Iivo Niskanen talks about the pressure to match her sister’s performance in the Tour de Ski classic race in Lenzerheide.

Seeing his older sister win her 10-kilometer classic race just before heading out for his own race, made Iivo Niskanen worried.

With extremely difficult conditions in Lenzerheide, Iivo Niskanen worried that his skis wouldn’t be as good as his sister’s. 

“Actually, I got a little bit nervous before my race, because I saw that she would win today. I was testing my own skis, and also tried Kerttu’s skis, but they were a little bit too soft for me since I am a bit heavier than her,” Iivo Niskanen says. 

But his fears proved unfounded: Just like Kerttu Niskanen did in the women’s race, Iivo Niskanen won the men’s race by a crushing margin. Nearly 20 seconds separated the Finn from Alexander Bolshunov of Russia in second place. 

“It was an unbelievable day for our family,” Iivo Niskanen says after his race. 

A good day in terrible tracks
Facing equally dreadful conditions as the women did in their 10-kilometer classic race earlier today, the men were battling heavy precipitation and deteriorating tracks in their 15-kilometer classic race this afternoon. 

But while the wax techs certainly had their work cut out for them with the relentless precipitation on both sides of freezing, the difficult conditions didn’t seem to bother the 29-year-old Finn once he got on the course. 

“I felt quite good today. I started out too fast, so I am happy that I was able to keep it up at the end too. But it was a good race, and I put a good gap on the rest of the guys,” Niskanen says after his powerful performance in Lenzerheide.  

All about the skis
Iivo Niskanen explains that in these kinds of conditions, choosing the best skis and nailing the wax and prep becomes – if possible – even more crucial. 

“We (the Finnish team) did a great job in the wax truck today. We had really good skis,” Niskanen says. 

Tour de Ski now moves on to Oberstdorf, Germany, for Tour de Ski stage 3 and 4 on December 31 and January 1.  Stage 3 features a 10-kilometer mass start skate race for women and 15-kilometer mass start skate race for men. Stage 4 features classic sprint races for both men and women. 

Check out the Tour de Ski 2021/22 day-by-day schedule and ProXCskiing.com’s predictions for the overall stage race: Who Will Win Tour de Ski? 

Curious about where to watch Tour de Ski in your area? We got you covered! 

FACTS: Tour de Ski 2021/22 

• Tour de Ski 2021/22 starts in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 28 and concludes in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on January 4. 
• The race consists of six stages in eight days. Here are all the Tour de Ski details and the day-by-day schedule
• Tour de Ski 2021/22 is the 16th edition of the brutal stage race. These are the winners from the previous 15 Tour de Ski events. 
• The overall winners get 400 World Cup points for the Tour de Ski, which consists of six stages in eight days. Stage winners get 50 World Cup points. Accordingly, there are potentially 700 World Cup points for winning every stage of the Tour de Ski, which would determine the overall World Cup for the season.