Caitlin Patterson Completes FIS Tour de Ski

Written by GRP Biathlete Raleigh Goessling

After two hard days of racing in Toblach, Italy GRP skier Caitlin Patterson and her US Ski Team teammates headed to Val de Fiemme, Italy for the final three races of the Tour de Ski (TDS). 

The three races on tap in Val de Fiemme were a 10km classic mass start, a classic sprint and the infamous Final Climb. The TDS final climb is a mass start freestyle race that begins in a valley, then tackles the Alp de Cermis alpine slope. This brutally hard climb is a fitting finale for one of skiing’s toughest challenges.   

In the classic sprint, Caitlin finished in 39th place, and unfortunately did not make the top 30 cut off to ski in the head to head heats. 

Patterson pushed further up the results sheet in the mass start classic, garnering 27th place, and taking the 5th rank among the 6 person US team. Caitlin’s superb effort was in touching distance of a top 25 result and the 4th US women in the race, Katherine Ogden. 

In the Final Climb finale, Caitlin was again the 5th person on the US team, and 27th on the day. 

After 8 races in a 10 day span, Patterson completed the Tour de Ski, an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. After all the dust settled on Alp de Cermis Caitlin Patterson came away ranked 34th overall and was the 5th US women in the competition. 

This edition of the Tour de Ski was especially meaningful for the US Ski Team because Jessie Diggins was the overall winner! Jessie’s win was the first by an athlete not from Europe and represents further proof of the inroads that US skiers have made and are making into European dominance of Nordic sports. 

For stage recaps, results, photos and much more from the Tour de Ski visit https://www.fis-ski.com/en/cross-country.