Mass Start master Golberg wins final battle before World Championships

The last time Paal Golberg (NOR) stood on top of an individual Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup podium was in Canmore, Canada, on 11 February 2024, after winning the Men's 20km Mass Start Classic.

One year and five days later, the 34-year-old did it again as he claimed the victory in the Men's 20km Mass Start Free in Falun, Sweden, on Sunday.

In the last World Cup race before the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships kicks off in Trondheim, Norway, in 10 days, Golberg edged Gus Schumacher (USA) to take the win and add plenty of confidence ahead of this season's main event on home snow. Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) finished in third place.

"It was fun," said Golberg, who has also won two Team Sprints since his Canmore triumph.

"It went pretty fast the first two laps and then it slowed down. I just had to try to stay in the front to not fall off and we had good skis today."

The last battle before the World Championships was not an easy one and Norway duo Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Erik Valnes, who had made it onto two podiums in two days this weekend, decided to skip it and save energy for Trondheim.

The Falun course has a total length of 21,660 meters, consisting of about 900 meters of climb. In five laps around a 4km track, the skiers had to face the gruesome 'Murder hill' five times and it was in the steep uphill section that the main group shrunk every lap.

Coming into the last loop, the front pack consisted of 15 skiers, but after the last climb up the Murder hill, they were six. 

Going for a first World Cup podium, Andreas Fjorden Ree (NOR) broke away in the long downhill stretch with Schumacher after him. Behind them, Amundsen, Golberg, Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) and Mika Vermeulen (AUT) chased after as the long Mass Start was to be decided in the home straight.

In Canmore last year, Golberg had come into the final stretch side by side with the best sprinter in the world, Klaebo, and won. This time, he made a push past Ree and Schumacher that no-one could respond to.

In a tight finish, Golberg crossed the line 0.3 of a second before Schumacher, Amundsen securing a podium spot 0.9 second behind the winner as Ree, who had done a hard work trying to tear up the front group around the course, had to settle for the fourth place, 2.3 seconds after Golberg.

After the race, the winner took the chance to point out that this was also a victory over the overall World Cup leader Klaebo, who has been a dominant figure in Cross-Country skiing over the past eight years.

"I got (wins in) the Sprint Free, the Sprint Classic, Individual Skate and Individual Classic and now Mass Start Skate and Mass Start classic. He misses that Individual Skate, so, good luck, Johannes."

Krueger had been in the lead coming into the last lap and carried a heavy burden around the course, where he tried to drive up the pace and break the pack apart in the uphill sections. In the sprint, however, he fell behind the front and crossed the line as the fourth Norwegian in the top-five, 7.1 seconds behind Golberg. Two seconds behind him, Vermeulen grabbed the sixth place.

Edvin Anger (SWE) became the best home skier with a seventh place as he was fastest of the chase group's seven skiers in the sprint, beating France's Victor Lovera in eighth place by 0.7 of a second, 15.7 seconds after Golberg.

The results brings the Swedish Sprint ace, No.2 in the overall World Cup standings, closer to leader Klaebo, who still has a 207-point lead with five races left of the World Cup season.

Another skier showing versatility was Saturday's main man, Iivo Niskanen (FIN), who claimed the ninth place in the 20km Mass Start Free one day after winning the 10km Interval Start Classic. His compatriot Remi Lindholm completed the top-10 as Mathis Desloges (FRA), Hugo Lapalus (Far) and Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR), took places 11, 12 and 13 respectively.

With that, the best Cross-Country skiers in the world take a 10-day break before the World Championships action starts on 26 February.

Click here for full results from the Men's 20km Mass Start Free, here to see the World Cup standings and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.