2021 Tour de Ski explained

Tour de Ski
Series:	2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup
Venue:	Val Müstair, Switzerland Toblach, Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy
Date:	–
Stages:	8
Menfirst:	Alexander Bolshunov
Menfirst Nat:	RUS
Menfirst Color:	yellow
Mensecond:	Maurice Manificat
Mensecond Nat:	FRA
Menthird:	Denis Spitsov
Menthird Nat:	RUS
Menpoints:	Alexander Bolshunov
Menpoints Nat:	RUS
Menpoints Color:	red
Womenfirst:	Jessie Diggins
Womenfirst Nat:	USA
Womenfirst Color:	yellow
Womensecond:	Yuliya Stupak
Womensecond Nat:	RUS
Womenthird:	Ebba Andersson
Womenthird Nat:	SWE
Womenpoints:	Linn Svahn
Womenpoints Nat:	SWE
Womenpoints Color:	red
Previous:	2019–20
Next:	2021–22

The 2021 Tour de Ski was the 15th edition of the Tour de Ski and part of the 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup. The World Cup stage event began in Val Müstair, Switzerland on 1 January 2021 and conclude with the Final Climb stage in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on 10 January 2021. The tour was the second edition starting in Val Müstair. The last stage known as the Final Climb was held as a mass start for the second time. Alexander Bolshunov from Russia and Therese Johaug from Norway were the title defenders. However, Johaug and other athletes from Norway decided to skip the Tour de Ski with concerns about competing and travelling during coronavirus pandemic.^[1]

Bolshunov defended his title on this year's Tour de Ski, finishing in the overall standings with a three minute margin from the runner-up. Jessie Diggins won her first Tour de Ski cup; her best result prior to that was third, which she reached at the 2017–18 Tour de Ski. She became the first American to win the Tour de Ski.^[2]

Schedule

Stage	Venue	Date	Event	Technique	Distance		Start time (CET)
					Women	Men	Women	Men
		1 January 2021	Sprint	Freestyle	1.4 km	1.4 km	11:45	11:45
	2 January 2021	Distance, mass start	Classic	10 km	15 km	12:30	14:45
	3 January 2021	Distance, pursuit	Freestyle	10 km	15 km	15:25	11:35
		5 January 2021	Distance, interval start	Freestyle	10 km	15 km	13:00	14:45
	6 January 2021	Distance, pursuit	Classic	10 km	15 km	13:30	14:40
		8 January 2021	Distance, mass start	Classic	10 km	15 km	15:35	13:15
	9 January 2021	Sprint	Classic	1.3 km	1.5 km	13:05	13:05
	10 January 2021	Final Climb, mass start	Freestyle	10 km	10 km	12:45	15:35

Overall leadership

Two main individual classifications were contested in the 2021 Tour de Ski, as well as a team competition. The most important is the overall standings, calculated by adding each skier's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses (time subtracted) were awarded at both sprint stages and at intermediate points during mass start stage 6. In the sprint stages, the winners were awarded 60 bonus seconds, while on mass start stage 6 the first ten skiers past the intermediate point received from 15 seconds to 1 seconds. The skier with the lowest cumulative time was the overall winner of the Tour de Ski. For the second time in Tour history, the skier leading the overall standings wore a yellow bib.

Bonus seconds for the top 30 positions by type

Type		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13–15	16–20	21–25	26–30
In finish	Interval start	none
Mass start
Pursuit
Sprint	60	54	48	46	44	42	32	30	28	26	24	22	10	8	6	4
Intermediate sprint	Mass Start (only stage 6)	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	none

The second competition is the points standings, which replaced the sprint competition from past editions. The skiers who will receive the highest number of points during the Tour will win the points standings. The points available for each stage finish are determined by the stage's type. The leader will be identified by a red bib.

Points standings points for the top 10 positions by type

Type		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
In finish
Sprint	30	24	20	16	12	10	8	6	4	2
Pursuit	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1
Intermediate sprint	Interval start	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1
Mass start

The final competition is a team competition. This is calculated using the finishing times of the best two skiers of both genders per team on each stage; the leading team is the team with the lowest cumulative time.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Men			Women
	Winner	Overall standings	Points standings	Winner	Overall standings	Points standings
1	Federico Pellegrino	Federico Pellegrino	Federico Pellegrino	Linn Svahn	Linn Svahn	Linn Svahn
2	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Federico Pellegrino	Linn Svahn	Linn Svahn	Linn Svahn
3	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Federico Pellegrino	Jessie Diggins	Jessie Diggins	Linn Svahn
4	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Jessie Diggins	Jessie Diggins	Jessie Diggins
5	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Yuliya Stupak	Jessie Diggins	Jessie Diggins
6	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Natalya Nepryayeva	Jessie Diggins
7	Oskar Svensson	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Linn Svahn	Jessie Diggins	Linn Svahn
8	Denis Spitsov	Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Ebba Andersson	Jessie Diggins	Linn Svahn
Final		Alexander Bolshunov	Alexander Bolshunov	Final	Jessie Diggins	Linn Svahn

