- Janik Riebli shines in the World Cup sprint for cross-country skiers in Livigno with 3rd place.
- In addition to the 24-year-old, Valerio Grond, who also made it to the final, is also convincing.
- Nadine Fähndrich narrowly missed out on the women’s podium in fourth place.
Janik Riebli made a big exclamation mark at the World Cup sprint in Livigno. The man from Obwalden qualified for a final for the first time ever and promptly crowned his performance with a podium finish. The trained farmer had indicated his good form in recent weeks. He finished 11th in Davos and 7th at the Tour de Ski in Val Müstair.
In Livigno, Riebli was only beaten by the two sprint specialists Johannes Kläbo (NOR) and Richard Jouve (FRA). After the 24-year-old impressed with the sixth-best time in qualifying, he finished second in both the quarter- and semi-finals.
From a Swiss point of view, the performance of Valerio Grond, who also qualified for the final of the best 6, was also pleasing. The man from Graubünden finished 5th and, like Riebli, achieved his best World Cup result.
Ensign beaten by three Swedes
Nadine Fähndrich appeared to have recovered well from the Tour de Ski. The three-time sprint winner of the season also proved her strength in the Italian Alps and made it into the top 6 final for the 15th time in her career.
There the Lucerne native had to deal with 4 Swedes in addition to Julia Kern (USA). Fähndrich threw everything in on the slightly uphill home straight, but in the end, Linn Svahn, was only able to leave one of the Swedish quartet and the American behind and finished fourth. In the end, the Swiss was only 0.17 seconds off the podium.
Jonna Sundling secured victory, leaving her two teammates Maja Dahlqvist and Emma Ribon behind.