Cross-country skiing : the Norwegian octuple
The first skiathlon of the season, and the only one before the one at the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina, offered a real thriller this Saturday morning at the cross-country skiing world cup in Trondheim (Norway). Under the Norwegian sun, it was the men who were the first to make their mark on the 20-kilometre course.
On home soil, the Norwegians set a hellish pace. Taking it in turns, with Finland’s Iivo Niskanen taking over for the classical part, they led the peloton at breakneck speed. And as is often the case, history repeated itself: King Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo triumphed once again in his Granåsen backyard.
In a fast-paced classical section, the 29-year-old cross-country skier remained constantly at the front of the pack, before moving into the lead when the skis changed. On the skating section, it was the same scenario: always well placed, Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo approached the top of the last hill in second place behind Harald Oestberg Amundsen.
As is his wont, he then used his sliding skills to overtake his compatriot and take the lead in the final straight. And that was it: the king of cross-country skiing claimed his 101st World Cup victory.
Harald Oestberg Amundsen, winner of the mass-start skate in Ruka (Finland), took second place. The third step of the podium went to a vengeful Emil Iversen. Not selected for the Finnish stage in Ruka, the 34-year-old cross-country skier put in a complete race. At the finish, he couldn’t contain his emotion and collapsed after embracing his friend Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo.
Norwegian domination didn’t stop there: the Scandinavians monopolised the top eight places in the rankings. Mattis Stenshagen finished fourth, Jan Thomas Jenssen fifth, Erik Valnes sixth, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget seventh and Andreas Fjorden Ree eighth.
You have to go all the way back to ninth place to find the first non-Norwegian: Austrian Mika Vermeulen, who narrowly edged out another Norwegian, Simen Hegstad Krueger. To find such domination, you have to go back to 11 March 2023, when the Norwegians took the top ten places in the 50km skate race in Oslo (Norway).
Mathis Desloges best Frenchman
Already in the spotlight last weekend in Ruka (Finland), where he scored his best World Cup result with sixth place in the mass-start skate, Villardien Mathis Desloges confirmed his level. Always in the leading group during the classical part, the 23-year-old cross-country skier tried to stay ahead in the skating, staying in the top 5 for a long time.
On a track that had worked well for him at last winter’s World Championships, the Isérois rider was slightly trapped at the start of the final climb. In the end, he finished eleventh, just 6.7 seconds behind the winner.
Cluse’s Hugo Lapalus, always well placed in the classic and at the start of the skateboard section, had a difficult time at the start of the final lap. Dropped from the leading group, he eventually finished in seventeenth place, just ahead of Chartousin’s Jules Lapierre.
Victor Lovera was a solid twentieth. Clément Parrise in thirty-seventh and Richard Jouve in forty-seventh rounded off the French performances.
The full rankings
2026CC2218RLThe overall distance ranking
2026CC2218WCDIThe overall World Cup standings
2026CC2218WCOVRead also
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: Delphine Claudel misses out on the skiathlon
- Cross-country skiing: Léonie Perry withdraws from the Trondheim World Cup
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: skiathlon start lists
- Cross-country skiing | First sprint final and first World Cup podium for Alvar Myhlback: “It’s exceeded all my expectations”.
- Cross-country skiing | “It’s great to be back”: third in the Trondheim classic sprint, Linn Svahn savours her return to the slopes
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: in a chaotic final, Johanna Hagstroem dominates the classic sprint, Swedish quadruple win
- Cross-country skiing | “It’s my fault”: Kristine Stavaas Skistad looks back on her tactical error in the quarter-finals of the Trondheim sprint classic
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: King Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo wins the classic sprint, Les Bleus out in the quarters
- Cross-country skiing: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo reaches the milestone of 100 World Cup victories
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: Jasmi Joensuu wins the classic sprint qualifier, Léna Quintin misses out
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: start lists for classic sprint qualifiers
- Cross-country skiing | Less than two months after fracturing her right thumb, Léonie Perry is selected for the Trondheim World Cup: “It bodes well for the future”.
- Cross-country skiing | Lucas Chanavat already back in the World Cup: “Not so long ago, I still thought I’d have a blank season”.
- Cross-country skiing | Phew of relief in Trondheim: the World Cup skiathlons will go ahead
- Cross-country skiing: the French team in Trondheim with the addition of Lucas Chanavat and Léonie Perry
- Cross-country skiing | Emil Iversen is here, and so are the kingdom’s stars: Norway selects 44 athletes for the Trondheim World Cup
- Cross-country skiing | William Poromaa and Linn Svahn back, Alvar Myhlback still with us: Sweden announce their selection for Trondheim
