‘Amazing’ Amundsen (NOR) lays down marker in Ruka 20km mass start

Harald Oestberg Amundsen clearly isn’t going to give up the Crystal Globe without a fight. Last season’s overall World Cup champion following up his second place in Friday's 10K by winning a thrilling 20km Freestyle Mass Start in Ruka to take the overall lead in the 2024/25 standings after the type of consistent weekend of racing we have come to expect from the 26-year-old.

Despite light snow and cloudy skies as the race began, these were near-perfect conditions for cross-country skiing in northern Finland with temperatures well below zero meaning the packed snow barely broke up on a technical 5km course whose main feature was a long climb coming out of the stadium section followed immediately by a fast downhill.

And there was excitement before the race even began with news that the undisputed star of men’s cross country, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), was feeling unwell and decided not to race. That continued into the race as a white rabbit ran onto the course, appearing to set the pace for much of the first lap.

Home favourite Iivo Niskanen, buoyed by winning the 10km Classic on Friday, made the early running, taking 15 bonus points to lead at the halfway stage but he soon began to suffer as Norway’s powerful contingent – which included last year’s winner, Jan Thomas Jenssen – began to take control.

It wasn’t until the halfway stage, though, that the field start to spread out, the relatively flat nature of the course allowing the competitors to bunch up. Amundsen, Jenssen, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, Andreas Fjorden Ree and Simen Hegstad Krueger (all NOR) each attempted to make a break, only to be reeled in by the chasing pack.

At the start of the last lap, however, the Norwegians – unmistakable in their snowflake-design ski suits, new for this season – began to apply the pressure. They didn’t have it all their own way, though. After Krueger hit the front at the final hairpin, Austria’s Mika Vermeulen, who claimed his first World Cup podium towards the end of last season, attempted to crash the Norwegian party.

In the end, Vermeulen had to make do with fourth, as Amundsen burst clear coming round the final corner, collapsing to the snow as he crossed the line to claim his fifth World Cup victory and 12^th podium since this race last season. When he finally got to his feet, he let out a scream of delight as he saluted the crowd.

“It was really hard but I had more energy at the finish than I thought I would have,” he said. “I saw that Jan Thomas [Jenssen] was behind me and I knew that this was going to be a tough finish but I had a lot of power and it was so nice to beat Jan in a sprint.”

“It’s unbelievable to start the season like this. It’s so much better than I expected. When you cross the finish line first, you don’t believe it in the beginning but now it’s actually occurred to me that I won so it’s very nice.”

Jensen beat Nyenget to second with Ree and Krueger making up the top six behind Vermeulen. After a difficult weekend, there was better news for the USA men’s team with Zanden McMullen and Gus Schumacher coming seventh and eighth respectively; French pair Mathis Desloges and Jules Lapierre made up the top ten.

The FIS Cross-Country World Cup season continues on 6 December in Lillehammer, Norway with the Men’s and Women’s 10km Freestyle.

To watch all the action, click here

For the full results from Ruka, click here

Facts & figures

• This was Jessie Diggins’ first victory in Ruka after she came second in the 20km last season. Heidi Weng claimed her fifth podium in Ruka where she has never won.

• Therese Johaug will have to wait for her 83^rd World Cup win. She is now three behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who won the men’s sprint on Saturday.

• No woman made the podium more than once on the opening weekend with four different Swedish women and four from Norway finishing in the top three.

• Norway’s men have claimed all but four of the 24 podium places available since the sprint in Lahti in March. Finland have claimed the other four, two each for Iivo Niskanen and Lauri Vuorinen.

• The World Cup returns to Lillehammer on December 6 after not featuring on the calendar in 2023/24, replacing Trondheim, which will host the world championships in February/March.