Spitsov's victory and Bolshunov's triumph

Alexander Bolshunov won the Tour de Ski for the second time in a row.

He became the second athlete after Switzerland's Dario Cologna to defend his title in the most prestigious multi-day ski race.

Denis Spitsov, who won the final stage, climbed to third place in the overall standings at the last moment.

The Tour de Ski ended with a traditional 10-kilometer ascent of the Cermis Alpe mountain along the ski slope, which sometimes reaches 44%.

No matter how difficult this final ascent was, Bolshunov could not miss the first place in the overall standings.

After Saturday's sprint, he was ahead of the Frenchman Maurice Monifik by as much as 3 minutes and 22 seconds - the Russian could only catch up with him if he retired.

But for other Russian skiers, Monifa was a decent irritant.

Five seconds in the overall standings were lost to him by Ivan Yakimushkin and Artyom Maltsev, another 23 was inferior to Denis Spitsov.

The Russians had a real chance to fully occupy the entire podium.

Before the climb of the Cermis Alpe began, the skiers still had to play the last points in the sprint classification.

Here, the first place for Bolshunov was threatened by compatriot Gleb Retivykh and Italian Federico Pellegrino, but in the end they both did not make him the proper competition.

After the second point mark, he staked out the title of the best sprinter of the Tour de Ski, which of the Russians was won only by Sergei Ustyugov four years ago.

The most interesting part of the race began 3.5 km before the finish.

The entire French team decided to help Monifika in the fight against the Russians and began to disperse the peloton when approaching the mountain.

Yakimushkin and Maltsev missed this moment, and the vice-leader of the Tour de Ski seized the initiative.

Spitsov belatedly ran after him and soon overtook the Frenchman.

He even managed to create a gap.

It was unrealistic to play 28 seconds in the remaining distance, but the Olympic medalist was up to the third place in the overall standings.

As a result, Spitsov was the first to conquer Alpe Chermiz, won the second medal at certain stages of the Tour de Ski, and passed Yakimushkin and Maltsev in the general classification.

Bolshunov finished second, officially becoming a two-time champion of the stage race.

Monifica retained second place in the overall standings and became the first Frenchman to take a prize in the Tour de Ski.

Following Spitsov in the overall standings, Yakimushkin, Maltsev, Evgeny Belov and Andrei Melnichenko are located - never before have six representatives of one country taken a place in the first seven.

Alexander Bolshunov's victory in the Tour de Ski provided him with a huge advantage over all rivals at the World Cup.

He will wear the yellow jersey of the leader in at least the next five races, and the Norwegians are unlikely to be able to take it away.

Suffice it to say that Bolshunov earned 1297 points, and the closest competitor from Norway Johannes Hösflot Klebo - 1001 less.

Exhausted Silver Stupak

For women, the main intrigue concerned the third place in the overall Tour de Ski standings.

Before the grueling climb on the Cermis Alpe, he was occupied by the Finnish woman Christa Pärmäkoski.

Natalya Nepryaeva was just seven seconds behind her and Tatyana Sorina was five more seconds behind, so both Russian women could well rise to the final podium.

The leadership of the American Jesse Diggins and the second place of Yulia Stupak were not in doubt, although anything could happen during the ascent, and any skier simply risked not reaching the finish line.

Even on the course of the flat part of the distance, the Swede Ebba Andersson aimed at the bronze "Tour de Ski".

In the overall standings, she was sixth with a lag of 19 seconds from Pärmyakoski, but from the start she began to go into the lead and at the foot of the mountain won more than ten seconds against Diggins and Stupak.

These skiers were leading the peloton, in the depths of which Nepryaeva and Sorin got stuck - at that moment their chances of a successful completion of the stage almost disappeared.

Andersson walked up the hill rather carelessly, allowing herself unnecessary and too frequent movements, but she had a huge reserve of strength.

She not only led the race, but also climbed in the overall standings as quickly as she conquered Alpe Cermis.

Diggins tried to keep up with the Swede and kept a safe distance from her.

Stupak followed immediately after the American, but for a long time she was not enough.

By the last kilometer, she was already half a minute behind, and Andersson had a chance to even swing at the final silver.

Fortunately, the distance for such a rearrangement was not enough.

Stupak finished fourth, letting the Frenchwoman Dolphin Claudel go ahead, but Andersson did not concede in the overall standings.

For the third time in a row, a Russian skier became the vice-champion of the Tour de Ski, only now this title went not to Nepryaeva, but to Stupak, who was spending the first season after giving birth.

Diggins rose to the first place, and her victory became historic for cross-country skiing - an athlete from outside Europe has never won either a men's or women's race.

🎬There is only one #finalclimb 🏔️


Recap of todays final stage to Alpe Cermis! # Fiscrosscountry # tourdeski2021 # tourdeski 📷NordicFocus pic.twitter.com/piDuUzW1CK

- FIS Cross-Country (@FISCrossCountry) January 10, 2021

In the overall World Cup standings, Stupak moved up to second place, 130 points behind Diggins.

On the third dropped the recent owner of the yellow jersey American Rosie Brennen.

Tatyana Sorina, thanks to her fifth finish at the Cermiz Alpe and her fourth time at the Tour de Ski, was right behind her.

For Natalya Nepryaeva, the stage race ended in seventh position, which secured the sixth line in the overall standings.