Natalya Nepryayeva became the first Russian woman in history to win the prestigious Tour de Ski cross-country skiing championship.
She finished fourth in today’s last race – a mass start of 10 km freestyle in the Italian winter center Val di Fiemme, which was enough for her to win the trophy. Today’s race with the grueling final climb to Alpe Cermis was won by Heidi Weng with 35:41.2 minutes.
Second in 7.0 seconds was Ebba Anderson (Sweden), third was Delphine Claudel (France) in 28.5 seconds, and Natalya Nepryayeva ook fourth-place on 32.3 seconds.
The Russian took first place in the overall standings for the Tour de Ski with 1:59.38.5 hours. Natalya Nepryayeva kept a one-minute advantage in the final race of the Tour de Ski – and won a well-deserved victory in the prestigious multi-day championship.
“I was so worried, very worried. It was hard for me to judge my strengths. Not everything went well in the last race this year. I am glad that I managed to get together and endure. I am very happy with myself in this race. This was the most difficult race for me this season”, said Natalya Nepryayeva.
The second was Ebba Anderson in 46.7 seconds, and the third was Heidi Weng (Norway) in 1:07.7 minutes. The Norwegian won the race in 2017 and 2018.
Last year’s champion Jessie Diggins (USA) finished in eighth place, 3:15.8 minutes behind the winner.
The 26-year-old Natalya Nepryayeva became the first Russian to win the competition after being second twice in the general classification (2019, 2020), and in 2021 her compatriot Yuliya Stupak took second place.
This year, Natalya Nepryayeva won two of the chain’s six stages.
After the success, Natalya Nepryayeva topped the overall standings for the Women’s World Cup with 843 points. Second and third are respectively Ebba Anderson with 648 and Jessie Diggins with 622 points.
Natalya Nepryayeva participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics as part of the Olympic Athletes from Russia team and won a bronze medal in the 4×5 km relay.
