Men’s Cross-Country World Cup Preview: Klaebo again the one to beat as history beckons
Nov 28, 2024·Cross-Country
How to solve a problem like Johannes? Like every other season in recent memory, this is the question for all other elite men’s cross-country skiers as King Klaebo continues to his quest to conquer everything in his realm – and beyond.
Yet it was not the five-time Olympic and nine-time world champion who claimed the Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup champion last season. That went to compatriot Harald Oestberg Amundsen, who was a model of consistency throughout 2023-24.
That Klaebo missed large parts of the early season through illness and injury was telling, though, particularly at the Tour de Ski where Amundsen claimed enough bonus points that he could afford to watch his decorated teammate claim 16 victories – including the last seven races of the season – and still finish 54 points behind him?
So, can anybody beat a fully fit Klaebo? “I think no,” Dario Cologna (SUI), a four-time Olympic and overall World Cup champion, said. “If he stays healthy and motivated, he can beat many records.”
This includes Marit Bjoergen’s all-time record of 114 World Cup victories. At just 28 years old, Klaebo is only 30 wins away from that target.
That is for the future, though. “I think the main focus this season for most athletes is to perform well (at the world championships) in Trondheim (Norway, 26 February – 9 March). But Johannes has shown that he can ski strong all winter and I hope we see him in most of the races,” Cologna said.
So, what makes Klaebo so good? Lucas Chanavat, who has been training with his fellow sprint specialist in the off-season, should know. “I would say the fact that he is doing simple things but with a really high efficiency and adapting in real time his training so that every aspect of his life is optimized around the performance,” the Frenchman, who won two World Cup sprints last season, said.
To reach “the next step” – namely, challenging Klaebo for the sprint titles – Chanavat, 29, believes he needs to find the same consistency in classic technique that he has in freestyle (skating).
Unlike Chanavat, though, Klaebo has shown himself capable of winning over longer distances too. “I think what could motivate Johannes is to win a distance race at the world championships and the Olympics, maybe even the 50km,” Cologna said.
One skier who is certainly motivated ahead of the new season is Friedrich Moch. The German, 24, whose younger brother Jakob won two golds at the Winter Youth Olympics earlier this year, has been improving steadily in recent seasons, claiming eighth and seventh places at the 2023 world championships, then finishing second in last season’s Tour de Ski and sixth in the overall World Cup standings – the highest of any non-Norwegian.
“Last season was crazy good for me,” he admitted “I didn’t believe before the season that I could be that good. But I have trained really well the last four or five seasons, didn’t have any big injuries, and I don’t get often sick. It was really good that I could ski really consistently and I had good results from the beginning of December until the end of March.
“I got a coach three years ago and we changed my training a bit. We trained with a lot of intensity and last season it gave me a lot of power and a lot of new motivation.”
“The aim for sure is to be on the podium again. To win a World Cup would be a dream. It’s not so easy but I will go for it because we worked really hard over the summer, so I hope it’s manageable.
“My main target for the season is to be in really good shape in Trondheim. Two years ago, (at the world championships in Planica, Slovenia) we got a team medal in the relay, and it would be a dream to fight for it again.”
France, too, with their strong contingent of sprinters that includes Richard Jouve and Jules Chappaz, will be hoping to challenge Norway in the team events. “I think the big strength for France is our friendship,” Chanavat said. “Everyone is getting along with everyone, and we are helping each other improve on a daily basis.”
It's unlikely to be enough to challenge Klaebo and his Norwegian teammates for individual supremacy, but it will make for intriguing viewing.
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Facts & Figures
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo clamed an incredible 16 individual World Cup victories during the 2023/24 season, to move him two ahead of compatriot Therese Johaug (NOR) - who will make her competitive cross-country comeback this season – in the overall standings.
This was not enough to earn Klaebo a fifth Crystal Globe, though. Harald Oestberg Amundsen claimed his first overall title, thanks in part to the three victories gained during the Tour de Ski, which Klaebo missed through injury.
In one of several changes to the mid-season Tour de Ski, there will be the introduction of a special climber’s bib, with the top three climbers receiving prize money.
Norway’s men claimed all but four victories in the men’s World Cup season, dominating the overall, distance and sprint standings.
In winning the 10km Freestyle in Minneapolis, Gus Schumacher became the first American man to win a World Cup race since Simi Hamilton in 2013.
