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The World Cup cross country season is a long and winding road—few athletes experience seasons that end the way they began. American, Ben Ogden, had his 2024 World Cup campaign interrupted by mononucleosis that ended his season and prevented him from participating in the memorable Minneapolis World Cup races. Not only did much of 2024 prove to be a disappointment for Ogden, it also forced him into a long off-season of recovery and re-start. It hasn’t been known how successful Ogden’s recovery has been, and his first weeks in the 2024-2025 World Cup season offered both hope and doubt. Today in Lillehammmer, he received the first indications that he may have done things right. Ogden was simply superb in Sprint Qualifying, posting the fastest time of all skiers (2:34.33), a half second ahead of the usually-untouchable Klaebo, and 2+ seconds ahead of everyone else. Ogden would find himself boxed in in his quarterfinal heat, and would finish the day in 17th.
“Today, I really had my eye on the semifinal and the final (foolishly),” said Ogden. “So I tried to be tactical in the quarterfinal and save as much energy as I could. That’ll teach me!”
Colby College’s Sprint specialist, Jack Young (USA), also advanced to the quarterfinal round, qualifying 25th. He would finish the day in 25th.
“Except for a two week camp in Park City, I have been in Waterville (Maine) training with my teammates at Colby,” said Young. ” . . . “I knew my training had been good al fall, so I wasn’t too concerned about not having put on a bib yet this year. Sure, it would be nice for my first race of the year not to be one of my most important, but at the end of the day, it’s pretty cool to be able to train all fall with the clear goal of performing at a Period 1 World Cup.”
Among other Americans, Gus Schumacher was just outside the qualifying standard in 31st, ahead of JC Schoonmaker (39th), Kevin Bolger (45th), Zak Ketterson (47th), Michael Earnhart (51st). Canadians in qualifying included Pierre Grall-Johnson (58th), Sasha Masson (62nd), Xavier McKeever, (66th), Antoine Cyr (71st).
Notably, Spaniard, Jaume Puyeo, qualified third. He would face off against Klaebo in Quarterfinal 1, and ultimately finished the day in 21st.
When Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo wakes up fresh and well rested on the morning of a World Cup Sprint; that’s usually going to be a problem for every one else. I mean, the guy already has enough advantages: blazing speed, unmatched tactical acumen, the fastest skis in the world, and the tendency of the rest of the World Cup field to let him do pretty much whatever he wants. When’s the last time anyone cut this guy off? When’s the last time someone sent him a good forearm shiver in the final turn? Where’s Alexander Bolshunov when you need him?
Klaebo does make World Cup Sprinting interesting, but it’s the kind of interesting that’s about “How will he manage to win again this time?” The result itself is kind of a foregone conclusion. He’s gonna win, right? He’s gonna accelerate at the top of a mid-course hill, rocket down the backside, controlling the pace from the front and putting daylight between himself and his glide-challenged rivals. Then he’s going to switch on skiing’s hottest afterburners up the final hill and leave everybody scrambling in his wake. By the time he gets to the final turn, he’ll be pretty much alone and unchallenged. He’s gonna bow to the crowd as he eases down the finishing straightaway. We’ve seen this movie before.
And that’s exactly how things turned out . . . The second and third positions on any World Cup Sprint podium tend to shuffle from week to week—occupied in Lillehammer by Even Northug (NOR) in second and Federico Pellegrino (ITA) third—but the top step seems reserved for Klaebo.
Klaebo sat out the final race in Ruka a week ago, as well as yesterday’s 10 k Freestyle. “I’ve been a little bit sick since Ruka,” Klaebo said. “Didn’t get to go last Sunday and needed to wait one extra day. I’m glad I did that. So, It’s good to be back again, and hopefully now we can give full speed fo the rest of the season.”
Freestyle Sprint Quarterfinal
The Lillehammer Sprint course is not as straightforward as others on the World Cup circuit. It’s final uphill is less close to the finish, and somehow seems to offer less of a draft-effect on its downhill side. With fewer advantages and disadvantages to be found on the course, it can take afew rounds for racers to sort out the proper strategies.
