Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia gapped everyone on the last hill and won the 10-kilometer classic mass start event in Val di Fiemme, the fifth stage of Tour de Ski.

Coming into the stadium for the finish, Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia left everyone else to fight for second and third place in the 10-kilometer classic mass start event in Val di Fiemme, Italy. “I was very happy to win here today. I won here last year, and my first victory in the Junior World Championships was here,” Nepryaeva says. 

The 26-year-old, won by nearly four seconds to Heidi Weng of Norway, while Krista Pärmäkoski of Finland snagged the last spot on the podium. 

“I had insane skis. I’ve never had skis this fast before and that makes it insanely fun to race. You don’t even have to be in shape with this kind of skis,” Heidi Weng says after her second-place finish. 

Weng sits in fifth place overall after today’s race. 

Top 3, 10km classic, mass start women
1. Natalia Nepryaeva, Russia 29:51.3
2. Heidi Weng, Norway, +3.7
3. Krista Pärmäkoski, Finland, +4.8

Complete results

Tight race for the overall title
Ebba Andersson of Sweden was fourth in the 10-kilometer classic race in Val di Fiemme. She also took home some bonus seconds as well, which will come in handy for the brutal Alpe Cermis hill climb in Val di Fiemme tomorrow. 

Andersson is second overall in Tour de Ski with one stage to go. 

Nepryaeva leads by one minute and 12 seconds to Andersson. While the gap is substantial, Andersson had the fastest time up the monster hill in Tour de Ski last year. Accordingly, Nepryaeva doesn’t take the victory for granted. 

“I will leave all I have out there on the course tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be enough to defend the overall bib,” Nepryaeva says. 

Top 3 Tour de Ski overall, women
1. Natalia Nepryaeva, Russia
2. Ebba Andersson, Sweden, +1:12
3. Kerttu Niskanen, Finland, +1:19

One stage to go
Tour de Ski concludes tomorrow. Stage 6 features a 10km mass start skate race for 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.