The victory was regarded as a major surprise, despite Sundby delivering several solid displays in earlier races.

Sundby and compatriot Therese Johaug became the first Norwegians to win the Tour de Ski when they won the men's and women' competitions in the 2013–14 edition of the race.

[4] In January 2015 Norwegian Ski Federation "was informed that Johnsrud Sundby had crossed the legal limit, the so called 'decision limit', in regard to the use of" [salbutamol trademarked as] Ventolin; the federation should have acted then, is the opinion of Fredrik Aukland, NRK's expert on crosscountry skiing.

[5] On 20 July 2016 Johnsrud Sundby was banned from competition for two months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an anti-doping rule violation.

For this and other reasons, including that Johnsrud Sundby declared salbutamol at the time of the test, the panel found his degree of fault light and opted for a short sanction.