Tour de Ski defending champion Jessie Diggins (USA) won the skate sprint, which was the first of six races in this year’s stage race. 

“It was really special for me. I had great skis, and my family is here. It’s really special that they get to see med race live,” Diggins says after the race. 

The 30-year-old American, who posted the third-fastest qualifier time, admits that she had to dig deep to win the skate sprint in Lenzerheide. 

“The altitude here makes it really hard. But I try not to use it as an excuse. It’s the same for every. I just tried to ski smart and ski smooth,” Diggins says.  

Solid overall lead
In addition to 50 World Cup points, Diggins also nets 60 bonus seconds from the victory. Those bonus seconds will come in handy in terms of the overall Tour de Ski. 

Several of Diggins’ toughest competitors did not even qualify for the heats, which is a huge advantage for the defending Tour de Ski champion. 

Both of the Swedish overall contenders Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson were too slow to move on, as was Heidi Weng of Norway. They now have a solid gap to fill in order to catch up with Diggins. But Diggins doesn’t take anything for granted. 

“It will be an exciting tour. You can never count anyone out. This was just one day and one race, and I will have to watch out for them the whole tour,” she says.   

Sprint F final, women
1. Jessie Diggins, USA
2. Mathilde Myhrvold, Norway
3 Anamarija Lampic, Slovenia
4. Julia Kern, USA
5.Anna Dyvik, Sweden
6.Coletta Rydzek, Germany

Complete results

Tour de Ski continues in Lenzerheide tomorrow. Stage 2 features a 10km individual start classic race for women and 15km individual start classic race for men. 

Check out the Tour de Ski 2021/22 day-by-day schedule and ProXCskiing.com’s predictions for the overall stage race: Who Will Win Tour de Ski? 

Curious about where to watch Tour de Ski in your area? We got you covered! 

FACTS: Tour de Ski 2021/22 

• Tour de Ski 2021/22 starts in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 28 and concludes in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on January 4. 
• The race consists of six stages in eight days. Here are all the Tour de Ski details and the day-by-day schedule
• Tour de Ski 2021/22 is the 16th edition of the brutal stage race. These are the winners from the previous 15 Tour de Ski events. 
• The overall winners get 400 World Cup points for the Tour de Ski, which consists of six stages in eight days. Stage winners get 50 World Cup points. Accordingly, there are potentially 700 World Cup points for winning every stage of the Tour de Ski, which would determine the overall World Cup for the season.