Twice triumphant Klaebo bounces back to glory in Goms

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo made it two victories in two races at the Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup in Goms, Switzerland, as he won the men's 20km mass start free with a strong finish on Sunday.

Pushing past compatriot Simen Hegstad Krueger in the home straight to complete the one-two, Saturday's sprint winner showed he is also back in fine form when it comes distance racing. France's Jules Lapierre finished third.

"It was so much fun racing there, with the weather and the conditions, it was so nice," said the 27-year-old Norwegian superstar, who had missed Tour de Ski due to an illness.

"Now I can hopefully stay healthy for the rest of the season so that I'll be able to finish it off in a good way."

Apart from at the sprint checkpoints, at the 9.5km and 14.5km mark, where he won to pick up the maximum of 30 bonus points, Klaebo stayed in the front group but rarely in the first position.

Instead, it was Krueger who took command and started to stretch the field out in the last 5km lap. In the last two kilometres, the Norwegian 30-year-old turned up his pace even more and managed to shake off all competitors – apart from Klaebo.

"I felt really strong today as well so from the very start I just hoped that the pace was going to increase," Klaebo said.

"Then Simen was attacked a little in the last lap and I was like 'yes, now I need to follow, that's for sure'."

With one of the greatest sprinters of all time chasing him, Krueger knew that it was going to be tough to keep his lead until the finish line. When Klaebo switched his turbo speed on, his teammate could not respond.

A few seconds after putting his foot on the gas, Klaebo could slow down and celebrate his victory before cruising across the line.

"I managed to get rid of all competitors but one, and he was difficult to deal with. I know how it usually goes when I sprint against him," said Krueger, who crossed the line 0.7 seconds after the winner.

Behind them, Lapierre won a tight battle for the last spot on the podium, beating overall World Cup leader Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) in fourth place by 1.5 second.

The Frenchman, who crossed the line 12 seconds behind Klaebo, landed the third World Cup podium of his career, the only one not to come at Tour de Ski's final climb, and celebrated accordingly with his team.

Germany's Friedrich Moch finished fifth and Paal Golberg (NOR) sixth. Behind them, 21-year-old Elia Barp from Italy got the best individual World Cup result of his career with his seventh place.

As the best cross-country skiers in the world get a well-deserved rest to prepare for the competition to return to North America on 9 February, Amundsen keeps the yellow bib as the leader of the overall rankings. He increased the gap to runner-up Erik Valnes (NOR), who did not compete on Sunday, and No.3 Golberg.

With a successful weekend in Switzerland, fourth-placed Klaebo got closer to the top. With 13 of the season's 34 races remaining, however, the four-time overall winner does not expect to catch up on Amundsen, who is 487 points ahead.

"To be honest, I don't think so," said Klaebo, who has missed much of the season due to health problems.

"I think it's still too far but I'm just glad that the shape is back to normal and that I am able to win races again."

Click here for full results from the men's 20km mass start free.

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