Klaebo and Valnes stay out of trouble to take Team Sprint win in Davos

Erik Valnes and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo gave Norway’s first team the victory in an action-packed Men’s Team Sprint Free final at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday.

As several skiers fell in the slippery last turn of the course, the event’s Olympic and world champions in the event made sure to stay at the front of the group for most of the 12 laps of the 7.2km course, standing up to claim the victory. 

Italy I with Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino finished second and Johan Haeggstroem and Edvin Anger of Sweden I completed the podium, both teams having suffered falls earlier in the race.

”I didn't see any of them (the many crashes) so it was smart to be in the front,” said Valnes, whose only fall on Friday was from the sled traditionally given to winners in Davos, as he was pulled by Klaebo after the podium ceremony.

In the evening race at one of the highest-altitude venues on the World Cup circuit, Valnes skied legs one, three and five and managed to give Klaebo an advantage into the sixth and final leg.

”It was tough," Valnes said.

The Norwegian duo have won two Team Sprint world titles together, and with the lead going into the anchor leg there was nothing stopping them as Klaebo showed why he is regarded as the best Sprint skier in the world.

The 29-year-old controlled the pace in the first of his final two laps. Then he flew up the last hill and opened a big gap on the chasing pack, leaving Pellegrino and Anger to fight for the second place as he cruised to victory, more than two seconds ahead of the field.

”It's always fun to race here in Davos, especially in the evening with the lights and everything, it is a great atmosphere,” Klaebo said.

Klaebo, who made it back-to-back Davos Team Sprint victories after his triumph with Paal Golberg (NOR) in Switzerland one year ago, had also missed the many falls behind him.

”I just heard some noises,” he said.

"But I think it was smart to be up front.”

Barp had been in second place behind Valnes as the starting skiers came into the fast right-hand corner for the first time. He then slipped and fell, having to continue the race in 15th and last place. In the second leg, it was last year’s Overall World Cup No.2, Anger’s time to go down and start over from the back.

Falling early into the race, Italy and Sweden however managed get back up and into the top-three coming into the last corner of the race. In the Team Sprint one year ago, Barp and Pellegrino had missed the podium by 0.02 seconds as Haeggstroem and Anger finished third – something Pellegrino had seen as motivation ahead of Friday’s race.

Anger, 23, held the second place coming into the home straight but there, Pellegrino had more energy left. The 35-year-old, who reached his first top-10 finish in Davos 15 years ago, pushed past the Swede to claim the second place by a margin of 0.05 seconds. The Italians screamed of joy after the finish line, having made up for last year’s disappointment.

Home hopes Noe Naeff and Janik Riebli brought Switzerland I to fourth place, 2.59 seconds behind the winners, as Lauri Vuorinen and Joni Maki in Finland I finished fifth.

Norway II’s Harald Oestberg Amundsen had been in second place as he handed over to his teammate Oskar Opstad Vike for the last leg, but Vike struggled with the last push and had to settle for seventh place.

Before them, Michael Foettinger and Benjamin Moser in Austria’s first team finished sixth. The Austrian duo had been battling in the front before Moser got tangled up with Sweden II’s Anton Grahn in the fourth leg’s later stages.

The World Cup weekend in Davos continues on Saturday with the Men's and Women's Sprint Free.

Click here for full results from the Men’s Team Sprint Free and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.