Winter sports - Natalia Nepryaeva makes Tour De Ski history and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo romps home

2018 was the last time a Tour leader was unseated from top spot in the Final Climb and that never looked like happening in 2021. The 26-year-old took the overall lead by winning the New Year's Day sprint and consolidated her advantage by taking the 10km classic on the penultimate stage. Nepryaeva crossed the line fourth.

Natalia Nepryaeva became the first Russian woman to win the Tour De Ski after defending her commanding lead on the infamous Final Climb in Val di Fiemme.

The 26-year-old took the overall lead by winning the New Year's Day sprint and consolidated her advantage by taking the 10km classic on the penultimate stage.

Nepryaeva crossed the line fourth in the concluding 10km freestyle to lock up a landmark victory, setting up her up for a tilt at a first individual Olympic medal at Beijing 2022.

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The final climb up Alpe Cermis began with an initial breakaway paced by reigning champion Jessie Diggins and Heidi Weng, who had a deficit of 1:40 mins to make up on Nepryaeva at the outset.

Swede Ebba Andersson led the climb, hoping to shake off the Russian, chased by Weng who pushed past her on the finish line to take stage victory.

"I tried to get fast in the hill. Today was really hard because it was not easy snow," said Weng. "It was an overall hard competition, but I tried to focus on the finish line and I tried to get that in my head. I had to follow Ebba but the last 100m was amazing for me."

In the general classification, Nepryaeva finished an overall 46 seconds in front of Andersson in second and 1:07 ahead of Weng.

In the absence of former winners Therese Johaug and Ingvild Flugstad Ostberg, the women's Tour title stays out of Norwegian hands for the second successive year. They enjoyed seven years of unbroken dominance from 2013 to 2020.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, Tour de Ski 2022

Image credit: Getty Images

However, there was no denying Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo on the men's side as Norway's sprint king romped to his second Tour triumph by more than two minutes.

Klaebo finished fifth over 10km which was more than enough to remain atop the standings, watching team-mate Sjur Roethe edge out Russia's Denis Spitsov to final-stage victory on the finish line.

He ended the general classification more than two minutes ahead of Alexander Bolshunov, a long-time nemesis of the Norwegian team, who has struggled to recapture the form that saw him win the Tour in 2020.

Klaebo shook off a rusty start to the season to totally dominate the Tour, winning four of the six stages, regaining the title he won in 2019.

The 25-year-old is best known for his prowess in short distance disciplines but his improved endurance suggests he can add to the three Olympic gold medals he won in PyeongChang 2018, all in sprint events.

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