Only the Swiss legend is ahead of Johannes Kläbo, who won his third Tour de Ski.
Joel Sippola,
Laura Arffman
Norway was in an unstoppable mood Johannes Höflot Kläbo did what was required in the closing stages of the Tour de Ski. His task was only to watch that the tough climbers of Alpe Cermis, Simen to Hegstad Krüger and Hans Christer to Holund grow too big.
And it didn’t grow. Kläbo was sixth in the free combined start race won by Krüger and lost to his compatriot by 45.5 seconds.
Kläbo won the overall race with a difference of 59.5 seconds to the second-placed Krüger. Holund completed the Norwegian celebrations with his third place.
Kläbo stated to Urheilu that the challenge thrown by Krüger was tough.
– It was a difficult day. I noticed when Simen started to pick up speed. I was a little nervous, but I still tried to stay calm. Fortunately, I had enough distance from Simen, Kläbo said.
The Tour victory was Kläbo’s third career. With that, he single-handedly took second place and left the Czech Republic behind, who won twice By Lukas BauerMartin of Norway of Johnsrud Sundby and Russia Aleksandr Bolshunov.
The all-time king of the Tour de Ski is Switzerland Dario Cologna, who won the tour four times. The first ever Tour de Ski was taken by Germany Tobias Angerer.
Allergic to cheese
Kläbo won no less than six of the seven races of the Tour.
– This has been more than a perfect Tour for me. I am grateful for the achievement. I’m excited to go back home and stay there for a while. Then the preparation for the World Championships begins, Kläbo referred to the prestigious competitions held in February-March.
In the Tour, the top three of each race will receive cheese as a prize. Kläbo has accumulated more than enough trophy cheeses from the Tour, but unfortunately he himself is not able to enjoy them.
– I’m going to give them to my friends, family, teammates and the rest of my support team. I’m allergic to cheese. To be honest, I have never tasted cheese, Kläbo told Urheilu with a big smile.
Perttu Hyvärinen ranked 18th as the best Finn.
1) Simen Hegstad Krüger Norway 31.20,4
2) Hans Christer Holund Norway -4.8
3) Jules Lapierre France -25.0
4) Sjur Röthe Norway -27.4
5) Friedrich Moch Germany -38.9
6) Johannes Hösflot Kläbo Norway -45.5
7) Hugo Lapalus France -56.4
8) Federico Pellegrino Italy -1.02,9
9) Ireneu Esteve Altimira Andorra -1.04,1
10) Clement Parisse France -1.08,2,
25) Perttu Hyvärinen Finland -1.59,3
42) Markus Vuorela Finland -2.51.7.
1) Kläbo 2.44.28.9
2) Kruger -59.5
3) Holund -1.21,3
4) Pellegrino -1.44,4
5) Pål Golberg Norway -2.05,3
6) Calle Halfvarsson Sweden -2.09,2
7) Röthe -2.09,9
8) Moch -2.26.4
9) Didrik Tönseth Norway -2.43.0
10) Lapierre -2.48.5
18) Hyvärinen -4.47,8
33) Vuorela -7.42,2.