Amundsen wins 20km in Toblach to keep Tour de Ski title dreams alive
Dec 31, 2024·Cross-Country
Reigning Tour de Ski champion Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) proved he is not giving up his crown without a fight by winning the 20km Interval Start Freestyle in Toblach, Italy on Tuesday.
The 2023/24 FIS Cross-Country World Cup champion and current leader, Amundsen showed his distance-racing credentials by blowing away a stellar field in perfect conditions in the South Tyrol region near the Austrian border, including his compatriot and main rival Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR).
King Harald conquers course of two halves
Cross-country skiing legend Petter Northug summed up the Toblach 20km layout perfectly when he said: “The first 10 kilometres will be pretty tough, the second 10K will be pretty fast.”
Indeed, this is a course of two distinct halves: uphill out of the stadium and through the valley into the woods, downhill on the way back. And while there were bonus points on offer for the opening 2.1km, the first half was set up perfectly for the climbers and distance specialists, while the long downhill back second half offered more for the sprinters – should they have any energy left in the tank.
Tour de Ski leader Klaebo certainly seemed to be holding back in the first half of the race. Already the winner of five World Cups this season, the cross-country superstar was 46th fastest after 2.1 kilometres and still 20.6 seconds off the pace at the 5.6km mark.
Amundsen, meanwhile, seemed determined to make up ground after he started the race in eighth place on the Tour, more than a minute behind Klaebo.
He took 10 bonus points in the first 5.6km and hit the 10.6km checkpoint 5.1s faster than anybody else. “I was looking to be fast from the very beginning and maybe the opening was a little bit too hard,” Amundsen said. “But I was able to adjust during the race and from the top – 10K and down – I was quite fast and had a lot of energy.”
Indeed, by 15.6km, the lead had stretched to 17.2s over second place. He eventually crossed the line in 44 minutes, 5.3 seconds, 21.2 seconds ahead of Simen Hegstad Krueger in second place and, most tellingly, 46.4s faster than Klaebo, who would nevertheless have been satisfied with fifth place in what is not his strongest format after he was eighth at the 10.6km mark and 7th at 15.6km.
“Just an incredible race for me – a beautiful course and the track was amazing,” Amundsen said. “It was really hard but I enjoyed fighting alone for myself.
Krueger’s powerful burst over the last two kilometres have him second place, 7.2 seconds ahead of Andrew Musgrave (GBR).
“It was a good race, tough race, really cool kind of race with this track,” Krueger said after his second podium of the season. “I think it’s really cool that we have a little bit different kind of racing on the Tour. I’m really satisfied with second place; I was hoping to fight for the victory but hats off to Harald who was completely superior today; in his own league – so kudos to him.”
Musgrave, meanwhile, was “happy with a podium” but “would have liked to have been closer to Harald”. “But that’s the way it goes,” the 34-year-old said. "I’ll try and catch him tomorrow.”
Amundsen jumps to second in the Tour de Ski standings behind Klaebo, whose lead has been cut from 34 seconds to 16 seconds in what now looks like a two-horse race.
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