Johannes Høsflot Klæbo levels up Sprint F
Dec 03, 2021·Cross-Country
The FIS Cross-Country Sprint experts found out how to tackle the new challenge with racing on an different course profile. All up front, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) set the fastest times of the day all the way from qualification to the finals. Competition was high and his fellow podium winners of today, Thomas Helland Larsen (NOR) and Richard Jouve (FRA) remained on the heels of the 25 year-young Norwegian superstar. Larsen, who only participated at his 3rd World Cup race – but got a chance to compete thanks to the national quota of Norway - already chased Klæbo in the quarter finals and qualified. In the so called “lucky looser” position (4th place in the fastest heat) of the semi finals, Larson qualified further and faced Klæbo, Jouve, Håvard Solås Taugbøl (NOR), Lauri Vuorinen (FIN) and Marcus Grate (SWE) in the finals.
In the finals, the final move happened when Richard Jouve fired up when heading back into the stadium and the long U-turn curve towards the finish line. Larsen followed along and Klæbo took his chance to step into pole position, which brought him the victory.
With a third place, Richard Jouve ended his strong competition on the podium but still seemed not to be satisfied only with his final result: “I tried to win today and I was in very good shape, but Klæbo is too strong. It is very difficult to win when he is here. The level is very high as it’s an Olympic year.”