Final standings

Overall standings

Men Final Overall standings (1–10)^[3] Rank Name Time 1 3:32:32.3 2 +3:23.9 3 +3:36.7 4 +3:40.6 5 +4:03.3 6 +5:08.5 7 +5:23.7 8 +6:04.6 9 +6:12.4 10 +6:22.9 Final Overall standings (11–51) Rank Name Time 11 +7:36.2 12 +7:49.6 13 +7:50.6 14 +8:13.2 15 +8:22.9 16 +8:25.1 17 +8:25.8 18 +8:36.1 19 +9:04.8 20 +9:17.5 21 +9:26.6 22 +9:31.8 23 +9:54.0 24 +10:10.0 25 +10:22.2 26 +10:38.3 27 +10:45.0 28 +11:05.2 29 +11:13.6 30 +11:14.9 31 +11:26.2 32 +11:28.3 33 +12:04.6 34 +12:33.7 35 +13:19.7 36 +13:20.3 37 +13:57.7 38 +13:59.8 39 +14:52.4 40 +14:59.1 41 +15:16.7 42 +15:37.3 43 +16:22.5 44 +16:50.6 45 +17:30.6 46 +17:42.3 47 +17:50.2 48 +19:17.6 49 +21:43.3 50 +22:40.0 51 +29:09.7

Women Final Overall standings (1–10)^[4] Rank Name Time 1 3:04:45.8 2 +1:24.8 3 +2:00.8 4 +2:58.1 5 +3:23.0 6 +3:27.6 7 +3:28.5 8 +3:41.4 9 +5:10.8 10 +5:21.2 Final Overall standings (11–41) Rank Name Time 11 +5:36.7 12 +5:41.7 13 +6:15.9 14 +6:38.0 15 +6:49.4 16 +7:04.4 17 +7:15.2 18 +7:35.6 19 +7:47.0 20 +8:51.5 21 +9:46.9 22 +9:51.4 23 +9:53.3 24 +10:07.0 25 +10:07.3 26 +11:06.8 27 +11:14.8 28 +11:26.3 29 +11:44.3 30 +11:55.4 31 +12:33.8 32 +12:36.6 33 +13:20.3 34 +13:26.7 35 +15:03.8 36 +15:11.4 37 +16:37.6 38 +16:48.1 39 +17:11.0 40 +17:45.4 41 +18:52.3

Points standings

Men Final Points standings (1–10)^[5] Rank Name Points 1 101 2 90 3 71 4 42 5 38 6 32 7 24 8 20 9 20 10 20

Women Final Points standings (1–10)^[6] Rank Name Points 1 83 2 74 3 51 4 50 5 43 6 38 7 30 8 28 9 27 10 26

Team standings

Final Team standings (1–5)^[7]

Rank	Nation	Time
1	Russia	13:17:31.8
2	Sweden	+14:26.2
3	United States	+21:23.8
4	Germany	+24:50.8
5	Italy	+30:18.0

Stages

Stage 1

1 January 2021, Val Müstair, Switzerland

• Bonus seconds to the 30 skiers that qualifies for the quarter-finals, distributed as following:^[8]
  • Final: 60–54–48–46–44–42
  • Semi-final: 32–30–28–26–24–22
  • Quarter-final: 10–10–10–8–8–8–8–8–6–6–6–6–6–4–4–4–4–4

Men – 1.4 km Sprint Freestyle^[9] Rank Name 1 3:02.19 (1) 3:08.44 60 2 3:04.53 (2) +0.57 54 3 3:06.67 (7) +2.53 48 4 3:07.98 (13) +4.33 46 5 3:04.81 (3) +4.82 44 6 3:07.46 (10) +28.28 42 7 3:08.07 (14) 32 8 3:07.25 (8) 30 9 3:07.95 (12) 28 10 3:09.48 (19) 26

Women – 1.4 km Sprint Freestyle^[10] Rank Name 1 3:33.70 (2) 3:32.01 60 2 3:35.60 (6) +0.54 54 3 3:39.82 (14) +3.41 48 4 3:37.23 (8) +5.83 46 5 3:35.24 (5) +8.00 44 6 3:35.11 (3) +1:02.00 42 7 3:30.86 (1) 32 8 3:43.53 (26) 30 9 3:36.00 (7) 28 10 3:38.59 (11) 26

Stage 2

2 January 2021, Val Müstair, Switzerland

• No bonus seconds were awarded on this stage.

