Cross-country skiing : Lucas Chanavat dominates in Davos
A few minutes after Jonna Sundling ‘s victory in the women’s race, it was the turn of the cross-country skiers to battle it out for victory in the sprint skating event on the third stage of the 2025/2026 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Davos (Switzerland).
The Grisons track has once again smiled on French cross-country skiers. On Saturday night in Davos (Switzerland), Bornandin Lucas Chanavat had an exceptional day. Barely twenty days after resuming training following a stress fracture to his tibia sustained in preparation, the Haut-Savoyard was in top form in the sprint.
Winner of the qualifier, he didn’t hesitate for a second to head into the first quarter-final with the ogre Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo. In this race, the Tricolore managed his effort perfectly, taking the lead from the start and avoiding all the pitfalls, unlike the Norwegian king, whose day was cut short at this stage of the competition, a first in his career in a skateboard sprint.
In the semi-final, the Bornandino placed himself ideally in the wake of Switzerland’s Janik Riebli, before putting in his best effort on the final climb to win this race. The cross-country skier, who turns 31 on Wednesday, is now heading for the final.
In the final, Lucas Chanavat rode the perfect race. Ideally placed, he once again put his effort into the final climb. Leading into the final bend, he resisted the thunderous comeback of Italy’s Federico Pellegrino to win the photo finish. This is his fifth World Cup victory, almost two years after his last success in Davos on 3 January 2024.
“I don’t know where it comes from. I only started training again 20 days ago. I was beaten in the French Cup and now I’ve won a World Cup: it’s crazy! I work so hard and it doesn’t always pay off. This time, it’s coming in the right direction,” Lucas Chanavat told the FIS radio just after the finish.
“Yesterday, I was thinking that anything could happen today. I was banking on it. I had to be good, I had to reach the top 20 to be at the Tour [de Ski]. I had no choice”, he added to the FFS.
Transalpine Federico Pellegrino took second place, ahead of young Norwegian Oskar Opstad Vike, who claimed his second consecutive podium after the classic sprint in Trondheim (Norway).
American Jack Young took fourth place, putting in his best ever World Cup performance, followed by his compatriot Ben Ogden. Sweden’s Edvin Anger rounded off the final rankings after crashing at the start.
Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals, finished seventeenth. Rémi Bourdin was nineteenth and Jules Chappaz twenty-third.
The full rankings
2026CC2226RLThe overall sprint ranking
2026CC2226WCSP-1The overall World Cup standings
2026CC2226WCOV-1Read also
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- Cross-country skiing | Davos : Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo and Erik Valnes assert their status in the sprint skate team, while Les Bleus suffer a fall
- Cross-country skiing | Davos: start lists for the sprint skating qualifiers
- Cross-country skiing | Davos : Jonna Sundling dominates the sprint skate qualification, Léna Quintin and Mélissa Gal go through
- Cross-country skiing | Davos: sprint skate qualification for Lucas Chanavat, Jules Chappaz and Rémi Bourdin in the finals
- Cross-country skiing | Davos : Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo out in the sprint quarter-finals
