January 06, 2019 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – American Jessie Diggins dug deep to finish 6th overall following the brutal 9km FR final Stage 7 up famed Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme won by Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. Emily Nishikawa was 25th at her debut TdS becoming the fifth Canadian woman to complete the Tour.

“Today, like yesterday, my body was feeling run down and incredibly tired,” Diggins said after finishing sixth in the stage that averaged 12-percent, with a few pitches reaching 28-percent. “But I was proud of my effort and for never giving up, fighting my way up that crazy mountain! It’s really hard to describe the bone-deep tired feeling you get when you’ve been pushing your body so hard for so long, and it’s insane how painful it is when you finally reach the top of the final climb. It’s also one of the most satisfying feelings in the world because you know you’ve just done something so amazingly hard.”

After winning the 6th stage of the Tour de Ski on Saturday, Østberg held a 53-second lead over Russian Natalia Nepryaeva heading into the final stage and held her off for the stage win to secure the overall title. Russia’s Anastasia Sedova was third.

Nishikawa started the race in a “wave start” of 10 skiers and skied a steady race to finish with the 20th fastest course time. Her result ranks 3rd behind Sara Renner who finished 21st and 23rd in 2009 and 2010. Chandra Crawford, Amanda Ammar and Perianne Jones completed the Tour in it’s inaugural year 2006/2007.

Mentally, Diggins leaves the Tour satisfied with everything she left out on the track. “The older I get, the easier it is to remember to look at the big picture and remember that what makes a “good” race is determined by factors you don’t see on the results board,” she continued . “And for me, I was really proud of this tour because I had a lot of “good” races where I raced with grit, determination, and fought like crazy to do the very best I could with what I had in my body.”

“What I really wanted to get out of the Tour in the big picture was the fitness boost that I get every year from doing something so incredibly hard and then resting and recovering well,” added Diggins. “So for the next 13 days, my focus will be on resting up, enjoying my time with my family in Seefeld, and then preparing for Otepää (Estonia). I’m skipping Dresden (Germany) to make sure I absorb all the Tour races well, but I’m excited for the rest of the season, and super excited to cheer on our sprinters!”

“I was also super stoked for Ben [Lustgarten], finishing his first Tour. It’s hard to describe how tough it is, racing seven times in nine days all-out like that, but I was super proud of him for his racing,” Diggins concluded.

Results here.
Overall here.