Comment | Kerttu Niskanen's risky gamble backfired dearly – now the deck is completely relaxed at the Tour de Ski

Val di Fiemme

Tour de Ski the penultimate women's stage left more questions than answers. The battle for the podium before the last race is more delicious than it has been in years.

The biggest loser in Saturday's 15 km (p) was Finland Kerttu Niskanen, which was disastrously in the tenth place. The competition was won by Sweden Linn Svahn before the earth Frida Karlsson and Germany Katharina Hennig.

The race was supposed to be Niskanen's hay, but the Finn, who skied on grip skis, was in unacceptably bad trouble from the very beginning. He was badly stuck in the downhills, and the grip didn't look good either. Niskanen did not give orders but hung on. In the final whispers, he even bowed To Jessie Digginswho continues to top the tour.

The conditions were so bad due to the sleet that the choice of skis was a sheer lottery. Niskanen ended up with his years-old successes, with which he skied to victory on Thursday in Davos. It was a huge risk, because most of the other top women chose skate skis. The Finn's risky play backfired.

The frost will be completely at rest before Sunday's final rise. Anything can happen on a ski slope.

Diggins leads the overall women's race by 43 seconds. Jonna Sundling (+43) is second, Karlsson (+44) third and Niskanen (+49) fourth. The top six are completed by Svahn (+58) and Heidi Weng (+1.03).

Victory and a prize pool of just under 85,000 euros are probably out of Niskanen's reach after Saturday's failure, but he has excellent seams for second place on the tour.

Although Niskanen is not at his strongest in skate skiing, the final climb of Alpe Cermis has suited the Finn perfectly in previous years. Niskanen gives leveling to other peaks in his hoe technique, but his ability to absorb oxygen is second to none. In the brutal Alpe Cermis task, those who can gasp for oxygen the most will succeed.

Last year, Niskanen was no less than fourth fastest in the wild pain race. He beat Diggins by 17 seconds and Karlsson by more than a minute.

Karlsson climbed Alpe Cermis for the first time a year ago, when he collapsed in a terrible way. However, the evidence of Karlsson's abilities in the final climbs is so non-existent that he cannot be written off from the fight for victory. Karlsson will be a wild card tomorrow.

Among the women fighting for the top places in the tour and nearly tens of thousands of euros, the fiercest climber is Heidi Weng. The experienced Norwegian was the strongest in the entire final stage last year. At that time, he defeated Niskanen by more than a minute. A year ago, Niskanen lost to the hippie Weng by 16 seconds.

Jonna Sundling or Linn Svahn, as sprint types, are not at their best on a long and tough climb. They can hardly keep up with endurance machines like Niskanen, Diggins and Karlsson.

The other hard Alpe Cermis terrors have already collapsed long after the battle for victory. Last year's fastest Delphine Claudel has left 2 minutes and 52 seconds and finished third Sophia Laukli more than four minutes.

Final ascent this year too, we will start together, which will change the nature of the competition. First, the skiers go around the 2.5 km loop of the Lago di Tesero stadium one time. After that, there will be a few kilometers long, gentle and narrow transition track to the foot of mammuttimäki.

There are no differences at the start, but Niskanen – like everyone else aiming for the prize places – has to be careful that the top doesn't get away. The tools must also be kept intact in the narrow gutter. If it is too far below the ski slope, it is impossible to respond to the rhythm changes of the bow.

After that, it's all about absolute endurance and sheer will to fight. Niskanen is known for them. She doesn't sell her skin cheap in merciless one-on-one battles.

Niskanen's rise to victory now seems really unlikely, but the 63,500-euro pot distributed to the Tour's runner-up is certainly within the limits of possibilities.