Klaebo extends winning streak to seal seventh Sprint Crystal Globe in Lahti
Mar 21, 2025·Cross-Country)
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) claimed his 16th consecutive Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup Sprint victory as he finished first in the "dramatic" Men's Sprint Free in Lahti, Finland on Friday.
The 28-year-old completed a perfect Sprint winter, where he has retained his World title and won all nine World Cup Sprints he has participated in, finishing 0.43 of a second before Jules Chappaz (FRA) as Federico Pellegrino (ITA) took the third place.
With his 97th World Cup victory, Klaebo secured his seventh Sprint Crystal Globe, having claiming his fifth overall title in Tallinn, Estonia, on Wednesday.
"It feels amazing," Klaebo said.
"There are a lot of different tracks throughout the World Cup season and this one is always a little bit special.
Having won his semifinal on the 1.5km track by the narrow margin of four hundreds of a second before Valerio Grond (SUI), Klaebo decided to take an early lead in the final race of the evening. But Grond stayed close behind the Norwegian superstar and coming into the last turn, the Swiss had taken over the lead.
That was however when Klaebo made that push he has done and succeeded with so many times before, and no-one could respond to it this time either.
He left the rest of the pack behind him to fight for the remaining podium positions and could slow down to celebrate his victory before the finish line.
"I just tried to be in a good position," Klaebo said.
"I wanted to be second at the top (before the last hill) there and tried to get some stream on the way down. I managed to get a good turn and got a gap before the finish line. But I just saw behind me that there was a lot of things happening behind me."
Chappaz, who had finished in second place behind Klaebo in Wednesday's Sprint Free in Tallinn, Estonia, made another strong performance and was unbeatable on the home straight, claiming his second podium this season in three days.
Grond, 24, looked like he was going to equal his career-best performance from Lahti last year with the second third place of his career, when Pellegrino came storming past him.
They got tangled in with each other and Grond fell, crossing the finish line sliding on his stomach, on the surface that had gone harder the later the Finnish evening got.
"It was for sure a dramatic one and it was really many duels out there," Klaebo said.
Erik Valnes (NOR) beat JC Schoonmaker (USA) to claim the fifth place, but got to celebrate a second place in this season's World Cup Sprint standings after the race. Sweden's 22-year-old Edvin Anger, who failed to make it to the final and had to settle for a ninth place, still had plenty to celebrate as he secured the third place in the Sprint standings and an Overall second place behind Klaebo.
It is the first time in 10 years a Swedish skier is on the podium in the Men's Overall standings.
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