Men – 15 km Classic (mass start)^[11] Rank Name Time 1 34:09.8 2 +23.5 3 +25.3 4 +27.7 5 +34.4 6 +36.3 7 +43.4 8 +47.2 9 +47.3 10 +47.7

Women – 10 km Classic (mass start)^[12] Rank Name Time 1 30:09.9 2 +0.7 3 +0.8 4 +1.4 5 +2.0 6 +3.4 7 +4.5 8 +13.6 9 +13.6 10 +17.9

Stage 3

3 January 2021, Val Müstair, Switzerland

• Pursuit start lists are based on Tour de Ski overall standings after two stages.
• No bonus seconds were awarded on this stage.

Men – 15 km Freestyle (pursuit)^[13] Rank Name Time 1 32:11.1 2 +53.7 3 +1:07.0 4 +1:10.7 5 +1:34.2 6 +1:34.7 7 +1:48.8 8 +2:08.3 9 +2:13.9 10 +2:14.1

Women – 10 km Freestyle (pursuit)^[14] Rank Name Time 1 26:54.1 2 +5.6 3 +10.7 4 +57.9 5 +59.4 6 +1:12.9 7 +1:15.5 8 +1:28.3 9 +1:28.7 10 +1:31.4

Stage 4

5 January 2021, Toblach, Italy

• No bonus seconds are awarded on this stage.

Men – 15 km Freestyle (individual) Free^[15] Rank Name Time 1 32:49.6 2 +8.3 3 +13.9 4 +19.2 5 +21.8 6 +22.9 7 +27.6 8 +29.2 9 +29.9 10 +43.9

Women – 10 km Freestyle (individual) ^[16] Rank Name Time 1 25:14.5 2 +14.8 3 +22.2 4 +25.7 5 +31.3 6 +35.6 7 +48.3 8 +51.8 9 +52.4 10 +56.9

Stage 5

6 January 2021, Toblach, Italy

• Pursuit start lists are based only on Stage 4 results (not as in the past on the current Tour de Ski overall standings). In fact, stage 5 finish differences are cumulative results of stages 4 and 5
• No bonus seconds are awarded on this stage.

Men – 15 km Classic (individual) ^[17] Rank Name Time 1 34:32.9 2 +55.5 3 +55.6 4 +56.8 5 +58.7 6 +1:01.4 7 +1:04.2 8 +1:12.1 9 +2:02.5 10 +2:02.5

Women – 10 km Classic (individual) ^[18] Rank Name Time 1 29:24.7 2 +0.7 3 +0.8 4 +17.3 5 +37.3 6 +38.3 7 +58.5 8 +58.5 9 +59.3 10 +1:01.7

Stage 6

8 January 2021, Val di Fiemme, Italy

Men – 15 km Classic (mass start) ^[19] Rank Name Time 1 41:33.7 15 2 +1.8 10 3 +3.7 4 +6.7 5 +7.6 6 6 +7.6 7 +9.6 4 8 +11.4 9 +14.3 10 +14.9 2

Women – 10 km Classic (mass start)^[20] Rank Name Time 1 30:35.5 4 2 +2.4 10 3 +4.1 15 4 +6.6 1 5 +7.2 6 +9.9 7 +13.7 3 8 +15.1 6 9 +24.0 12 10 +27.3

Stage 6 bonus seconds

• Men: 1 intermediate sprint, bonus seconds to the 10 first skiers (15–12–10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1) past the intermediate point.
• Women: 1 intermediate sprint, bonus seconds to the 10 first skiers (15–12–10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1) past the intermediate point.
• No bonus seconds are awarded at the finish

Bonus seconds (Stage 6 – Men) Name Point 1 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus seconds (Stage 6 – Women) Name Point 1 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Stage 7

9 January 2021, Val di Fiemme, Italy

• Bonus seconds to the 30 skiers that qualifies for the quarter-finals, distributed as following:
  • Final: 60–54–48–46–44–42
  • Semi-final: 32–30–28–26–24–22
  • Quarter-final: 10–10–10–8–8–8–8–8–6–6–6–6–6–4–4–4–4–4

Men – 1.5 km Sprint Classic^[21] Rank Name 1 3:19.40 (8) 3:19.83 60 2 3:18.08 (6) +0.24 54 3 3:17.79 (4) +0.32 48 4 3:14.48 (1) +0.70 46 5 3:16.88 (3) +0.76 44 6 3:21.96 (15) +3.15 42 7 3:19.42 (9) 32 8 3:23.98 (19) 30 9 3:16.27 (2) 28 10 3:20.83 (12) 26

Women – 1.3 km Sprint Classic^[22] Rank Name 1 3:11.98 (1) 3:14.69 60 2 3:14.38 (6) +0.54 54 3 3:16.32 (11) +0.84 48 4 3:14.27 (5) +1.60 46 5 3:13.22 (2) +1.97 44 6 3:16.38 (12) +2.42 42 7 3:14.53 (7) 32 8 3:18.57 (16) 30 9 3:13.29 (3) 28 10 3:15.40 (8) 26

Stage 8

10 January 2021, Val di Fiemme, Italy

The race for "Fastest of the Day" counts for 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup points. No bonus seconds are awarded on this stage.

