Lustgarten Finishes 2019 Tour de Ski in 42nd

Lustgarten on one of the steeper sections of the Final Climb (Photo Erica Lustgarten)

Last Updated: 07.Jan.2019

Green Racing Project skier Ben Lustgarten has completed his first ever Tour de Ski. The Tour is the most grueling event on the World Cup calendar, and includes seven races over the course of nine days, in four different countries. We previously covered the first three stages of Lustgarten's Tour results, and he has officially completed the final stage as of Sunday, January 6th.

Stage number four on the Tour de Ski took racers to Oberstdorf, Germany for a 15k classic mass start. There, Lustgarten had one of his best races of the 2019 Tour, with a 57th place in the 15k. While the place wasn't a personal best, he was only 38 seconds back from the winner on the day. The following day, Lustgarten raced a 15k freestyle pursuit, also in Oberstdorf, and finished in 54th. From there, racers had a rest day and then moved to Val di Fiemme, Italy for the final stages. In stage six, Lustgarten placed 44th in another 15k classic mass start. Stage seven brought the most grueling day of all, the Final Climb, where racers skied 6k to the base of an alpine hill, and then climbed straight up, in some places hitting a 28% grade. Lustgarten fought hard on stage seven and finished 42nd overall in the Tour de Ski, with the 37th fastest time on day.

Results from the FIS Tour de Ski are available HERE. Lustgarten will be back in action in the World Cups in Otepaa, Estonia, the weekend of January 19th.