Schumacher handles the heat to win new 5km race

When the greatest men’s cross-country skier of all time says he’s never been more nervous before a race, you know you are in for an exciting day – and a leap into the unknown.

And that’s exactly what we got in Toblach, Italy on Wednesday for the third day of cross-country skiing’s mid-season Tour de Ski – cut from seven events to six this year because of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in February.

After familiar Sprint and 10K races on Sunday and Monday respectively, Wednesday brought a new event to the FIS World Cup circuit, a 5km Freestyle Mass Start, a mixture of pure racing and time trial with the field split up into four heats, but final places decided by time alone.

Not all the skiers were in favour of the fresh format – hence: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s pre-race nerves – but it was certainly thrilling for the neutrals on a 5K course of two halves. The first half was relatively flat; the second half began with a big climb followed by a smaller descent into the stadium section.

The question was: would a flat-out 5K suit the sprinters or the distance specialists?

Two Norwegians led the way in Heat One, the in-form Emil Iversen edging out Andreas Fjorden Ree and Richard Jouve (FRA). They were followed by Antoine Cyr, Xavier McKeever and Max Hollmann (all CAN). The three relatively unknown Canadians looked fresh, thanks to their delegation’s decision not to join the 2025/26 World Cup until the Tour de Ski with the Olympics in mind.

Their performances were soon put into perspective by Heat Two, though, a blistering start by Lars Heggen (NOR) ensuring the pace would be much quicker. The fearless 20-year-old, starting only his seventh World Cup race and fresh off the back of a first career podium in Sunday’s Sprint, was eventually overhauled by Gus Schumacher (USA) and Benjamin Moser (AUT) in a five-way sprint to the finish line.

In fact, the top seven in Heat Two were all faster than Heat One winner Iversen, but with Klaebo in Heat Three, would Schumacher, Moser and Heggen be able to cling on to their podium places?

To everyone’s surprise, yes – despite the course expected to quicken up as the course was exposed to more sunlight.

Despite winning his heat comfortably, Klaebo’s time was 8.6 seconds slower than Schumacher and only enough to put the Norwegian master in 12^th place with one heat still to go. As it turned out, Heat Four was even slower, meaning Klaebo still holds a 45-second advantage in the Overall Tour de Ski standings.

Schumacher moves up to sixth after the second win of his World Cup career.

The 25-year-old, who was embraced by his teammates in the finishing area, said: “It’s really cool. Ski racing is always really fun when it’s going well and fighting for the win is always a good time, and fun to share it with six different nations in the top six. Hoping tomorrow [the 20K] the Tour can come together in a big way.”

Moser, who is carrying Austria’s men’s hopes in the Tour after Mika Vermeulen was forced to withdraw, celebrated his first-ever World Cup podium: “It’s simply amazing,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it today, but I knew the 5K was going to suit me very well and a lot of guys told me this could my race, but to make the podium, it’s much, much more. It makes me really proud, I’m so happy. Thanks to all the people who helped me achieve this – it was a lifetime’s work and a lifetime goal.”

Heggen said it was a “great day” after securing his second World Cup podium just three days after his first. “I’m super happy,” he said. “I thought in the last kilometre, I would not get the podium, but I really just gave it my all and gained two places in the last few metres so I’m really happy with that.”

The action continues in Toblach on Thursday with the 20km Pursuit Classic

For all the results from Toblach, click here