Men – 10 km Final Climb Freestyle (mass start)^[23] Rank Name Time 1 32:41.0 2 +13.3 3 +15.2 4 +21.8 5 +24.0 6 +26.9 7 +30.2 8 +37.9 9 +39.9 10 +42.7

Women – 10 km Final Climb Freestyle (mass start)^[24] Rank Name Time 1 36:45.6 2 +9.2 3 +32.6 4 +40.0 5 +1:04.3 6 +1:17.4 7 +1:17.8 8 +1:23.6 9 +1:27.6 10 +1:29.2

World Cup points distribution

The table shows the number of 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup points to win in the 2021 Tour de Ski for men and women.

width=150	Place	width=32	1	width=32	2	width=32	3	width=32	4	width=32	5	width=32	6	width=32	7	width=32	8	width=32	9	width=32	10	width=32	11	width=32	12	width=32	13	width=32	14	width=32	15	width=32	16	width=32	17	width=32	18	width=32	19	width=32	20	width=32	21	width=32	22	width=32	23	width=32	24	width=32	25	width=32	26	width=32	27	width=32	28	width=32	29	width=32	30	width=32	31 - 40	width=41	>40
Overall Standings	400	320	240	200	180	160	144	128	116	104	96	88	80	72	64	60	56	52	48	44	40	36	32	28	24	20	20	20	20	20	10	5
Each Stage	50	46	43	40	37	34	32	30	28	26	24	22	20	18	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

^[25]

Sources

• Book: Rules for the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. International Ski Federation. International Ski Federation (FIS). 5 June 2020. 2020. .
• Book: COOP FIS CROSS-COUNTRY WORLD CUP 2020/21. International Ski Federation. International Ski Federation (FIS). 2 October 2020. 2020. .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Norway withdraw from Tour de Ski . 13 December 2020.
2. https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/01/10/jessie-diggins-wins-tour-de-ski/ Jessie Diggins becomes first American to win Tour de Ski
3. Web site: Men's 15th Tour de Ski Overall Standing. International Ski Federation. 10 January 2021.
4. Web site: Women's 15th Tour de Ski Overall Standing. International Ski Federation. 10 January 2021.
5. Web site: Tour de Ski points standings (Men) . www.fis-ski.com. International Ski Federation (FIS) . 10 January 2021.
6. Web site: Tour de Ski points standings (Women) . www.fis-ski.com. International Ski Federation (FIS) . 10 January 2021.
7. Web site: Tour de Ski team standings. www.fis-ski.com. International Ski Federation (FIS) . 10 January 2021.
8. Web site: RULES FOR THE FIS CROSS-COUNTRY WORLD CUP . International Ski Federation (FIS) . 15 October 2020.
9. Web site: Men's Sprint Free – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 1 January 2021.
10. Web site: Women's Sprint Free – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 1 January 2021.
11. Web site: Men's 15 km Mass Start Classic – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 2 January 2021.
12. Web site: Women's 10 km Mass Start Classic – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 2 January 2021.
13. Web site: Men's 15 km Pursuit Free – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 3 January 2021.
14. Web site: Women's 10 km Pursuit Free – Val Müstair. International Ski Federation. 3 January 2021.
15. Web site: Men's 15 km Individual Free – Toblach. International Ski Federation. 5 January 2021.
16. Web site: Women's 10 km Individual Free – Toblach. International Ski Federation. 5 January 2021.
17. Web site: Men's 15 km Pursuit Classic – Toblach. International Ski Federation. 6 January 2021.
18. Web site: Women's 10 km Pursuit Classic – Toblach. International Ski Federation. 6 January 2021.
19. Web site: Men's 15 km Mass Start Classic – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 8 January 2021.
20. Web site: Women's 10 km Mass Start Classic – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 8 January 2021.
21. Web site: Men's Sprint Classic – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 9 January 2021.
22. Web site: Women's Sprint Classic – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 9 January 2021.
23. Web site: Men's 10 km Mass Start Free – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 10 January 2021.
24. Web site: Women's 10 km Mass Start Free – Val di Fiemme. International Ski Federation. 10 January 2021.
25. Web site: Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup Tour de Ski (FIS). 2021-01-01. www.fis-ski.com.