Press Release 6th January 2019

NORWEGIAN FLAGS IN VAL DI FIEMME
KLAEBO WINS THE TOUR DE SKI AHEAD OF USTIUGOV

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo wins the 13th Tour de Ski today in Val di Fiemme
2nd Sergej Ustiugov, 3rd Simen Hegstad Krueger (best climb time)
The Fiemme Ski World Cup committee is now focused on the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined races

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo was born in 1996 and has already won three Olympic gold medals. And today he won his first Tour de Ski. He started very quick to face the terrible Final Climb of Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme, last stage of the 13th Tour de Ski. After a 2 km loop at the Cross Country Stadium in Lago di Tesero, his margin over the chaser Ustiugov, who started a 1:20 behind Klaebo, increased by 1 second. The Russian Bolshunov started third and Francesco De Fabiani fourth, who yesterday came second in the Mass Start behind the Norwegian golden boy. After four kilometres Klaebo gained 4 seconds over Russian Ustiugov - winner of the Tour de Ski 2017. But the climb is still to come and the first ramp towards Cermis outlines the ranking. Today it was the first time for Klaebo on Alpe Cermis, even though he has already won three Olympic gold medals. De Fabiani lost ground and his gap from Klaebo increased to 3 minutes after 4 kilometres. Eighth Sundby, 11th the Swedish Halfvarsson who is the declared "enemy" of Northug – who retired from cross-country skiing – and who was the "idol" (even in some attitudes) of the young Klaebo. On the first ramps the Russian closed the gap to 1:07 giving rise to a very exciting sports battle on the Alps of Trentino. Imagine a sprinter facing a 9 km pursuit race in free technique with the last 3.5 km all uphill and peaks that approach 30% slope, with an average of 12% and a difference in height of 420 meters. It is very hard to resist, only Klaebo could succeed. In fact, the 45 seconds between him and Ustiugov on the last ramps seem apparently too many to be recovered. Klaebo takes off his cap and glasses showing his strength to everyone - even to the fans along the track. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo wins and the Norwegian flags wave again on Alpe Cermis after the success of Oestberg; the Tour de Ski belongs once again to Norway. The sprinter managed to control the margin over his chaser Sergej Ustiugov and won in 32:51.3. The Russian closed in 33:08 and the Norwegian Simen Hegstad Krueger (3rd in 33:40) performed a powerful comeback thanks to the best climb time of the day (16:25.3). Congratulations to a very tired Klaebo: "I had little energy after yesterday's Mass Start, I’ve heard all the way that the others were going quite fast, so it wasn’t easy at all. Fortunately, I made it and I couldn't be more pleased". Bruno Felicetti – president of the Fiemme Ski World Cup committee – is satisfied and is already focused on next week's Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined races: "We are halfway through, four out of ten races are behind. And we have a positive result for now. We were a bit worried about the strong wind that has made everything more difficult, but thanks to all the volunteers who have worked to fix the race track and everything else, we were able to conclude this weekend in the best possible way.” It was a 'mental' battle that has been won by an athlete who is both young and strong and who is ready to face the future competitions. "Sky is the limit" for Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.

For further information: www.fiemmeworldcup.com      

9 Km Men FT

1 KLAEBO Johannes Hoesflot NOR 32:51.3; 2 USTIUGOV Sergey RUS 33:08.0; 3 KRUEGER Simen Hegstad NOR 33:40.1; 4 ROETHE Sjur NOR 33:56.6; 5 BOLSHUNOV Alexander RUS 34:17.9; 6 MELNICHENKO Andrey RUS 34:28.4; 7 SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 34:55.6; 8 SPITSOV Denis RUS 34:57.2; 9 DE FABIANI Francesco ITA 35:09.8; 10 LARKOV Andrey RUS 35:25.9