Klaebo looks golden in Goms with Olympic Sprint rehearsal victory

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) looked ready for his third Olympic campaign as he won Saturday's Men’s Sprint Classic at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Goms (SUI) in dominant fashion.

In the final Sprint before the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games – where the Sprint will also be contested in Classic style – Klaebo crushed the competition, cruising alone to victory with his closest competitors tens of metres behind.

The 29-year-old Sprint ace, who skipped last weekend’s World Cup stage in Oberhof, Germany, looked unbeatable as he posted the fastest time in the prologue before winning his quarter-final, semi-final and final with seeming ease.

In the final, Klaebo stuck with his opponents for most of the race, allowing Sweden’s Edvin Anger to keep the lead until the turn before the final uphill section.

There, the four-time Sprint world champion changed gear and flew past Anger and up the hill. By the time Klaebo was back on the descent, the gap to the rest of the field had grown to tens of metres and proved impossible for anyone to close.

"The pace setting up to the top was really high, but luckily I had some power left at the end," Klaebo said.

After slowing down on much of the home straight, waving to the fans and starting to take off his ski poles before crossing the finish line, Klaebo saw Gus Schumacher (USA) claim second place, 2.64 seconds behind the winner, as Anger finished third, 4.77 seconds back.

"It was amazing," Klaebo said.

It was Klaebo’s eighth World Cup victory this winter, having not competed since claiming his fifth Tour de Ski title on 4 January. At last year's FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, he won six gold medals from six events.

The 20km Mass Start Classic in Goms on Sunday will be his final race before chasing more gold in the Olympic events in Val di Fiemme. A favourite in every event he takes part in, Klaebo could claim his third consecutive Sprint and Team Sprint medals at the Games in February.

"It feels good," he said of his form ahead of Milano Cortina 2026.

"I came down from altitude yesterday, I’m competing here today and tomorrow, and then we’ll have two weeks until we start with the main goal of the season."

Another skier looking in fine form ahead of the season’s main event is Schumacher. The 25-year-old showed that Friday’s Team Sprint third place with Ben Ogden (USA) was no fluke, as he stuck with Anger before pushing past him on the home straight to secure one of the best results of his career.

Reaching his second World Cup podium in two days – and the fourth individual podium of his career – Schumacher joked that success also came with a downside.

"It’s a lot of work; you’ve got to go to the media and go to the podium," he said.

"But it's good, it's a lot of fun."

The Alaskan said he felt better than in Friday's Freestyle race.

"Classic just feels a little bit easier on the big hills, I think. My skis were really good, and tactically I felt that I skied well, so it was really nice,” Schumacher said.

The result could make him reconsider his plans not to start in the Olympic Sprint.

"I'm definitely going to have to think about it," Schumacher said.

"This course definitely suits me more than I think Val di Fiemme does, but I don’t know — we'll see."

Italy’s Simone Mocellini finished fourth, 11.48 seconds behind the winner, to secure the third-best World Cup result of his career.

Even Northug (NOR) and Ben Ogden (USA), who qualified for the final as Lucky Losers, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Norway’s Olympic Team Sprint champion Erik Valnes, a Sprint medal candidate for Milano Cortina 2026, posted the second-fastest qualifying time and looked strong in his quarter-final, finishing just behind Klaebo.

However, he became tangled with Klaebo and Anger in the semi-final and fell, missing out on Saturday’s top six.

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