Klaebo says 'boring' recovery week won him Lake Placid 10K

Just eight days ago, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s season looked to be over. The Norwegian legend, already crowned FIS Cross-Country Skiing’s Overall World Cup champion for 2025/26 having confirmed his status as the sport’s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) with six gold medals at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, fell and bumped his head in the sprint race in Drammen, Norway after a coming together with Ben Ogden (USA).

He was helped from the course by medics looking unsteady on his feet and a subsequent diagnosis of concussion meant that he was unlikely to add the Distance title to the Overall Crystal Globe.

That he appeared on the start line for the first race of the season-ending event in Lake Placid, USA – the 10km Interval Start Classic – was something a surprise. That he stormed to victory, seemingly racing a different race to everybody else, was not.

But with more than 100 individual World Cup victories to his name, Klaebo only races to win. And win he did – in such style that Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR), who was overtaken at the top of the distance standings after finishing fourth in Lake Placid, will need to produce something special on Sunday to stop Klaebo completing a clean sweet of Crystal Globes.

With the Sprint title all but assured too, Klaebo is expected to miss Saturday’s Sprint Free in order to be in peak condition for Sunday’s 20km Mass Start Free.

Conditions were anything but peak in upstate New York, just an hour south of the Canadian border, on Friday. It started snowing heavily during the earlier women’s race and didn’t let up throughout the men’s event, creating treacherous underfoot conditions.

With the snow falling quicker than the classic tracks could be flattened down, skiers were often forced to step out of the tracks and deploy the herringbone technique, particularly in the many uphill sections of the course. This was tiring on the legs and suited the lighter, more fleet-footed competitors.

Klaebo, a man for all courses and conditions, seemed to particularly relish the challenge, his inimitable choppy classic style perfect for the climbs, while his unrivalled technique on the corners came into its own on the twisting and turning downhill sections.

By the halfway stage, Klaebo was fastest by 10.1 seconds and he maintained that advantage as his rivals struggled in the snow. He eventually crossed the line in 26 minutes, 44.5 seconds, 14.7s clear of compatriot Andreas Fjorden Ree, who jumped from fourth to second in the second half of the race to secure his second medal of the season. Mattis Stenshagen completed an all-Norwegian podium.

“It was a really hard race,” Klaebo admitted. “I think it was tough conditions and the tracks in Lake Placid were brutal. I was quite surprised that I was fighting for the win today, and to stand on top of the podium is quite crazy after how the last week was.”

Klaebo was, of course, referring to his recovery from that fall in Drammen.

“There were some really easy days at first, for sure – a bit boring to have to listen to the Holmenkollen 50K (in Oslo) on the radio because I was not allowed to look at the screen. I’ve been trying to stay away from screens and noise and it felt pretty good today, we’ll just have to see how it feels after the race. That’s the crucial part.

“Missing the sprint [on Saturday], that’s the plan, and hopefully I will be able to race on Sunday, I think three races is too much, I need to take care of this body a little bit as well.”

Klaebo will now take a 12-point lead over Amundsen into Sunday’s 20km Free. Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR), who missed Friday’s 10K, is a further 110 points back.

For all the results from Lake Placid, click here

For the full World Cup standings, click here