Bida Kli finished a strong sixth

Pedda Kli reached the top six at a World Cup for the first time, with the 27-year-old from Toggenborg losing 42.9 seconds to winner Perto Hivarinen over 10km in the classic technique. He will contest the third stage, a 20km ski chase, on New Year's Day from 10th place.

Thanks to a strong finish in the last two kilometers, Klee gained four places. He made optimal use of premium materials and the small advantage of a lower starting number when light snow started to fall.

Before this winter, 11th place was the best performance for the Eastern Switzerland team. He has already improved on this with a 10th place finish at the start of the season in Kuusamo.

“It was a very difficult race,” Klee told SRF. “You split it really well. “It's very nice when things go like this.”

Cyril Fähndrich from Central Switzerland achieved his second career best result in the South Tyrolean Puster Valley with an 18th place finish. The other Swiss missed points in the second stage of the ski race.

Nadine Fendrich lost ground on the second stage of the Tour de Ski. The Lucerne woman finished the 10km classic in Toblach with a solo start in 27th place.

The Swiss lost 1:40 minutes to today's winner Kirto Niskanen. This result is fine considering that the preparation was compromised by the disease. The breathing problems of the past few weeks seem to have been resolved.

Jessie Diggins of the USA leads the overall Tour de Ski standings. The top eight were already separated by one minute after two of the seven stages.

It is unlikely that there will be a merger in the 25 km ski race on Monday. Nadine Fendrich started the race as the best Swiss woman from 14th place, with a margin of 1:16 minutes.