The last World Cup race of the 2004-2005 season, a 4 x 10km relay in Falun, Sweden, saw the Norwegian men sprint to victory ahead of Italy as they did in the Nagano and Salt Lake Olympics. This time it was Tore Ruud Hofstad who sprinted ahead of Italy's Giorgio di Centa.
Sweden was also in the mix, with Matthias Fredriksson skiing the anchor leg for the “home team.” Fredriksson came up just short of the elusive win at 1.6 seconds back, in third. The Swedish team did remarkably well considering that they used some less-experienced skiers on the first two legs: Matthias' brother Thobias Fredriksson who normally focuses on sprinting, skied the first classic leg and handed off to Niklas Karlsson. Anders Sodegren skied the third leg.
Team USA with Kris Freeman, David Chamberlain, Chad Giese and Andrew Newell finished back in 14th out of 15 teams, behind Estonia and Japan.
Results — Falun World Cup Finale, Men's 4 x 10km Relay:
1 1 100069 NORWAY I NOR 1:35:12.9
2 4 74589 ITALY ITA 1:35:13.3
3 3 100075 SWEDEN I SWE 1:35:14.5
4 6 74613 FRANCE FRA 1:35:20.7
5 2 74588 GERMANY GER 1:35:21.8
6 13 74612 NORWAY II NOR 1:35:37.0
7 15 100071 RUSSIA I RUS 1:35:54.3
8 14 74616 SWEDEN II SWE 1:36:47.7
9 16 74584 RUSSIA II RUS 1:36:48.5
10 10 74593 SWITZERLAND SUI 1:36:56.4
11 8 74601 CZECH REPUBLIC CZE 1:37:35.3
12 11 74595 JAPAN JPN 1:38:33.7
13 7 74614 ESTONIA EST 1:38:44.6
14 12 102594 UNITED STATES USA 1:40:17.5
15 9 74729 SLOVAKIA SLO 1:40:56.3
