Golberg back on top after Norwegian display of dominance in Sweden
Dec 02, 2023·Cross-Country
Norway's Paal Golberg is back on top of the podium after a strong finish in the men's 10km interval start free at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Gaellivare, Sweden, on Saturday.
Last season's World Cup distance champion crushed a strong line-up, where the main competitors came from his own team, to claim his first victory this winter.
Crossing the line 4.2 seconds before Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) as Iver Tildheim Andersen (NOR) claimed the third place, the classic expert claimed his second distance freestyle victory in his career.
"It feels very good", the 33-year-old said.
As the World Cup season kicked off with competitions in Ruka, Finland, last week, Golberg had finished 14th in the sprint classic, fourth in the 10km classic and sixth in the 20km mass start free.
"It's been a bit of a slow start the first weekends here but today I felt really good," he said.
"I do it in skating, I know classic is normally my best technique but I've been skating good, so this was fun."
Starting as No.50, Golberg had most of his main competitors behind him and had to make sure to get a time that no-one else could beat. He paced himself well in the beginning of the race, getting the seventh-best time at the 5km mark.
Then the Norwegian, who won three gold medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica, Slovenia, shifted gears and made a strong second half of the race while most competitors slowed down.
"I knew it was going to be a really tight one so I just tried to stay in the pack and then have a good finish," Golberg said.
"Today I managed to do that so that was really good."
Finishing in first place, with a margin of 8.3 seconds down to teammate Jan Thomas Jenssen, last week's 20km success, in second place, Golberg got to watch as the rest of the field did their best to beat his time.
Andersen, 23, whose only World Cup win came in 10km free in Lillehammer, on the day one year ago, looked inspired to do it again. With starting number 64, the youngster was well aware of the times to beat but could not match Golbergs finish, crossing the line in second place, 5.1 seconds after the leader.
Overall World Cup leader Amundsen, who started in number 70, was the last man standing trying to dethrone his teammate. The 25-year-old had also planned for a strong finish and beat Golberg by two seconds in the last 3.7km of the race, but it was not enough as Golberg could stay in the leader's chair for the remainder of the race.
Simen Hegstad Krueger in fourth place, Didrik Toenseth in sixth and Jenssen, who had to settle for a seventh place this week, made it six Norwegians in the top-seven, showing the Swedish fans which Nordic Cross-Country power house that has got the upper hand in the men's competition this season.
The only non-Norwegian among the seven best skiers was Great Britain's Andrew Musgrave, who finished fifth – his best result since his third-place in 10km classic in Beitostolen, Norway, one year ago.
Austria's Mika Vermeulen grabbed the eight-place before Michal Novak, who was ninth as Martin Loewstroem Nyenget became the last Norwegian in top-ten, 11.6 seconds after Golberg.
Calle Halfvarsson was the host country's best-placed skier with an 11th-place, 24.5 seconds after the winner.
The World Cup action in Gaellivare concludes with a 4x7.5km relay classic/free on Sunday, where Norway after the dominant 10km display will be the team to beat.
Click here for full results from the men's 10km individual free.
