HOLMENKOLLEN (Dagbladet): Sunday’s five-mile race for the men in Holmenkollen was decided on the last lap. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo sprinted past Pål Golberg and the rest of the rest of the field.
– This was delicious. I needed it. I felt that it has been hanging over me for a long time that I have not won the five-mile before. So this one was good to get nailed, said Klæbo to TV 2.
Adding up
Klæbo won ahead of Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget and Pål Golberg. Harald Østberg Amundsen and Didrik Tønseth provided five Norwegian names at the top of the results list.
– He does what he wants, said TV 2 expert Petter Skinstad about Klæbo.
– Big day before big skier. Klæbo won 50 km in Kollen. Important to have with you before the WC. Now only gold in distance running in the WC and Olympics remains before Klæbo has won everything, Nettavisen commentator Ernst A. Lersveen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
CONGRATULATIONS: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (right) spoke with Princess Astrid (centre) and Crown Prince Haakon after five thousand. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
Stated Northug
Large parts of the field mostly went together at the front throughout the race, which Klæbo took advantage of in the sprint. On the run, the Norwegian was superior – and won the first five miles of his career.
No one was able to get up to speed and pull away from Klæbo before the sprint.
– It will be too tame, Skinstad said along the way.
Facts: Cross-country World Cup men on Sunday
Cross-country World Cup in Holmenkollen on Sunday:
Men, 50 km classic:
1) Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Norway 2.06.50.4, 2) Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Norway 0.00.4 min. behind, 3) Pål Golberg, Norway 0.01,1, 4) Harald Østberg Amundsen, Norway 0.01,6, 5) Didrik Tønseth, Norway 0.02,5, 6) Jens Burman, Sweden 0.04,8, 7) Federico Pellegrino, Italy 0.06 ,0, 8) Mattis Stenshagen, Norway 0.08,7, 9) Iivo Niskanen, Finland 0.13,4, 10) William Poromaa, Sweden 0.28,3.
Other Norwegians: 11) Edvard Sandvik 0.28,7, 15) Erik Valnes 0.46,3, 21) Andreas Ree 1.53,4, 23) Sjur Røthe 1.57,0, 26) Martin Kirkeberg Mørk 2.09,1, 51) Simen Hegstad Krüger 13.45 ,7.
World Cup combined (32 of 36 races): 1) Amundsen 2279, 2) Klæbo 2058, 3) Valnes 1864, 4) Golberg 1739, 5) Friedrich Moch, Germany 1178, 6) Nyenget 1174, 7) Mika Vermeulen, Austria 1108, 8) Pellegrino 1081, 9) Hugo Lapalus, France 1051, 10) Calle Halfvarsson, Sweden 1017.
Other Norwegians (top 30): 16) Krüger 875, 22) Håvard Solås Taugbøl 761, 23) Tønseth 718, 28) Jan Thomas Jenssen 637.
Distance Cup (20 of 22 races): 1) Amundsen 1364, 2) Golberg 1204, 3) Klæbo 1074, 4) Nyenget 919, 5) Moch 889, 6) Krüger 862, 7) Andrew Musgrave, Great Britain 859, 8) Vermeulen 851 , 9) Valnes 796, 10) Lapalus 781.
Other Norwegians (top 30): 12) Tønseth 718, 20) Jenssen 472, 24) Stenshagen 378, 29) Iver Andersen 309.
Sea view
After Saturday’s folk festival during the women’s 50 km, TV 2’s cross-country expert Petter Northug was disappointed by the small number of people on the trail in Holmenkollen on Sunday.
– It was very disappointing and boring for my cross-country heart when I walked around the track today. There were terribly few people on Frognerseteren, and generally few people around the trail. We don’t want that when it’s only five miles here in Oslo. It looked like a tired nachspiel, Northug said.
READY MESSAGE: Frida Karlsson delivered a magnificent race and won in Holmenkollen, but after the race she received a clear message from the crown prince. Video: Løkås/Haarstad Show more
– Cursed
Mattis Stenshagen believes he had the power to win in Holmenkollen, but a fall and two pole breaks ruined the opportunity. Afterwards he was almost devastated.
Stenshagen hung with the close group all the way in, but had to settle for eighth place in the last hundred meters. With that, he was only the sixth best Norwegian runner.
– Right now I’m so damn pissed off at myself. I want to claim that I had the day of my life in the ski track, and then I crash out on the second round and break both one and two poles, said a hugely disappointed Stenshagen to TV 2.
– It’s days like this that you dream about, and the five-mile is in my world one of the biggest races in cross-country skiing. Then I manage to destroy it by sniffing. It will sting for both two and three years, he continued.
The fall and pole breaks meant that he had to use a lot of effort to get back up to the top. It ruined the possibility of a podium.
AT THE FIVE MILE: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
Never happened before
Alongside a couple of Norwegian runners, the Swedish duo William Poromaa and Jens Burman, as well as the Finnish classical expert Iivo Niskanen and the Italian Federico Pellegrino, were at the front.
Klæbo has not previously managed to crack the five-mile code in Kollen. Before Sunday’s race, seventh place from last year was Trønder’s best position. In 2020 it was 15th place.
At the same time, 27-year-old Klæbo has walked five miles in Kollen only five times.
Trønder is second overall in the World Cup behind Harald Østberg Amundsen.
Facts: These went for Norway
- Harald Østberg Amundsen
- Paul Golberg
- Johannes Høsflot Klæbo
- Simen Hegstad Krüger
- Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget
- Erik Valnes
- Didrik Tønseth
- Mattis Stenshagen
- Martin Kirkeby Mørk
- Andreas Fjorden Ree
- Edvard Sandvik
- Sjur Røthe
Sea view