December 31, 2016 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins delivered a solid 6th place finish in the women’s Sprint FR as Stage 1 of the 11th annual Tour de Ski got underway on man-made snow in great conditions at Val Mustair, Switzerland.

Sweden’s Stina Nilsson took the women’s win over Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) in second at 2.48 seconds behind with Heidi Weng in third at 6.47 seconds back.

Diggins, who qualified 9th, was the only American to advance thru the heats as Sophie Caldwell qualified fifth, Sadie Bjornsen was eighth, and Kikkan Randall, who also celebrated her birthday today, made the heats qualifying in 29th.

In her opening 1/4 final Diggins raced fast and smart into second place at 0.52s behind Nilsson. She was also matched up with Nilsson in the semifinals, finishing third, but again, a fast heat that put her into the finals as a lucky loser.

In the finals, no one could match up with Nilsson. Diggins fell behind at the start and had to constantly work to keep up with the torrid pace being set by Nilsson, who skied a full two seconds faster than her semifinal time to take a win by 2.48 seconds – huge by sprint standards.

“I was happy with a good start to the Tour and especially since I didn’t know what to expect after being sick and not having quite the training I wanted during break,” said Diggins. “It’s always nerve-wracking when you haven’t raced in a while, but it felt good to get back at it and I’m excited for the rest of the Tour. Our staff did a great job and delivered great skis, and it was fun to race on a course with some rollers and fun downhills!”

Caldwell narrowly missed second in a photo finish but was in a slow heat and did not advance while Bjornsen led much of her heat before fading to fifth.

Randall’s performance was a bright spot in her return to the World Cup after a year off. In each race since her return a month ago she has incremented her results, this time sneaking into the finals and coming away with a strong finish.

“Today definitely felt like another step forward toward getting my race sharpness back,” said birthday girl Randall. “My qualifier was decent and I felt like I had more punch in my quarter final. Tough to just miss the lucky loser spot because I was feeling stronger as I went and actually felt competitive for the first time this season. Still lots of racing ahead, though, so I am satisfied with today as a good start and am feeling good about the races ahead.”

Qualifications here.
Results here.