Weeks of ‘training like crazy’ pay off as Nyenget wins in Oberhof

Norway's Martin Loewstroem Nyenget showed plenty of experience as he won the Men’s 10km Interval Start Classic at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Oberhof, Germany, on Sunday, pacing his race to perfection.

The 33-year-old claimed his second victory of the season – having also won the 10km Classic in Ruka, Finland – finishing in 21:09.1, 13.8 seconds ahead of runner-up Iivo Niskanen (FIN). Erik Valnes (NOR) took bronze, making it two Norwegians on the podium.

Nyenget was ranked fourth in the Distance standings before Sunday’s race – highest among the starting skiers as his teammates Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Mattis Stenshagen did not come to Oberhof.

Preparing for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in February, Nyenget has been out of World Cup action since finishing fifth in the 10km Free in Davos, Switzerland, on 14 December, opting instead to “train like crazy”. On his return to competition, that training paid off immediately.

"It’s fantastic," Nyenget said.

"The longer I keep going in Cross-Country skiing, the more fun I have racing. The training part is not great anymore. So it’s great to be here in Oberhof and with, great conditions and weather, it’s fun to race."

He sees the victory as a confirmation that he is on the right track ahead of his Games debut in a few weeks.

Calle Halfvarsson (SWE), starting with bib 32, had been out of national team action for much of the season but was recalled this weekend as he aimed to claim Sweden’s final spot in the men’s team.

The 36-year-old, who had rated his chances of making the team at 50%, made a strong case for himself, consistently beating the times ahead of him to cross the finish line with a lead of more than 18 seconds.

Valnes, in bib 44, however, continued to better the Swede’s times and produced a stronger second half of the race. At the 5km mark, Valnes was just 0.2 seconds behind Halfvarsson, and by the finish the Norwegian had built an advantage of more than 10 seconds.

Italy’s Elia Barp was even quicker in the second half. The 23-year-old, preparing for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on home snow, had been 8.2 seconds behind Valnes at halfway but finished only three seconds back.

Then came Nyenget, wearing bib 52. The 33-year-old from Lillehammer Ski Club opened at a more measured pace, conserving energy in the first lap before gradually increasing his speed. The experienced distance racer trailed Valnes by 2.3 seconds at 5km, with Halfvarsson also ahead of him, but proved unbeatable in the latter stages. By 7.6km, he had moved past Valnes to take a 2.8-second lead, extending it to 14.5 seconds at the finish.

"I had in plan to open pretty hard but I’ve been training like crazy for three or four weeks now so I didn’t have the speed in the first lap," Nyenget said.

Classic specialist Iivo Niskanen (FIN), starting with bib 62, knew the times he needed to beat and moved into the top three after 5.8km. At the 9km mark, his time was faster than Valnes’s for the first time, and despite losing almost two seconds to the Norwegian over the final kilometer, Niskanen secured second place by a margin of 0.7 seconds.

"I was quite close after 6k, but Martin was really strong in the last three-four kilometers of the race and I couldn't challenge so I dropped from that speed," Niskanen said.

It was his first World Cup podium since he won the 10k Classic in Falun, Sweden, in February last year, but the 34-year-old did not jump of joy, still seeing plenty of room for improvement.

"It's better than nothing, right," Niskanen said about his second place.

"I was quite sick in December but I have been feeling better, step by step. I'm aiming high but this weekend hasn't felt as good as I was expecting when I was at home.

For Valnes, who won the 20km Mass Start Classic in Oberhof two years ago, the third place is his second podium this season, and the first in a Distance race.

Barp had to settle for fourth, 2.5 seconds off the podium, as Halfvarsson completed the top five.

Norway’s 24-year-old Edvard Sandvik made the best result of his career as he finished in seventh place, 31.8 seconds behind the winner.

Despite not competing this weekend, Tour de Ski champion Klaebo maintains his lead in the Men’s Overall World Cup standings with 1,294 points – 264 more than runner-up Amundsen. Stenshagen is in third place with 924 as Federico Pellegrino of Italy, who finished eighth in Sunday's race, is fourth.

The Cross-Country World Cup continues next weekend with its last stage before the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. In the competitions in Goms, Switzerland, 23-25 January, the world’s best skiers will get a last chance to test their shape against each other, in Team Sprint Free, Sprint Classic and 20km Mass Start Classic.

Click here for full results from the Men’s 10km Interval Start Classic, here to see the Men’s Overall World Cup standings and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on YouTube.