Krueger cruises solo to first win of the season after 'almost perfect race'

Simen Hegstad Krueger claimed his first Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup victory this season as he won the men's 15km mass start free in Canmore, Canada on Friday, racing almost half the distance by himself.

The Norwegian 30-year-old switched on a turbo speed in the beginning of lap three of four, leaving the rest of the field behind for the rest of the race.

Having had a lead of more than 23 seconds coming into the last lap, the distance ranking No.3 could relax and cruise alone to his 10th World Cup victory.

"It was almost a perfect race for me today," Krueger said after finishing 9.8 seconds before teammate Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) in second place as Austria's Mika Vermeulen completed the podium.

It was his first World Cup victory since the 50km free in Oslo, Norway, in March last year.

Krueger said he had used the frustration over the race having changed from a 10km individual start to a 15km mass start as fuel.

"I tried to use that energy to make it as tough of a race as possible and when I got the gap halfway down I figured this was my chance," he said.

"I just had to do what I could, but the last laps were tough. I feared that I'd used a little too much energy earlier there but luckily the gap was big enough."

In the 20km mass start free in Goms, Switzerland, in the end of January, Krueger had shaken off everyone but sprint specialist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), who needed little effort to edge past his teammate on the home straight to take the first place.

This time Krueger had been determined to get rid of all competitors before he had to face them in a sprint.

"In a sprint against a lot of the guys I won't be on the top, so I had to figure out how to use my strengths, he said.

"Today I figured that (going fast) up the hill once, maybe one guy could follow, but if I'd do it two times, not that many can follow. So that was somehow the plan today; to go hard. And when you go for it you can't look back.

"You know that the guys at the back are also struggling, so you just have to keep up the spirit, do what you do best. Those times that you succeed it is a really good feeling."

The two-time Olympic gold medallist and the current 15km individual world champion had initially planned to make his move in the last lap. But when he realised no-one was following he decided he would go for it in lap three.

"I managed to ski around the field down in the stadium. When I got to the front I thought that 'maybe I can wait until the last lap, but then perhaps suddenly I won't have the same position and can't use my strength'," he said.

"So when I got the first position I just thought that I'd go for it and see how many people who could follow. Luckily everyone was a little bit tired there so it was an amazing feeling to get the first win of the season here in Canmore. When you look back at the last hill and see that you've got enough seconds, that's an amazing feeling."

Overall World Cup No.1 Amundsen won a tight battle for second place to extend his lead in the rankings to 375 points before runner-up Erik Valnes (NOR).

"It was tough, it's a really hard course on high altitude with really steep uphill sections," he said.

"I'm really satisfied with that second place, Simen was stronger than me today. I just tried to be in a good position for the sprint in the last lap and to the finish so a second place is perfect."

Happiest after crossing the finish line, however, was Vermeulen. He beat fourth-placed Friedrich Moch (GER) by 0.8 second to claim the first podium of his career, screaming of happiness about the milestone achievement.

"It was not an easy track, it's very hard but that's what I like. The maiden podium, I'm super stoked and that's what you work for," said the 24-year-old Austrian who made his 51st World Cup start.

In the second lap, he was the one who had tried to break away from the field but got dragged back in as the chasing group caught up.

"I was just thinking that I'll just try to go fast up the hill because otherwise we're just going to get fast sprinters like Klaebo a free lift to the finish and I thought 'let's not do that'," Vermeulen said.

"Then I somehow ended up alone and started hating myself for it. I was like 'this is a very bad idea'. But then you're kind of too far ahead to go back."

It was around the time that he was pulled back into the field that Krueger copied his move with more success, disappearing into the snowy landscape in front of the rest of the front group.

"He passed me first and he was just so brutally hard. I tried to go with him but there was just no chance that I was going to go with him," Vermeulen said.

"I just tried to survive in the group for a bit to get some oxygen back to the muscles, and the good thing was that in the last lap, everyone was down to race. It didn't matter how much you'd invested or not, and it turned out I wasn't as tired as other people."

Also part of the group of six chasers behind Krueger were Sweden's Jens Burman, who got the fifth-place, Jules Lapierre (FRA) who was sixth and Jules Chappaz (FRA) in seventh place.

Krueger became the seventh Norwegian men's skier to have won a distance race this season. Overall No.2 Erik Valnes had to settle for 26th place as last year's Crystal Globe winner Klaebo finished 15th.

The World Cup action in Canmore continues on Saturday with men's and women's freestyle sprints.

Click here for full results from the men's 15km mass start free.

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