Anamarija Lampic and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo produce impressive late shows to win sprints
Updated 04/01/2020 at 14:39 GMT
Anamarija Lampic took her second sprint win of the season as she bided her time before overhauling Astrid Jacobsen right at the finish line.
Jacobsen, the winner of yesterday’s mass start, led from the off in the women’s final but right in the final kilometres it all caught up with her and she began to tire.
That gave Lampic the opportunity and she timed her charge to perfection as she overtook the Norwegian for the win.
“It feels amazing, it’s the first time I’ve competed here,” Lampic said afterwards.
“I have in my mind that I would stay behind and in the last little uphill I would go for it to the finish.”
America’s Jessie Diggins came in third to continue her country’s impressive run of podiums.
There was good news for the two Norwegian Tour leaders, Therese Johaug and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, coming as Russian Natalia Nepryaeva fell right at the start of the final when’s Jacobsen ski poles accidentally caught the tip of her ski.
Yellow bib holder Johaug had chosen to go into the first heat along with Diggins and Nepryaeva and it turned out to be a good call as other heats struggled to match early pace set with so many big names in one group.
However both Oestberg and Johaug went out in last place in their respective semi-finals, a sign of conserving energy before tomorrow’s stage.
Johaug still leads but the gaps have been cut with Jacobsen 0.03s behind, Nepryaeva 0.14s and Oestberg 0.23s.
In the men’s final Johannes Klaebo didn’t leave it quite as late as Lampic but he also came from behind with a remarkable surge to take a vital victory.
Unsurprisingly Tour leader Alexander Bolshunov flew out of the gates and set the early pace.
Working with compatriot Sergey Ustiugov Bolshunov looked to try and box Klaebo out as much as possible but the Norwegian was having none of it.
On the final descent Klaebo’s skis did the talking and he flew past the two Russians, setting a pace that neither could live with.
Klaebo's victory puts him within 0.11s of Bolshunov, with Ustiugov 0.20s off.
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