Stenshagen makes Olympics bid with Final Climb victory

Mattis Stenshagen (NOR) claimed his second win of the 2025/26 FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup season, winning the 10km Freestyle Mass Start in Val di Fiemme, Italy on Sunday.

In earning his fifth individual podium of his career and fourth this season, not only claimed the purple bib as the mid-season Tour de Ski’s Best Climber, he also all but ensured his place on Norway’s Olympic men’s team for Milano Cortina 2026, competition for which has been particularly fierce this time around.

Known to most as ‘the Final Climb’, the concluding race of the mid-season Tour de Ski starts with 6km of fairly flat terrain through the stadium section, then takes competitors up the gruelling Alpe Cermis. Those who make it to the top invariably collapse across the finish line with exhaustion.

One person who didn’t find himself in a good position was last year’s winner Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR). A double Olympic and triple world champion as well as the winner of the 2024/25 World Cup distance title, the 32-year-old has been well off the pace this season but was hoping to make an impact in a race he has won three times.

But his run of ill-fortune continued with a broken pole during the stadium section, leaving him well back and unable to recover.

It was another Alpe Cermis specialist Jules Lapierre (FRA) – winner of this race in 2024 – who made a break for it as the climb began to steepen. He was joined by fellow climber Stenshagen, who needed to claw back 1 minute, 29 seconds on leader Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) to take the Tour de Ski title.

Klaebo, as he did last year, stayed with the leaders for three quarters of the race then eased off, knowing he had done enough to claim a record fifth Tour title.

Stenshagen did at least have the consolation of topping the podium after he powered away from Lapierre to win by 6.6 seconds from the Frenchman. Emil Iversen (NOR) saw off the challenge of Savelii Korostelev (AIN) to claim his third podium of the season and also put his name up for Olympic selection.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Stenshagen, who at 29 has enjoyed something of a belated breakthrough season. “It was a perfect race and I felt really strong during the last climb. To go across the finish line in first place is unbelievable.”

Lapierre had no regrets after a “very exciting race”. The 30-year-old said: “I like this race and have good memories here. I did my best. The fight was there with Mattis [Stenshagen] and it was a pleasure all the time.

“I am very happy to be on the Alpe Cermis – the atmosphere is good. I came third here and I won, but never second, so I have the set! It’s very good for the team; it made a good dynamic for the future and I’m very happy about this.”

Iversen: “I’ve felt all season that my shape has been really good but it’s not been so much for distance races here so that’s been bad for me, but today I made one of my best days on skis. A podium here is just unreal. I’m happy and I’m proud, and I’m looking forward to going home and seeing my girlfriend and my family.”

After a two-week break, the 2025/26 World Cup season continues in Oberhof, Germany on 17 January.

For the full results from Val di Fiemme, click here

For the Tour de Ski 2025/26 standings, click here