In the men’s classic sprint, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo made no mistake to claim his fifth victory in five events at this Tour de Ski, looking unstoppable coming into the last two days of the competition.
The Norwegian 26-year-old controlled the final and stayed among the top-two for most of the 1.2km race to extend his lead in the tour despite a strong finish from second-placed Calle Halfvarsson from Sweden. Italy’s Simone Mocellini finished third. Klaebo however said the semifinal, where USA’s 22-year-old Ben Ogden had shocked the opponents with a furious pace, had been a tougher race.
Klaebo is in pole position coming into the last event of the tour, 58 seconds ahead of Halfvarsson, who will be in the fight for the last two podium positions with Pellegrino and Paal Golberg, who are 1:08 and 1:09 seconds behind Klaebo respectively. In the penultimate day of Tour de Ski, the cross-country action in Val di Fiemme continues on Saturday with the men’s and women’s 15km mass start classic.
