Skistad seals sprint victory with a kiss as Klaebo completes Norwegian double

The second day of Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup action in Canmore, Canada was all about Norway as Kristine Stavaas Skistad and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won Saturday's two freestyle sprint races.

Skistad claimed her second victory this season after her triumph in Trondheim, Norway, in December, after a tactically perfect race where Sweden's Maja Dahlqvist, Linn Svahn and Johanna Hagstroem had to settle for places two to four.

"It was good. My plan was to go fast in the end and it was very nice to beat the Swedish girls," Skistad said.

The Swedes had led the field for most of the race when Skistad made her move on the home straight. With just a few seconds left to race, the Norwegian 25-year-old blasted from fourth to first place to get a comfortable margin to the opponents.

Crusing across the finish line, 0.57 second before runner-up Dahlqvist, Skistad even took her time to turn around and blow a kiss towards the chasers.

Svahn, who is still No.1 in the sprint standings, grabbed the third place 1.40 seconds behind the winner.

"The final heat played out a little different from what I thought it would be. I thought we would go fast from the start, but it was a bit more wait-and-see," Svahn said.

"It's a technical course so you have to be prepared for everything, and unfortunately, it wasn't my best finish in the final heat. And that will not cut it when you are up against fast finishers like Dahlqvist and Skistad."

The Swedish 24-year-old had won four consecutive World Cup sprints before the race and was not happy about that streak being broken.

"It's fun to be on the podium, but honestly, I always want to win races so third place is not my favorite," she said.

If the women's race had been, as Svahn put it, "wait-and-see", the men's final was no different. In the last peak towards the last downhill section, none of the six skiers wanted to take the lead, which slowed the pace down.

Sweden's Edvin Anger, who had been given the final spot after Lucas Chavanat (FRA) had been ruled out for obstruction in the semifinal, had pulled the pack for a bit but as the whole field slowed down in the last tight curve leading into the final stretch, Klaebo made a brave move. The 27-year-old put the foot on the gas and before anyone had reacted it was too late.

The world's best sprinter, who has been struggling a lot with illness this season, clinched his seventh victory this winter 0.43 second before Erik Valnes (NOR) as Anger claimed the third place.

"It's a difficult track. All the way from the top there and to the finish it's really hard to find your position," Klaebo said.

"I tried two different things today. On the first heat I started second (down the hill) and at the very last final here I ended up first and then I was like 'OK, now I really need to sprint here'."

He had been ready for the situation where all racers slowed down the speed at the top of the hill.

"I feel like it always is like that when we face tracks like that," Klaebo said.

"When you have that far of a downhill, especially with this much steaming, I guess everyone has the same tactics; to stay behind. It worked out well for me today though, which I'm happy for."

Anger, who battled it out with Even Northug (NOR) for the third place, finished 0.13 of a second before the fourth place to prevent an all-Norwegian podium. Reaching the second World Cup podium of his career, the 21-year-old also gathered important points towards the U23 World Cup standing where he currently wears the green leader bib. Elia Barp (ITA), in second place, also made it to the sprint final but finished fifth 0.38 second behind the Swede.

"It's a good day. Not my best in the qualifiers but it got better and better. It's a really special sprint track, it's hard to go first in the downhill but Klaebo showed in the final that everything is possible so it's a fun track," Anger said.

"I really like this place and I hope we will come back here in the future."

On Sunday, the World Cup competitions in Canmore continue with a 20km mass start classic before concluding with a second sprint, in classic style, on Tuesday.

Click here for full results from the women's sprint free and here for full results from the men's race.

Follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube here.