Tour de Ski: Pellegrino and Dahlqvist set the best times in the qualifiers of the inaugural sprint

In Val Mustair the Swedish girls immediately start strong (seven qualify), Greta Laurent and Elisa Brocard pass the cut; surprise out Lucia Scardoni. Among the men best time for "Chicco" Pellegrino ahead of Bolshunov; De Fabiani and Hellweger also qualify.

Friday 1 January 2021 2 minutes reading time

The fifteenth Tour de Ski officially started with the qualifications of the Val Mustair sprint. As expected, the Swedish women's team, returning after having skipped the stages of Davos and Dresden, immediately demonstrated the clear superiority over the other nations in this format: Maja Dahlqvist printed the best time in front of compatriot Linn Svahn (winner of the first sprint of the season in Ruka), third Swiss Nadine Faehndrich. There are two blue qualified for the knockout phase: Greta Laurent, twelfth, and Elisa Brocard, twenty-seventh. Out for less than a second Ilaria Debertolis, but the most surprising lack of qualification is that of Lucia Scardoni, disappointing forty-third. Out of the thirty qualified also Francesca Franchi, Anna Comarella and Martina Di Centa. Excellent news in Italy, however, regarding the men's qualification: Federico Pellegrino was the fastest, immediately behind him the Russian Alexander Bolshunov. Three other Azzurri qualified for the final stages: Francesco De Fabiani, 21st time, Michael Hellweger, 22nd, and Davide Graz, 29th. Giandomenico Salvadorie Paolo Ventura is missing. Appointment at 11:45 am, when the knockout phase will begin, to find out who will be the first two winners of this Tour de Ski.