Klaebo 'finally' wins the 50km in Oslo: 'I've been waiting for this'

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) has won almost everything in Cross-Country skiing. On Sunday, however, the 27-year-old claimed a new landmark victory as he won the men's 50km Mass Start Classic at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Oslo, Norway, for the first time.

Klaebo made a perfect race in front of thousands of exciting Cross-Country fans at the iconic Holmenkollen stadium, picking up a total of 85 sprint bonus points along the way before crossing the line first in a Norwegian display of dominance.

The host nation's Martin Loewstroem Nyenget finished second and Paal Golberg claimed the third place as Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Didrik Toenseth, fourth and fifth respectively, completed top-five clean sweep.

"Finally I won a 50k, which is something I've been waiting for for a bit," said Klaebo, who finished in two hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds.

In the longest race of the season, a front group of 10 skiers stayed together until the very last kilometre of the race, where anything could happen.

However, when the world's best sprinter is in the lead group, it is hard to get past him in the end. Golberg, who won the 20km Mass Start Classic in Canmore, Canada, in February, before Klaebo, is one of few who have succeeded.

This time, however, Klaebo refused to miss the opportunity, making sure to be in front of the pack with 400m left to race. Coming into the stadium, the 27-year-ol pushed away from the rest with his strong double poling and took his 12th victory this season, 0.4 second before Nyenget and 1.1 second before Golberg.

"It feels amazing," Klaebo said.

"I just wanted to come first in the last part here because I have lost two sprints against Paal now, I tried to be first this time so it was really fun.

"I don't think the pace was that high during the race but at the end you're getting tired and I'm just really satisfied by being the first."

The Norwegian king of Cross-Country got to climb up to the royal concrete box at Holmenkollen, where he was heard telling Norway's crown prince Haakon that "it wasn't that tough, it was pretty calm in the first four rounds but in the end it is tough."

There is still a long way to climb for Klaebo to be crowned the overall champion this season. The last two seasons' Crystal Globe winner has struggled with illness and missed several important competitions, including the Tour de Ski, as the overall leader Amundsen has kept an unmatched consistency throughout the winter.

During the 50km race, Klaebo had made sure to pick up as many sprint bonus points as possible, earning an impressive total of 85 extra points of the maximal 90.

With Tuesday's sprints in Drammen, Norway, and two distance races in Falun, Sweden, left of the season, however, Amundsen still leads the overall standings by 202 points before the defending champion.

For Nyenget, who won the race in 2022, it was the third consecutive Holmenkollen podium at the event.

"I'm very happy with my day," he said.

He and Finland's Iivo Niskanen had made a push to break up the pack in the third lap but not managed to shake anyone off.

"I tried to be there to speed it up a little bit in the third lap, together with Iivo. We broke it broke up a little but then there came a bit of snow on the tracks and that slows it down for the people in the front with the most speed," he said.

"So then I save it for later. I know that the 50km sprint finishes are pretty tough and that I am pretty good at them if I can dare to save energy for it.

"It's good to dare to try something, but it is also good to have some different plans for a race like this. It shows as I've finished on the podium in this race several times now, which is very good."

Golberg, who is fourth in the overall World Cup standings by a margin of more than 500 points down to No.5 Nyenget, had beaten Klaebo the last two times they had come into a sprint finish together. He accepted that it did not happen this time.

"It would've been too much to beat Klaebo in three such sprints in a row," the 33-year-old said.

"It was a tough battle today and I didn't have enough power left in the home straight."

Sweden's Jens Burman in sixth place was the best non-Norwegian. The 29-year-old tried to break up the pack in the last two of the six laps but did not manage to break away from the likes of Klaebo, 50km world champion Golberg and Nyenget.

Behind him, sprint ace Federico Pellegrino made a strong race to claim the seventh place – a career-best for the Italian 33-year-old who was 10th in the event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, last year, where Klaebo finished second behind Golberg.

Mattis Stenshagen (NOR) claimed the eighth place 8.7 seconds behind Klaebo to make if six Norwegians among the 10 best skiers, as Niskanen, who had looked strong in the beginning of the race, finished ninth, 13.4 seconds from the winner.

Sweden's William Poromaa had been part of the front group but fallen behind in the last kilometre, having to sprint it out with Edvard Sandvik (NOR) to finish among the best 10, 0.4 of a second before the Norwegian 22-year-old.

Most emotional after the race was Maurice Manificat from France, who finished 47th. The French team gathered by the finish line to honour the 37-year-old as he bid farewell to the World Cup where he has been competing since 2006.

The four-time Olympic bronze medallist, with 250 World Cup competitions to his name, had tears in his eyes as he signed off an impressive career on the tour, sprayed by champagne by his teammates.

Click here for full results from the men's 50km Mass Start Classic.

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