Chanavat wins Davos Sprint weeks after injury comeback

France’s Lucas Chanavat looked surprised as he pointed at himself after the Men’s Sprint Free final at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday.

When he realized that he had won, only 20 days after starting to train again, having been out with an injury for two months this autumn, the 30-year-old could not stop smiling as he celebrated with his team.

At the Sprint in Trondheim one week ago, Chanavat had finished in 40th place, failing to proceed past qualification.

The victory came in absence of all-time Sprint great Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), who had been eliminated in the quarterfinal, and after tough competition from Italy’s runner-up Federico Pellegrino, as Norway’s Oskar Opstad Vike claimed third place.

In Friday’s Team Sprint final, Pellegrino had made a strong push in the last uphill, overtaking Sweden’s Edvin Anger to bring him and Elia Barp to the second place. In the Sprint final, the 35-year-old veteran made the same move as he chased Chanavat into the last stretch.

However, the Frenchman was a little too strong and could fend off Pellegrino’s attack, claiming the fifth World Cup victory of his career, 0.03 seconds ahead of the Italian.

Chanavat’s last win came almost two years ago – in January 2024 – and was also a Freestyle Sprint in Davos.

Pellegrino was very pleased with his back-to-back second places in two days of competition in front of friends and family in the Swiss ski town.

”It’s great,” he said.

”One month ago, for sure I was not expecting this. Then, in the first races, I felt better and better, in Trondheim I was fighting and then I knew that in this track, I could be good.

Before the season that will be his last, Pellegrino did not want to take participation in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games for granted. Now he has reasons to be more confident.

”It’s a couple of really emotional days, because yesterday I was told that I was going to be the flag bearer for Italy at the Olympic Games (Opening Ceremony), so it’s an honour and maybe I got a really good push and a lot of energy from this,” he said.

The Sprint vice world champion has always enjoyed racing in Davos, less than five hours’ drive from his hometown Aosta, Italy. In his fourth World Cup appearance, in Davos in December 2010, Pellegrino reached his first top-10 position, finishing sixth in the Sprint Free Final, and has posted strong results there ever since.

"I’m really grateful to still be here after so many years," he said.

"The first time was in 2010 and I’ve never missed one Sprint skate here and I’ve almost always, if not been on the podium so in the final or semifinal.

Vike crossed the line 1.23 seconds after Chanavat to reach his third World Cup podium. The 21-year-old, who was in second place behind Klaebo in the Classic Sprint in Trondheim, Norway, last weekend, was pleased to get onto a new podium and take the lead in the U23 standings.

”I feel amazing,” he said.

”It was a very good day and it’s so fun to compete here with this crowd. With the crowd in the last hill cheering for Lucas Chanavat, I couldn’t hear my own breathing, so that was sick.”

Vike said he had a ”fanboy moment” as he took a picture with Chanavat after the race.

His compatriots had a tougher day. On Friday, Klaebo and Erik Valnes had won the Team Sprint by staying at the front of the pack, avoiding the many falls in the Sprint course’s challenging last turn.

On Saturday, Klaebo ended up struggling twice in that corner and did not manage to catch up with the rest as Chanavat won the heat. It was only the seventh time in Klaebo’s career that he failed to reach the podium in a World Cup Sprint. 

Finishing in 17th place, Klaebo’s previous worst result came in his debut in Drammen, Norway, in 2016, when he was 15th. Valnes came last in his semifinal as only one Norwegian – Vike – made it to the final.

United States was the only nation with two skiers in the final; Jack Young and Ben Ogden, who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Anger, who fell on his ski pole in the first second into the final, never made it back into the race and had to settle for a sixth place.

The Davos World Cup action concludes on Sunday with the Men’s and Women’s 10km Interval Start Free.

Click here for full results from the Men’s Sprint Free and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.