Klaebo brings Norway to relay victory in 10-team thriller finish

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo brought Norway’s first team to the victory in the men's 4x7.5km relay classic/free at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Oberhof, Germany on Sunday as the tight race was decided in the last metres.

The sprint expert, who had been forced to miss the 2023/24 Tour de Ski due to a flu, had struggled in the individual races in his World Cup comeback weekend.

However, after finishing seventh in Friday’s sprint, having to settle for a 17th place in the 20km mass start, Klaebo got to end his Oberhof campaign on top of the podium.

The 27-year-old and his teammates Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, Erik Valnes and Paal Golberg, beat runners-up Italy by 0.1 second as Norway II grabbed the third place 0.8 second behind the winners.

"It felt OK," Klaebo said.

"I think we all struggled a little bit with finding our positions, with the wind today and everything, but it was fun racing out there."

The windy conditions, with lots of powder snow getting on the tracks, made it difficult for any team to break away from the rest of the pack.

"It was hard with the windy conditions today but it was OK for me and it was so interesting to see the last guys doing the last sprint," Nyenget said.

Coming into the last 600m of the race, 10 skiers were within four seconds of each other, with Norway II’s Mattis Stenshagen in the front, followed by Klaebo and Italy’s sprint master Federico Pellegrino.

In the final 200m, Klaebo showed why he is arguably the best cross-country finisher of all time as he edged past Stenshagen to take the first place. Pellegrino followed his move and clinched the second place as Stenshagen, who had finished fourth in the 20km mass start on Saturday, had to settle for the third place.

"When we were 10 skiers there it was a little bit more fun and a little more fighting, I think that was fun," Klaebo said.

Golberg had started the second half of the race, consisting of 15km freestyle, next to Finland’s Arsi Ruuskanen in the front with a 10-second gap down to the rest of the field. However, the chase group, including world and Olympic champion Simen Hegstad Krueger in Norway’s second team, quickly caught up with them.

"Suddenly we were 10 skiers," Golbereg said, happy to have handed it over to Klaebo in the anchor leg.

"Watching the last leg was horrible but we have a good man there so it was nice for him to get some confidence today."

Pellegrino, who finished the job that Dietmar Noeckler, Elia Barp and Simone Dapra had started, said Italy’s plan had been to stay together wth the front group "for as long as we could".

The tactic had also worked out for Italy II, where Giandomenico Salvadori, Alessandro Chiocchetti and Davide Graz had set up Simone Mocellini to fight for the podium in the last stretch.

"In case of a final with a big group for sure it was a pretty good situation for us due to the fact that we were two quite fast guys, me and Mocellini, in the last leg," Pellegrino said.

"It was a good opportunity and I knew that there were only two guys who had anything to lose – Klaebo and I – so I tried to stay out of trouble and wait until the final part.

"For sure we tried to go a good duel, and as it has happened many times, Klaebo was faster than me. We are both not in the best sprint shape but I think we put on quite a good show."

Pellegrino, one of few to ever have beaten Klaebo in a sprint race, was OK with the second place. It was 21-year-old Barp's first World Cup podium finish.

"It would’ve been better to be in the first position but I can understand that sometimes it can happen that somebody, in this case the fastest cross-country skier ever, can be faster than me," the 33-year-old said.

"So I have to give my compliments to Klaebo, learn the lesson and try again in the future, as in the past it has been possible to beat him. I never start a race without that hope."

Mocellini brought Italy II to a fourth place before fifth-placed Finland, less than a second behind Stenshagen, Krueger, Didrik Toenseth and Harvard Solaas Taugboel in Norway II. France finished sixth as Sweden, who were No.2 after Norway in December’s relay in Gaellivare, Sweden, had to settle for a seventh place, 2.5 seconds after the winners.

Click here for full results from the men's 4x7.5km relay classic/free.

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