Krueger kicks back from 'disaster' to end Tour on a high with Final Climb win

Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) won the Men's 10km Mass Start Free in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Sunday, to end his Tour de Ski as a winner after a Saturday's Skiathlon 'disaster'.

The 31-year-old had been one of the favorites to win the 20km divided into Classic and Free but suffered a fall in the close scrum of skiers in the first lap and never made it back to the front.

Perhaps knowing that the top spots in the race as well as in the Tour were out of reach, Krueger finished in 50th place, 4:29.2 behind his winning teammate, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR).

"I was quite pissed yesterday. It was a tough day," Krueger said.

"I had been close to fight for the podium in the overall and that got destroyed with the fall, but that’s part of the game. You have to avoid accidents and yesterday it was my own fault, you can’t blame anything (on anyone else)."

In the last stage of Tour de Ski, a 10km skate that ends with the infamous Final Climb up an Alpine ski slope at Alpe Cermis, Krueger made up for it.

"It was good revenge today. I was really upset about yesterday. It was a disaster for me but that's part of the game," Krueger said.

Klaebo, the overall leader by more than two minutes, made sure to stay in the front of the race for as long as possible but could not touch distance ace Krueger, who kicked back to take the victory, 7.8 seconds before runner-up Mika Vermeulen (AUT) as Friedrich Moth (GER) finished third.

As the climb with a tilt of up to 28% got steeper, with 2.5km left to skate, Krueger took charge of the race.

"I like this hill," Krueger said.

"Even though it’s tough and hard I look forward to it every year."

He led the climb with Vermeulen chasing close behind him. After them, Moch, climb leader Hugo Lapalus (FRA) and Ireneu Esteve Altimiras (AND) battled for the climber points as well as for the last spot on the podium.

"The Alp Cermis is steep and tough and you have to keep on fighting so I tried to find my limit and just keep on pushing my own speed and use the corners," Krueger said.

"I've skied this hill a couple of times now so I know how to do it. Those section with the corners are important so I tried to ski well there and when I came to the flatter part at the end I had to push all the way to the finish line."

Krueger was first up the gruesome climb and still had energy for a last push. The 500m altitude gain seemed to have little effect on the Norwegian as he left Vermeulen behind and cruised towards his first Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup win this season.

"It was very nice to finish the Tour de Ski with a victory," said Krueger, whose last World Cup triumph had come in the 15km Mass Start Free in Canmore, Canada, in February last year.

Vermeulen’s second place was his second World Cup podium and career-best result.

"It was really hard but really good," said the 25-year-old, whose climbing skills made him runner-up behind the winner Klaebo in the overall standings

"It was a tough fight. Simen was super good and Johannes actually had a super high pace at the bottom already. I’m happy."

Moch is an expert at the Alpe Cermis climb, where all of his three individual World Cup podiums have come.

Last year’s runner-up said he had been a bit uncomfortable this time, but that his tactics "worked really well".

"It was a really tough race, as every year," said Moch who climbed from a 12th place in the overall Tour standings to finish sixth.

"In the steep uphill I didn’t feel really comfortable today but I tried to save some energy for the last 500m where it’s a bit more flat. I could attack and climb to the sixth place in the overall Tour de Ski rankings and I’m really happy about that."

Click here for full results from the Men's 10km Mass Start Free and here for the final Tour de Ski standings.

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