FIS | Norway and Klaebo win Team Sprint after crashes, chaos and comebacks in Lahti

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Whatever the course, whatever the conditions, whatever the race – Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo is cross-country skiing’s main man of this or any other season.

Having won 12 World Cup races this season, including all nine sprint races he has entered, the sport’s undisputed star turned his attention to the Team Sprint in Lahti, Finland on Saturday. Different format, different partner – this was the first time Klaebo had paired up with Even Northug – same result.

It’s no coincidence that Norway has won every Men’s Team Sprint in the World Cup since 2015. They have only failed to win one men’s team event since 2019, the 4x7.5km relay in Toblach, Italy, in 2023.

Klaebo wasn’t racing during that event; he has won every World Cup team race he has competed in, totaling eight victories in total, five of them in Lahti, a course he considers "a little bit special". After securing his fifth individual victory at this venue in the Sprint Freestyle on Friday, it seemed that only extraordinary circumstances could prevent him from standing once again atop the podium.

The Men’s Team Sprint did provide extraordinary moments with crashes and comebacks, but none pertained to the Norwegian team. After an accident-free women’s race, the men faced various challenges.

“It was chaos out there, but it was fun as well,” Northug, who now has three Team Sprint victories to his name, said. “There were seven seconds or something between the 15 best teams, so we knew it was going to be very tight, and it was. I’m glad I’m ‘home.’

Klaebo commented, “I was really looking forward to racing with Evan today. I had a perfect exchange. I was third and took a little chill in the first part of the lap, and at the end, I had some power left, which was really fun.”

With the final race of the season left, the next day promised even more excitement.