Klaebo cruises to 66th World Cup win in grandfather's hometown Tallinn (EST): 'Feels a like a home court'

While many skiers may look forward to a well-earned rest as the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup season comes to an end this weekend, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Kristine Stavaas Skistad look like they would have wanted it to last for longer.

The Norwegian sprint aces had won two consecutive sprint races over the past week and continued to show the same fine form on Tuesday, claiming the first places in the men's and women's sprint free in an evening race in Tallinn, Estonia.

Klaebo claimed his 66th World Cup victory on a course that makes it extra special for the overall World Cup No.1.

"It was amazing," he said.

"This feels like a little bit like a home court. My grandpa lives here in Tallinn so I really wanted to go fast today and it's special having him here watching me as well. That's a cool feeling."

France's Lucas Chavanat had the best qualification time, but only 0.06 second before Klaebo, who went on to win the quarter-, semifinal and final, all races with the French 28-year-old in second place. Norway's Even Northug finished third.

In the final, Sweden's Edvin Anger and Chavanat took the two first spots in the and forced Klaebo to push to the front midway through the race instead of saving himself for a sprint finish. In only a few seconds, Klaebo had got himself a seven-metre gap to Chavanat and Anger and could cruise past the finish line 2.62 seconds before Chavanat.

"It's a lot of fun. These city sprints are very challenging, especially with all those spectators on the sideline," Klaebo said.

"It was a tough (final). I tried to save a lot of energy for the final today and that worked out quite well."

Northug won the sprint against Anger to claim the last podium spot just over a second after the Frenchman, denying the 20-year-old Swede a career-first individual World Cup top-three finish by 0.10 second.

In the women's sprints, Olympic champion Jonna Sundling from Sweden had been strongest in the qualifiers, winning her quarter- and semifinal before taking charge of the final. Sundling set off at a fierce pace but Skistad followed, chased by World Cup sprint No.1 Nadine Faehndrich from Switzerland.

The trio broke away from the rest of the field, Sundling digging deep with Skistad right on her tail until the final stretch. There, the Norwegian 24-year-old was the strongest, beating Sundling to the win for the third consecutive time since last Tuesday.

"It's very good (to beat Sundling again, I'm very happy," she said after finishing 0.13 second before the Swede.

"It was fun, lot of people (watching along the streets) so lot of fun."

The third World Cup triumph in a row was the fourth in her career.

"It was a nice course so I'm happy."

For Faehndrich, who was 2.33 seconds behind Skistad, the fourth podium finish this season could be an important one as the World Cup season concludes with competitions in Lahti, Finland, this weekend.

She extended her lead to be 22 points ahead of runner-up Maja Dahlqvist from Sweden in the top of the sprint World Cup rankings, with one sprint race left to decide the crystal globe winner. Dahlqvist had to settle for a seventh-place after failing to make it to Tuesday's final.

In the final push for a top spot in the overall, distance and sprint rankings this weekend, the World Cup ends with team sprints free on Friday, sprints classic on Saturday and 20km mass starts classic on Sunday.

Click here for full results from the women's sprint final free and here for full results from the men's sprint final free.