Quarterfinal 1 seemed to be a puzzle being solved in real time. Klaebo started slowly, at the rear of the six-man field, allowing Valerio Grond to set the early pace. While Klaebo is known for weaving with ease through Sprint fields, on this day he seemed to possess a bit less vision. Klaebo appeared to play a bit of field-clogging stop-and-start on the final uphill—though after Janik Riebli (SUI) stepped on Klaebo’s pole near the summit, Klaebo seemed less likely to employ that tactic again. While he would glide forward to a photo finish with Grond—and automatic qualification into the semifinals—Klaebo did not look as though he’d established the tactics he’d likely incorporate in the semifinals and beyond.
Lucas Chanavat (FRA) and Even Northug (NOR) lunged for the automatic qualifying standard in Quarterfinal 2, but their heat proved to be fast enough that both would advance to semifinals.
Quarterfinal 3 was marked by the weaving journey of perennial Sprint contender, Erik Valnes (NOR), who struggled to find clear lines and open lanes. Valnes was forced wide in the finishing straightaway, only managing to get to the front in the final meters. He would advance to the semifinal just ahead of Federico Pellegrino (ITA).
Ogden lined up smiling in Quarterfinal 4 wearing the #1 bib of the day’s top qualifier. He eased to the front of what appeared to be a slow, tactical heat, the pace of which would not heat up before the final uphill. Ogden held a place near the front over the top of the hill, but found himself outmaneuvered on the descent. Boxed in down the finishing straightaway, Ogden found himself with literally no where to go, tripping and crashing across the finish line in an awkward jumble of skiers, skis, and poles. He would finish the quarterfinal in fourth place, and be done for the day. Matz William Jenssen (NOR) and Benjamin Moser (AUT) would advance out of Quarterfinal 4.
“Certainly feeling good about the qualifier today,” said Ogden. “I was a little worried after Ruka and not racing for so long. I think today is a good reminder that it takes time to transition to snow, and I need to be patient. But things are coming.”
Defending his World Cup Overall Leader’s bib, Harald Oestberg Amundsen advanced out of Quarterfinal 5, along with Alexander Elde Holmboe (NOR) whose twin brother, Nicolai Elde Holmboe (NOR) had earlier advanced as the winner of Quarterfinal 2.
Freestyle Sprint Semifinal
Semifinal 1 offered a packed lineup, including N. Holmboe, Valnes, Klaebo, and Chanavat. Having been dissatisfied with his quarterfinal tactics, Klaebo went immediately to the front with N. Holmboe. Valnes moved forward mid-race, boxing in Holmboe and Chanavat. Chanavat worked his way free to lead up the significant hill, showing his power as the only skier on the day to V2 all the way over the top. Klaebo staying close at his heels as Valnes and Holmboe faded. Klaebo would incorporate his signature slingshot acceleration in the final straightaway to cross the line first while Chanavat held on for second. Finishing a close third behind Chanavat, Valnes would advance as a lucky loser.
Amundsen would lead a fast-paced Semifinal 2, but he would fade from contention in the final meters. Jenssen would win the heat ahead of a hard-charging Pellegrino in the faster of the two semifinals. Northug and A. Holmboe would advance as lucky losers.
Freestyle Sprint final
Klaebo moved quickly to the front of the final, followed closely by Chanavat. If klaebo had fiddled around with other tactics in earlier heats, he was having none of that in the final. Controlling the race from the front, Klaebo stormed up the final uphill to create a gap over Pellegrino, one he never surrendered all the way to the finish line. Pellegrino would finish third, after being overtaken by Northug in the closing meters for the second spot on the Lillehammer podium.
Klaebo’s 51st career World Cup Sprint win ended up looking eerily similar to most of the prior 50. No struggles, no mistakes, no surprises: Klaebo simply has more sprint to give, more tactics from which to draw, more speed when it counts. He also has the abilities and physiological qualities of an all ’rounder, his endurance allowing him to continue his domination into the later rounds of a Sprint day while his fast-twitch rivals tend to fade. Until someone solves the Klaebo puzzle, we may be watching repeat-race-scenarios for quite some time to come.
Lillehammer Men’s Freestyle Sprint RESULTS
Lillehammer Men’s Freestyle Sprint QUALIFYING
The podium of the Men’s Freestyle Sprint in Lillehammer, Norway: Even Northug (NOR), Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), Federico Pellegrino (ITA), (l-r). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus).
John Teaford
John Teaford—the Managing Editor of FasterSkier — has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
