'Winning move' brings Krueger to 50km glory as Norway claim ten top spots in Oslo (NOR)

Three-time world champion Simen Hegstad Krueger was the strongest as Norwegian skiers claiming all ten top spots in the men's 50km mass start free at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday.

The 29-year-old freestyle expert had won gold medals in the skiathlon, 15km free and 4x10km relay at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, but not been selected to compete in the men's 50km classic last Sunday.

Six days later he finished 5.7 seconds before teammate Hans Christer Holund to claim his ninth World Cup victory in front of his home fans in the Norwegian capital – his first at Holmenkollen, the iconic ski venue a short trip from the Oslo's city centre. Martin Loewstroem Nyenget – the venue's defending champion from last year – completed the Norwegian clean sweep on the podium.

King Harald V of Norway was at the stadium to greet the winner, who told the royal cross-country fan that "this was fantastic".

"This race is something special and we know what's waiting for us up this hills and it's so much fun to race there even though it hurts in the last laps, and the crowd is amazing," Krueger said.

The front group stayed together for the first four of the six laps, but one tactical move gave Krueger, Holund and their 22-year-old teammate Iver Tildheim Andersen an advantage for the last two laps. While most skiers switched to new skis after four laps, the Norwegian trio had already done it after three, catching up with the rest of the pack to then get a gap of more than half a minute as the rest went to change. With his new skis, Krueger had closed 27 seconds on the rest of the field in 2km as the three Norwegians took charge of the race for the last two laps.

Andersen stayed with Krueger and Holund for a while but could not match their pace after the 44km mark. With only two skiers left to fight for the first place, the Norwegian duo stuck together and left the fight for victory to be decided in the last 150 metres of the 50km race. Krueger made a push that Holund could not respond to and cruised to victory with many metres' margin.

"It was a tough one," Krueger said.

"Together with Holund and Iver Tildheim Andersen we made a good pace there and changed one lap before the others and I think that was a winning move. I wanted to make this a tough race and I had some power left after the world champs'.

"It is a huge achievement for me to win this race here in Holmenkollen. I'm on home soil now so it means a little extra."

Nyenget and compatriot Didrik Toenseth led the group chasing after the breakaway trio. With 3km left of the race, the duo had got themselves a gap to the skiers behind them and were closing the gap to Andersen. Nyenget passed the young Norwegian just before the 49km mark and could grab the third place less than a week after he was called-in as a reserve for the world championships 50km race and finished fifth. As neither of the top duo had competed last Sunday, Nyenget got the best result of the skiers who did both races.

Andersen claimed fourth place, 4.2 seconds before Toenseth. The top-ten was an all-Norwegian affair where overall World Cup No.1 finished seventh, extending his lead in the rankings to runner-up Paal Golberg who had to settle for a ninth-place. Great Britain's Andrew Musgrave in 11th-place was the best-placed non-Norwegian, although he has been based in Norway since he was a teenager, making him another favourite for the fans at Holmenkollen to cheer for.

Click here for full results from the men's 50km mass start free.