Nyenget crushes competition to claim Oslo 20km victory

Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR) crushed the competition in the Men's 20km Interval Start Classic at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday, getting revenge for some missed medals at the Trondheim (NOR) 2025 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships.

The 32-year-old had won a gold medal in the World Championships Relay and claimed silver in the Skiathlon, 1.4 seconds behind the unbeatable six-time Trondheim winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR). In the 10km Classic and 50km Mass Start, however, he had looked on course to battle for medals but fallen and missed the podium both times, having to settle for a fourth (50km) and a fifth (10km) place.

In the first race after the World Championships, however, there was never any doubt about it. Nyenget set off at a high pace from the start and had the best times from the 2.5km mark until the finish line. 

Nyenget, from the 1994 Olympic Games host town Lillehammer, a couple of hours' drive north of the Norwegian capital, was 51.2 seconds faster than runner-up William Poromaa (SWE). Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) finished one second behind the Swede to make it two home skiers on the podium.

"This is what you train for. It is so fun to get a race like this, where it really works out," Nyenget said.

The sun and clear skies for the Women's race had made the some parts of the course around the iconic Holmenkollen ski stadium slower than others. As the sky turned grey and the weather got colder in the afternoon, the Men's skiers could keep a higher pace around the three 6.2km laps.

Nyenget had start number 66 and could pace himself according to she times of Krueger and Poromaa, with bib numbers 62 and 64 respectively. 

After the first lap, he had got himself a 18.7-second lead to the rest of the pack and one lap later, he had doubled it, with main chaser Krueger 35.2 seconds behind him, adding another 15 seconds to his lead in the last third of the race.

It was the fifth World Cup victory for Nyenget, who claimed his maiden win in Oslo in March 2022, finishing first in the 50km Mass Start Classic.

Behind Nyenget, the last lap became another battle between Poromaa and Krueger, who had gone shoulder-to-shoulder with Nyenget and Klaebo into the last stretch of the Men's 50km Mass Start Free in Trondheim one week before.

After Nyenget fell and Klaebo claimed the first place, Poromaa had pushed past Krueger in the last 500m to upgrade his Planica 2023 bronze to a silver medal. On Saturday, Poromaa managed to get the same results as he beat Nyenget by almost three seconds in the last 700m to claim his second World Cup podium this season.

"I'm very satisfied. If someone would've said beforehand that I'd be in second place, I wouldn't have believed it, so it was a really nice day," Poromaa said.

"When you're in good shape and can challenge the Norwegians it is a lot of fun. It was a good fight but I'm very impressed by Martin today, that was really strong."

Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Paal Golberg, in fourth and fifth place respectively, made it four Norwegians among the best five.

After winning six out of six events on home snow in Trondheim, Klaebo had made his first training on the Friday and admitted that the unmatched World Championships campaign had taken a toll on him.

"It was a tough day at work," the overall World Cup leader Klaebo said after finishing in 14th place.

"Sometimes you have a tough day, it was my turn today and I was happy that I got my best results at the World Championships."

Hugo Lapalus (FRA) beat Gus Schumacher (USA) by 0.1 of a second to claim the sixth place. Federico Pellegrino (ITA), who made the last World Championships race of his career one week ago, finished in eighth place as Andreas Fjorden Ree (NOR) was fifth Norwegian in the top-10, in ninth place, Olivier Leveille (CAN) finishing 10th, 1:38.0 after Nyenget.

The Oslo World Cup action concludes with the Men's and Women's 10km Interval Start Free on Sunday.

Click here for full results from the Men's 20km Interval Start Classic and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.