The Finnish skiing star Iivo Niskanen is forced to withdraw from Tour de Ski due to illness.
He announces this the day before the prestigious tour kicks off with sprint competitions in Italian Toblach.
"First, I had to cancel Christmas and now Tour de Ski. We'll see next year..." he writes on Instagram.
This is not the only withdrawal in Finland's skiing team. Perttu Hyvärinen is also missing the tour, since he fell ill after the World Cup competitions in Davos.
Niskanen has both Olympic Games and World Championship gold on his merit list, and in the 2021–22 season, he finished third overall in Tour de Ski.
