Norwegian Paal Golberg Wins the Mass-Start in Falun

Norwegian cross-country skier Paal Golberg won the mass-start race at the Falun World Cup stage in Sweden on Sunday. Starting from a grouped final lap, the race intensified on the last climb when Norwegian Andreas Ree accelerated to break away from the pack. Only five skiers managed to follow, as French athletes Mathis Desloges and Hugo Lapalus were left behind in the chase.

Shortly before the finish, Ree – who eventually placed fourth – was overtaken by his compatriot Golberg. Demonstrating his strength, Golberg powered past American Gus Schumacher (by +0.3 seconds) and Norwegian Harald Amundsen (by +0.9 seconds) to take his first win of the season.

On the women’s side, American Jessie Diggins won her race, finishing ahead of Norwegian Heidi Weng (+0.7 seconds) and Swedish Ebba Andersson (+0.8 seconds), with Flora Dolci rounding out the top ten. The next stage of the World Cup is set to take place in Oslo, Norway, following the World Championships in Trondheim from February 26 to March 9.