Cross-country skiing : Hugo Lapalus just off the podium, three Frenchmen in the top 15
The year 2025 may already have its benchmark race. This Wednesday, as part of the Tour de Ski, the athletes in the world cross-country skiing caravan were competing in a 15-kilometre classic pursuit, the final race of the World Cup stage in Toblach (Italy).
Hugo Lapalus started in seventh position and gradually made up ground to catch up with a group fighting for podium places. Always well placed, the Frenchman stripped off in the final hectometres to try and grab a top 3 finish, which slipped through his fingers by a whisker.
At the foot of the box, the Haut-Savoyard continued to grow in strength as he competed at the front of the field. He is also taking advantage of the situation to move up in the overall rankings, now in fifth place ahead of the races in Val di Fiemme (Italy).
Behind him, Mathis Desloges was again in the top 10. Courageous throughout the 15-kilometre stage, where he repeatedly held on at the back of the pack, the Isérois rider took a superb eighth place. The day before, the 22-year-old had already finished in this position, his best career finish to date.
Like his compatriot, Rémi Bourdin also put in a fine performance. Starting in twentieth position, the Doubiste rider clawed back some precious places to cross the line in fourteenth place. A solid performance which enabled the French team to place three riders in the top 10.
In the rest of the blue contingent, Richard Jouve also moved up a few places, finishing twenty-ninth after starting with number 41 a few minutes earlier. It was a more difficult race, however, for Jules Lapierre, who had to make up places and finally finished forty-first. Théo Schely closed the French rankings in fifty-seventh place.
Edvin Anger and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo made Harald Oestberg Amundsen tremble
At the front of the race, the suspense kept spectators and television viewers on their toes right to the end. Harald Oestberg Amundsen started with a margin of more than 20 seconds after the lesson he had given the day before in the individual skateboard race, but made every effort not to be seen again.
While the gap never ceased to fluctuate, the Norwegian saw Edvin Anger and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo put in a crazy finish to come back to within a whisker of first place. After an effort that left a huge mark on him, the outgoing world number one managed to win by a margin of just two seconds over a breathtaking Edvin Anger.
Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, who started fifth, was back on the podium, although he was beaten by the Swede in the final metres. In the overall classification, he now sees Edvin Anger as his new runner-up at 36 seconds, whileHarald Oestberg Amundsen loses one place, being relegated to 57 seconds.
The full rankings
The general classification of the Tour de Ski
The overall distance ranking
The overall World Cup standings
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