Falun double for Finland as Niskanen wins 10km: 'A dream'

Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) made sure to end the 2023/24 Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup season on a high as she won the Women's 10km Interval Start Classic in Falun, Sweden, on Saturday.

On a big day for Finnish Cross-Country skiing, the 35-year-old classic specialist claimed her third victory this season as her teammate Johanna Matintalo (FIN) took the second place with the best result of her career, before Sweden's Jonna Sundling, who finished third.

"I really wanted to do it here," Niskanen said.

"The last classic race and 10km individual start, so this was a dream."

As many skiers struggled in the tough conditions in the central-Swedish town, with heavy wet snow and strong winds, it did not seem to be an obstacle to the experienced Finnish team.

"It was difficult conditions but our skis worked well," Niskanen said.

"I love skiing with no wax skis, it's good for my technique so it was really nice to make the race today."

Clinching the eighth World Cup victory of her career, all but one having come in the 10km distance, Niskanen was happy to have Matintalo with her on the podium to celebrate a Finnish one-two.

"This is amazing, I think it's the first time in my career (to share a podium with a Finnish skier). It's really amazing," she said.

Matintalo, with start number 25, had made a well-paced race and surprised many as she crossed the finish line with a lead of one minute and 20 seconds.

The 27-year-old, from Rovaniemi in northern Finland, could then enjoy herself in the leader's chair as many of the favourites struggled in the difficult conditions on Falun's course that includes a grueling climb up the infamous "killer hill".

"It was so exciting to sit in the leader's chair and wait for the other girls to come to the finish. I was like 'oh my God, this can't be happening, that girl after girl is coming and finishing behind me," Matintalo said.

It was only Niskanen, with start number 44, who could match her times. The Finn stormed through the course at a high pace and was beating Matintalo by more than 16 seconds at the 7.7km mark. She slowed down a bit in the last kilometre but could secure the win 4.2 seconds faster than her teammate.

"Of course I knew that Kerttu was coming really fast, but it was super cool when she came," said Matintalo, whose previously best individual result this season had been a fifth-place in the 20km Classic in Lahti, Finland.

She had finished second with Krista Parmakoski (FIN) in the Women's Team Sprint Classic in Lahti on 1 March and has four relay podiums to her name, but individually her best results had been two sprint third places from 2022. Climbing one more step on the podium – for the first time in a distance race – however, she was aware that the next step had been within reach too.

"She didn't beat me that much, It was just four seconds, and of course I thought that the win was so close for me, but in the end it was a super nice feeling to share the podium and to have a double win with my teammate," Matintalo said. 

"It was the first double win for our team, at least on the women's side, in at least 16 years, so it was quite special. It was my first distance podium after those two sprint podiums. That was really special too. 

"It meant a lot for me and it meant a lot for our team, that the two of us, with Kerttu, managed to get this good result and get a double win."

Sundling, who had finished third in Friday's sprint, showed an impressive consistency in the distance racing too as she bagged her second podium finish in two days in front of the home fans.

The 29-year-old Swede, who finished 10 seconds after the winner, beat No.4 Teresa Stadlober by 2.9 seconds to bag the second distance podium of her career after her 10km Free win in Minneapolis, USA, in February.

It was the third fourth place for Stadlober this winter. The Austrian has finished in the top-five four times but never made it to the podium as one 20km Free race on Sunday remains of the season.

Apart from Sundling, the home team had a tough day as distance aces Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson were from the top positions and Linn Svahn, who is chasing Jessie Diggins (USA) in the overall standings, had to settle for an 18th place.

Diggins made a solid performance and finished fifth, substantially extending her gap down to Svahn with one race left to go. The American 32-year-old, who beat sixth-placed Victoria Carl (GER) by just over three seconds, completely emptied herself and spent a while lying in the snow after crossing the finish line, as she storms towards her second overall Crystal Globe.

Heidi Weng (NOR) was best Norwegian in seventh place as Andersson ha to settle for an eighth place. No.9 Krista Parmakoski made it three Finnish skiers in the top-10, where Katharina Hennig claimed the 10th place.

Click here for full results from the Women's 10km Interval Start Classic.

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