Cross-country skiing : Lucas Chanavat finishes in the top 3
Just a few minutes after Jessie Diggins’ boss-sized victory ahead of Jasmi Joensuu, the men’s cross-country skiers took to the track to battle it out for victory in the Toblach (Italy) skate sprint, the opening event of the 2024/2025 Tour de Ski.
A fortnight ago, Lucas Chanavat found his way back to the podium at the same competition held on Swiss soil, in Davos. Late on Saturday afternoon, the Frenchman did it again, competing throughout the day with the ogre Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo.
Only beaten by the latter in the final round of the day, the Bornandin once again mastered his subject as the tournament progressed to claim second place. Powerful and tactically astute, the French skier resisted the comeback of the solid Janik Riebli to climb onto his twenty-third career podium. He is now just three points behind Vincent Vittoz, the second Blue in terms of top 3 finishes behind Maurice Manificat.
Richard Jouve jostled early in the race
In search of his best form since the start of the winter, Richard Jouve seems to have rediscovered his colours over the festive period. The Haut-Alpin gradually made his way into the final, notably in the semi-final when he beat Federico Pellegrino by a foot, but was unable to play his podium card right to the end.
Caught by Valerio Grond, who had crashed out a few tenths of a second earlier, the Frenchman then saw the leading wagon fly away without being able to hold on and defend his chances to the end. It was a reassuring overall performance for the Frenchman, who finished ahead of the Swiss rider and American Ben Ogden, who suffered a broken stick in the first few corners.
In touch with Lucas Chanavat and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo in his quarter-final, Rémi Bourdin was not selected as the lucky loser to progress to the next round.
The full rankings
The general classification of the Tour de Ski
The overall sprint ranking
The overall World Cup standings
Read also
- Toblach: at the end of the suspense, Jessie Diggins wins the opening skate sprint of the Tour de Ski
- Toblach: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo wins the sprint skateboard qualifier ahead of Lucas Chanavat, Richard Jouve and Rémi Bourdin also go through
- Toblach: Léonie Perry qualifies for her first World Cup in the sprint skate, Léna Quintin accompanies her into the quarters
- The full programme for the Tour de Ski starting this Saturday
- After a difficult start to the season, Linn Svahn wants to play up front at the Tour de Ski
- Start lists for the Toblach skate sprint, first stage of the Tour de Ski
- Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo’s ideas for improving the Tour de Ski
- Ill, Jules Chappaz leaves his place to Théo Schely for the Tour de Ski
- The Tour de Ski without Iivo Niskanen and Perttu Hyvärinen
- Tour de Ski: how much will the winners earn?
