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The World Cup’s all-time winningest sprint racer probably didn’t need a home-field advantage, but Trondheim native, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, got one as the World Cup pulled into the warm, wet, sea-side city on the Norwegian coast. Klaebo’s smile greeted his home crowd after a dominant win, as fans saw a course that rewards careful tactics raced perfectly by the master of this particular craft. Klaebo earned his 70th World Cup win ahead of Lucas Chanavat (FRA) and Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR); but the joy Klaebo showed as he headed away from the finish line seemed to mark this win as unique. Understanding why may be a pretty simple prospect. Twenty years ago in the Trondheim ski stadium, there was a boy who crossed that finish line dreaming of doing so at the front of the World Cup. Even after having cruised victorious across so many World Cup finish lines, it seems that Trondheim’s finish line is the one that Klaebo values most. His dreams in skiing have come true many times over; in Trondheim, we saw how important it is for Klaebo to live out those dreams in front of his hometown crowd.
Americans followed up last week’s Classic Sprint podium (third place for JC Schoonmaker) by qualifying three skiers into the heats in Trondheim: Schoonmaker qualified eighth, finishing the day in 21st. Ben Ogden qualified 18th and ultimately finished 19th. Kevin Bolger qualified 13th, but proved to be the top American finisher on the day, winning his quarterfinal heat and finishing 12th. Other American finishers included Gus Schumacher 37th, Zanden McMullen 44th, Will Koch 47th, Luke Jager 57th. Canadians Antoine Cyr and Leo Grandbois qualified 43rd and 53rd, respectively.
Men’s Freestyle Sprint
Throughout the day, Chanavat would be the skier Klaebo marked as the pair followed each other from the first quarterfinal through to the semifinal, and then from the semifinal through to the final. In pushing the Trondheim hills at exactly the right moments—over the top of the first hill that led away from the start, and then again over the much longer climb that led to the final sprint—Chanavat was able to stick with Klaebo, and was rewarded with a second place finish.
Ogden featured in the first quarterfinal alongside Klaebo and Chanavat where the careful maneuvering of Klaebo and Chanavat left the heat relatively slow on the day. Ogden briefly held a lucky loser spot after a late kick saw the American cross the line in fourth, but his time would not prove fast enough to see him advance to the semifinal. He finished the day in 19th.
In what would prove to be the fastest heat of the day, Schoonmaker joined with Haavard Solaas Taugboel (NOR) and Amundsen in the fourth quarterfinal. Taugboel set a hard-charging pace from the start, with Schoonmaker marking the pace. As the terrain kicked up, so did Schoonmaker, but his up-tick was matched on the same line by Amundsen who launched to the front of the pack. Forced inside, Schoonmaker cut through the pack as it shot towards the finishing straight, coming into the stadium in fourth place. In the final sprint, he would take fifth behind Sweden’s Johan Haeggstrom by a boot’s throw; Schoonmaker missed out on a lucky loser’s spot by 0.05 seconds.
Schoonmaker shared his race experience with FasterSkier: “I felt OK about it,” he said. “Not my best racing but I did what I could. I just felt like I didn’t ski super smart and wasted energy with lots of attacks that didn’t pay off. It was tight in the end so I feel like I can do better just got to learn from this one.”
The fifth quarterfinal featured Kevin Bolger in a heat led out by Swiss skier, Valerio Grond. Bolger was careful in the early goings before Sweden’s Emil Danielsson started to push the pace up the long Trondheim climb. Instead of answering on his own, Bolger held his line behind Grond, and the duo eventually created a small gap over the top of the hill that led to the finishing stretch. Around the final stadium u-turn, Grond shot wide—briefly losing his balance—allowing Bolger to take a clean inside line and make a final push to win the quarterfinal.
Sprint Semifinals
Bolger would land as the lone American in the second semifinal, a heat filled with Norwegians. Taugboel again employed his aggressive pace-setting tactics, leading from the start. Bolger followed Taugboel in the early part of the heat, and the pair shot over the first hill towards the course’s main climb in first and second. That was when Bolger made his bid for a finals spot, moving to the outside and putting in a burst up the climb; however, he was overtaken by Taugboel, Amundsen, and fellow Norwegian Erik Valnes. By the time that trio shot into the stadium, Bolger was off the back and wouldn’t factor into the final sprint. Taugboel would win the heat with Valnes second and Amundsen taking a lucky loser spot.
Sprint Final
Klaebo was simply not going to be beaten on this day—not in a freestyle sprint, not in front of a Trondheim crowd. He continues to be capable of altering his heat-strategy at will according to the predictive strategies of his rivals. Chanavat had led each of his heats throughout the day. In the final, Chanavat again surged to the front; Klaebo followed. Together they exhausted the field, creating a gap at the top of the final downhill. Klaebo’s skis are consistently faster than any of his rivals, and today proved no exception. Applying a few perfectly timed free-skating strokes at the belly of the final downhill, he propelled himself easily past a visibly-surprised Chanavat. Klaebo entered the final tight turn with the lead, and extended it all the way to the finish line where he spun his pole overhead in jaunty celebration.
In the finishing area, Chanavat was overheard to say, “Where did he come from?” even as he smiled at his own podium performance. The answer to Chanavat’s question is a simple one: “He comes from Trondheim . . .”
The results of Trondheim’s Freestyle Sprint reiterated the Norwegian dominance of the Men’s World Cup field; however, the result in Trondheim came with an extra bit of intrigue. With the World Championships slated to return to this same Trondheim venue in 2025, there’s now a result to base on which to base speculation for next year. With Klaebo out in front—and a final featuring so many of his countrymen—there is plenty for this hometown crowd to look forward to when the FIS World Championships arrives in Trondheim in 2025.
American Progress in Perspective
Kevin Bolger’s 12th place finish on the day—matching his best result from last year—added to an auspicious start to the season for American men. For the American team, Bolger’s result showed that there is added depth to go along with the new highs achieved during Period I. The duo of JC Schoonmaker and Ben Ogden capped Period I with a podium finish and sprint finals appearance, and Bolger’s result today ensured that the American men have put a skier through to at least the semifinals in each of the first three World Cup sprints this season. They’ll have a chance to resume that sprint-streak when the World Cup returns to action in the first stage of this year’s Tour de Ski, a Freestyle Sprint in Toblach, Italy.
Men’s Freestyle Sprint RESULTS
Ben Theyerl
Ben Theyerl was born into a family now three-generations into nordic ski racing in the US. He grew up skiing for Chippewa Valley Nordic in his native Eau Claire, Wisconsin, before spending four years racing for Colby College in Maine. He currently mixes writing and skiing while based out of Crested Butte, CO, where he coaches the best group of high schoolers one could hope to find.
