went out and gave it their all in the most demanding tour of the winter!
We look forward to seeing some more great performances at the next world cup in Itlay!
Words from Julien Bordes