But she has two obstacles in front of her. A big one, a disturbing one.
The big one is Jessie Diggins. The American has a 47-second lead in the tour summary ahead of Wednesday’s sprint in Davos. Chasing behind is a cluster of eight riders who are within nine seconds.
Linn Svahn is third, Jonna Sundling fourth, Frida Karlsson eighth and Emma Ribom ninth.
Karlsson and Ribom has the same disturbing obstacle, a warning from earlier in the season. Svahn got one the other day.
Another warning and the tour is over.
– I don’t think anything of it. It only gets worse if I focus on it. But I’m not going to make another false start in any case, says Frida Karlsson about the warning she carries with her.
– It is harsh that a false start should be so costly, but there are rules and we just have to follow them.
About the distance till Jessie Diggins she says:
– I’m not giving up, but it’s a long way to go. If I’m going to be able to do something about the seconds that are up, I have to do a good sprint.
Frida Karlsson during Monday’s competition in 20 km freestyle. Photo: Mathias Bergeld/Bildbyrån
Just like (almost) everyone in the Swedish team, Frida Karlsson has had problems with illness during the season, but now she says that her body feels good again.
– It’s fun to be on the tour, but for it to go well, everything has to go well. Last year I had a pole in. I went to the sprint final straight away and we had good skiing all the way. This year I have had to fight more, says last year’s overall winner.
On the men’s side is Norway’s Harald Östberg Amundsen just over half a minute ahead of compatriot Erik Valnes. Behind that duo are nine riders within seven seconds.
The fourth William Poromaa has the same time as the third Thomas Jensen and “Wille” does nothing to play down the importance of Wednesday’s sprint.
– It will probably be the most important thing on the whole tour for me, he says about the qualifier.
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Ebba Andersson breaks the Tour de Ski
2024-01-02 18:30:51
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