(L-R) Norway's second placed Erik Valnes, Winner Johannes Hösflot Klaebo and third placed Ansgar Evensen celebrate after the men's cross country classic skiing sprint final at the FIS World Cup Ruka Nordic in Kuusamo. Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/dpaDPASat, November 29, 2025 at 3:53 PM UTC·3 min readNorwegians Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Kristine Stavås Skistad triumphed in cross-country ski sprints at the World Cup meet in Ruka, Finland on Saturday.
Five-times World Cup champion Klæbo looked the man to beat throughout the heats in the classic style and his domination was complete as he beat team-mate Erik Valnes by 1.2 seconds in the final.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe race was even until Klæbo stormed up the Ruka hill to pull clear and seal a 99th World Cup success.
"A good day, my body played ball," Klæbo told Viaplay.
Klæbo was surprisingly beaten by compatriot Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget in the season-opening 10 kilometre race on Friday.
Ansgar Evensen was third on Saturday for the first Norwegian podium sweep of the season. There were four Norwegians in the six-man final.
Three Swedes were in the women's sprint final but Norwegian sprint specialist Skistad still won without having to go full pelt, easing up at the line for her 12th World Cup victory.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It was great," Skistad said. "A good start for me. I'm usually quite slow at the beginning of the season, so this bodes well."
She was 0.20 seconds ahead of Swedish pair Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist, who shared the podium. Sundling had only got through as a lucky loser.
Defending World Cup champion Jessie Diggins, more a distance specialist, went out in the semi-finals. The American retires at the end of the season following February's Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina.
Sweden's Frida Karlsson, who won the 10km race on Friday, was not in action.
The men and women have 20km mass starts on Sunday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLamparter wins again in combined
Also in Ruka on Saturday, Austrian Nordic combined star Johannes Lamparter won a large hill/10km event to make it two wins from two this season.
The 2023 World Cup champion took Friday's season opener too and looks a good bet for overall glory given the retirement of Norwegian icon Jarl Magnus Riiber.
He won by 32.7 seconds from German Julian Schmid for his 19th World Cup victory. Thomas Rettenegger of Austria was third after Schmid made a late push for second, where he also finished on Friday.
High winds meant the jumps were cancelled and the provisional competition round was used to set the cross-country start times.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA mass start event is on Sunday.
Lanisek wins jumping in one round
Men's ski jumping in Ruka saw only one round because adverse conditions in the form of wind and sleet, the latter affecting the in-run, as the second round was stopped after seven jumpers and then cancelled.
Anze Lanisek of Slovenia extended his World Cup lead with a competition best jump of 142 metres for second season win and 10th overall.
Japan's Ren Nikaido got a first career podium in second with 141m and Domen Prevc was third for Slovenia.
Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo celebrates after winning the men's cross country classic skiing sprint final at the FIS World Cup Ruka Nordic in Kuusamo. Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/dpaAdvertisementAdvertisement
