Karlsson wins 20km mass start in Canmore after head-to-head battle with Niskanen

Frida Karlsson (SWE) won her first Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup race in more than a year when she claimed the victory in the women's 20km mass start classic in Oberhof, Germany, on 20 January.

On Sunday, she was back on top of the podium 22 days later, winning the same event in Canmore, Canada, after a tight sprint battle with runner-up Kerttu Niskanen (FIN). Heidi Weng (NOR) finished third.

"I felt good, it was high speed from the start so there were a lot of stiff legs in the end but I'm so happy with today's race," Karlsson said.

With 6km left to race, six skiers were left in the front group, with Karlsson and Niskanen looking most energised on the high altitude.

In the last 3km, the duo broke away, leaving Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR), Weng, Ebba Andersson (SWE) and Theresa Stadlober (AUT) behind.

"My only focus was to keep up with Kerttu who was really, really strong today, so I felt pretty good," Karlsson said.

"I felt like if I would have her back, then it's good to be two when there's so much downhill in the end. I felt like both of us were going side to side, it was a real fight there which was cool."

The Nordic duo went neck and neck coming into the final stretch. There, Karlsson had a little more left in the tank and showed her strong double-poling as she sprinted to the victory. The Swedish 24-year-old started her last push early and managed to keep the pace for the remainder of the race. She finished 1.6 seconds before Niskanen, denying the Finnish veteran a third distance win this season.

"We just wanted to go hard from the start but I'm glad that I had a little bit spared for the finish," Karlsson said.

"This is a good course. It is rare that it is so tough with the uphills that we have here, it's fun to ski when people are really tired."

The victory also meant that Karlsson got one of the white cowboy hats that the top-three finishers in Canmore are given.

"Finally," Karlsson said, revealing that her plan B had been to steal one from Saturday's Swedish sprint runner-up Maja Dahlqvist.

"I was about to take Maja's yesterday, but now I got my own."

Niskanen, who had triumphed in the 10km classic in Toblach (ITA) and Davos (SUI) this season, was also happy to get a hat and a podium finish.

"I had a hard race with Frida. We were two who are strong in the uphill so I knew that it would be a hard end to this race," the 35-year-old said.

"I did a lot of work. I wanted to ski with good speed at the top. I'm happy that I'm at the podium."

She rated the course in Canmore as one of the best on the World Cup tour.

"I rally like classic races and the 20km are the best for me. My sprints are not so good but I will do all races here," said Niskanen, who is one of few on the tour to have competed at the last Canmore World Cup in 2016.

"We enjoy really nice tracks and really nice people around us, so I want to do all."

Behind Karlsson and Niskanen, Weng and Slind fought a similar battle for the third place. Weng finished 0.3 second before her teammate to claime the last podium spot, 8.1 seconds after the winner.

"It was good until the last uphill. Then I was very stiff so it was hard from there to the finish line," Weng said.

She got a first and a second place in Canmore in 2016 and has so far got two podium finishes as the World Cup returns to the Canadian mountain village after eight years.

"I like this track and I have very good experiences from this course. I think that it gave me some power because I know that it's a good course for me. I'm very happy today," she said.

Andersson finished fifth 13.7 seconds after Karlsson, with more than 17 seconds down to sixth-placed Stadlober.

Overall World Cup leader Jessie Diggins (USA) had to settle for a 10th place, half a second behind overall No.2 Linn Svahn (SWE) who finished ninth.

The World Cup action in Canmore takes a one-day break on Monday before concluding with the sprint classic on Tuesday.

Click here for the full results from the women's 20km mass start classic.

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