Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo says he will pull out of Tour de Ski “the second I start to sense that the Tour is affecting me negatively.”

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo dominated the opening sprint in Tour de Ski on Tuesday and was fourth in the 15-kilometer classic race yesterday. 

After two of the six stages, the 25-year-old Norwegian is leading the overall Tour de Ski by 14 seconds to Pål Golberg (NOR) in second place, 36 seconds to Iivo Niskanen of Finland in third place and 44 to Alexander Bolshunov of Russia in fourth place. 

“I haven’t spent much energy thinking about the overall standings. I take the Tour one race at a time, then we’ll see how long I keep going. My first goal was to get to good races in Lenzerheide, and after the rest day, I will decide what I do,” Klæbo says to VG. 

But despite a flying start in Tour de Ski, Klæbo won’t promise he will stay in the stage race to the very end on January 4. 

“Plan A is to race the whole Tour, but that plan is totally depending on how my body feels. If I feel like the Tour is affecting me negatively, I will pull out in a heart beat,” Klæbo says. 

All about the Olympics
Klæbo emphasizes that his overall goal is the 2022 Olympics in February, which take place at 1600 to 1800 meters elevation. 

The 25-year-old is unsure about whether six races in eight days including the monster hill Alpe Cermis on the last day of Tour de Ski is ideal as part of the peaking plan for that. He has already spent the last 20 days at altitude in Switzerland over Christmas. 

Norwegian national team director Espen Bjervig hopes that Klæbo will complete Tour de Ski. 

“We hope that Johannes will stay and fight for the overall victory. As long as he isn’t sick or injured, our goal is for him to finish the Tour,” Bjervig says to VG.   

If Klæbo decides to pull out of the Tour, he wont be the first high-profile racer to do so. Yesterday, Klæbo’s national teammate Simen Hegstad Krüger called it quits and flew home to prepare for the Olympics there. Yulia Stupak of Russia, who was second overall at Tour de Ski last season, did the same.  

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 classic 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.