cross-Country skiing
Diggins heads to final race atop standings
Jessie Diggins, trying to become the first American to win the prestigious, eight-stage Tour de Ski, maintained her overall lead heading into the final stage by finishing 10th in Saturday's classic sprint in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Sweden swept the top three spots, led by Linn Svahn.
Diggins, an Olympic gold medalist from Afton, leads the overall standings by 54 seconds over Russia's Yulia Stupak.
"That was a good day today," Diggins said. "I did exactly what I needed to out there today in terms of the overall tour."
Sunday's final stage is a freestyle mass start hill climb averaging 12% gradient, with stretches up to 30% over the last 3.5 kilometers. Diggins knows the climb well, having finished sixth on it in last year's Tour de Ski.
"[I am] ready to absolutely destroy myself on that hill climb," Diggins said. "The only thing I know for sure is that I'll be crossing that finish line with absolutely nothing left."
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